How it works
The premise is that abandonment is a matter of record. If a property is genuinely abandoned, a municipality almost always holds a document saying so. This site's job is to find that document and attach it to a listing.
What this site is for. Identifying property that can
be acquired lawfully: through a tax sale certificate, through tax lien
foreclosure, through the Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act, or by making
an offer to the owner of record. It is not a directory of houses to move into,
and listings that read that way get rejected.
The records we generate requests for
| Record | Why it matters | Proves |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned property list N.J.S.A. 55:19-55 (Abandoned Properties Rehabilitation Act) | The strongest single document. A property on this list has a shortened redemption period before tax lien foreclosure. | On municipal abandoned property list |
| Tax sale list and certificates N.J.S.A. 54:5 (Tax Sale Law) | Shows what is delinquent and what liens already sold. Tells a buyer who they are bidding against. | Tax delinquent |
| Tax delinquency report N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. | Years of unpaid taxes is the clearest financial signal that a property has been walked away from. | Tax delinquent |
| Vacant / abandoned property registration roll local ordinance | Where the town has the ordinance, this is a maintained list of exactly what you are looking for. | On vacant property registry |
| Property maintenance and code violations N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. | Corroborates physical condition with a dated municipal record rather than a poster's photograph. | Open code violations |
| Construction permits and certificates of occupancy N.J.A.C. 5:23 (Uniform Construction Code) | An expired or never-closed permit, and no CO, is a good sign nobody has lawfully occupied the building in years. | No recent certificate of occupancy |
| In rem tax foreclosure filings N.J.S.A. 54:5-104.29 et seq. | Tells a buyer the municipality is already moving, which caps how long the opportunity stays open. | In rem foreclosure commenced |
| Municipal utility termination list N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. | Only where the town runs its own water or sewer utility. Then it is a municipal record rather than a private one. | Municipal utility terminated |
How a listing gets graded
Score is the sum of the evidence actually attached. Photographs are worth very little on purpose: every site like this one is already full of them.
| A | Records-backed | score 70 and up |
| B | Partly documented | score 45 and up |
| C | Thin | score 20 and up |
| unverified | Unverified | score 0 and up |
| On municipal abandoned property list | 40 points |
| Tax delinquent | 25 points |
| In rem foreclosure commenced | 15 points |
| On vacant property registry | 15 points |
| Open code violations | 10 points |
| No recent certificate of occupancy | 5 points |
| Municipal utility terminated | 5 points |
| Dated ground photograph | 5 points |
| Aerial imagery | 3 points |
The seven business day clock
A custodian has seven business days to respond under
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i). The generator computes the due date for you, skipping
weekends and the state holidays in opra.HOLIDAYS, and tracks it on
your requests page so you know when one has gone late.
Before you send anything. The statutory citations
in these templates are marked where they need checking against current text,
and OPRA was amended in 2024 in ways that specifically touch requests made for
commercial purposes. Verify before you rely on them.