I wrote a short post here on New Jersey’s tax lien sales in the Manchester township.
Here are some excerpts
The tax lien system generates more than $325 million in annual revenue for New Jersey state’s municipalities and huge profits for the “suits” on wall street as well as other institutional players. In Manchester, New Jersey the October 6 tax lien auction day is a sight to behold. Hunched over their papers , raising their hands to bid on tax liens, members of the community flock to the municipal town hall to take part in the tax lien sales. The sale of these tax liens took less than 90 minutes, and $160,000 deposited into the township treasury is testimony to the success of the day’s events. In this sale, three institutional investors walked away with more than half of the tax lien
According to The Daily Record, “at least one homeowner impacted by the Oct 6 sale lien didn’t seem to fully grasp exactly how precarious her situation might be.” The article went on to relate on the lack of transparency of the New Jersey state officials in the sale of these tax liens. Most investors it seems. are interested in seizing the properties and this might be the root of some of the problems.
