Mercer County, NJ tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Mercer County, NJ tax sale, one of 3,131 counties in 51 states. New Jersey sells tax lien certificates paying up to 18%. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus city and town notices on Sep 28, 2026.
How tax lien sales work in Mercer County, seat of Trenton: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how New Jersey tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- Set by each city or town
- Registration
- Registration depends on the municipality.
On this page
How Mercer County sells delinquent taxes
From lien to deed
New Jersey holds no tax deed auction. A certificate holder who is not redeemed files an action in the Superior Court to foreclose the right of redemption: a private purchaser at any time after two years from the sale, the municipality (or anyone who takes the certificate from it by assignment or transfer) after six months, and any holder at any time if the property meets the statutory definition of abandoned property. Judgment bars redemption and vests title in the holder. Since P.L.2024, c.39 the owner or the owner's heirs may, before final judgment, demand that the foreclosure proceed by a sheriff's sale or a sheriff's Internet auction to preserve equity; that sale is run by the county sheriff and is a foreclosure sale of one parcel, not a tax sale, so a sheriff's sale listing is never the date of a municipality's certificate sale. Separately, a municipality holding its own certificates may foreclose by an in rem action once more than six months have passed since the sale and 21 months of taxes are unpaid.
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Municipal tax collectors (each of Mercer County's 12 municipalities holds its own sale)
- Frequency
- Each municipality holds its own annual sale
- Typical timing
- Each municipality sets its own date.
- Registration
- Registration depends on the municipality.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Registration depends on the municipality. Towns that sell online take registration on their own newjerseytaxsale.com site; West Windsor's 2025 rules required a 10% deposit of intended winnings (minimum $1,000) by ACH before the sale and payment of winning bids by wire on sale day. Towns that sell in person, such as Hightstown and Hopewell Township, take payment before the sale concludes.
Sale format and venue
Mercer County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Mercer County tax sale 2026 searches, use the city and town sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the collector of the city or town holding the sale before you bid.
Confirm the advertised parcel list
Each city or town sells separately and posts its own list. The municipal notes on this page say where each one appears.Register to bid
Sale day
Each city or town picks its own platform or in-person venue. Confirm the date and registration window with that town’s collector before you bid.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, treat the collector of the city or town holding the sale as the source for which parcels are actually offered. Do not rely on a third-party list for final parcel status.
Before you bid in Mercer County
4 checks
Confirm the parcel list before pricing
There is no county list: each town posts its own. Get the list from the town whose sale you plan to attend and confirm the advertised parcels with its collector before you price a bid.Confirm registration and deposit
Registration depends on the municipality. Towns that sell online take registration on their own newjerseytaxsale.com site; West Windsor's 2025 rules required a 10% deposit of intended winnings (minimum $1,000) by ACH before the sale and payment of winning bids by wire on sale day. Towns that sell in person, such as Hightstown and Hopewell Township, take payment before the sale concludes.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the New Jersey due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold certificates
Certificates on parcels that drew no bid are struck off to the municipality at 18 percent. A municipality's governing body may later sell a certificate it holds by assignment or at a separate public sale, at its discretion. Ask the tax collector of the specific municipality.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what New Jersey calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
Local offices
County notes
- Mercer County has 12 municipalities, and each municipal tax collector runs its own tax sale certificate auction. The county holds no sale.
- Hamilton Township: its 2025 sale of delinquent taxes, sewer and other municipal charges ran as an online auction, on hamilton-mercer.newjerseytaxsale.com, where the parcel list was posted free. Tax Collector, 2090 Greenwood Avenue, 609-890-3896.
- City of Trenton: the Division of Tax holds an annual tax sale, and the city keeps a RealAuction site at trenton.newjerseytaxsale.com; call the Division for the date and format. Division of Tax, 319 E State Street, Trenton, 609-989-3070.
- Ewing Township: the sale of 2025 delinquent taxes and sewer was held online on December 30, 2025 at ewing.newjerseytaxsale.com, and the sale list by block and lot is posted on the township's Tax Sale Information page. Tax Collector, 609-883-2900 ext. 7607.
- West Windsor Township: the 2025 lien sale was held online on December 11, 2025 at westwindsor.newjerseytaxsale.com, where the list and results are posted. Buyers posted a 10% deposit (minimum $1,000) by ACH, bid in 1% steps and then $100 premium steps, and paid winning bids by wire the same day.
- West Windsor Township: charges not paid by November 11 are subject to tax sale. Tax Collector, PO Box 38, West Windsor, NJ 08550; township offices 609-799-2400.
- Hightstown Borough: the 2026 sale was held in person on Friday, September 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Public Works Garage, 156 Bank Street. The list was published in TAPinto East Windsor/Hightstown and posted as a borough notice; payment in cash, certified check or money order only. Collector, 609-490-5100 ext. 613.
- Hopewell Township: the 2026 sale is an in-person auction on Friday, October 23, 2026 at 9:00 AM at the Municipal Building, 201 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville. The list is in the 2026 Delinquent Tax Sale Notice on the Tax Collector page; payment in cash, money order or certified or bank check. Tax Collector, 609-537-0261.
- East Windsor Township: sells certificates through eastwindsor.newjerseytaxsale.com, where its list is posted at sale time, and a Tax Sale Bidders Packet is on the Tax Collector page. Tax Collector, 16 Lanning Boulevard, (609) 443-4000 ext. 430.
- Robbinsville Township: the Tax Collector advises contacting the office for local payment rules before the sale, and says a certificate must be recorded with the Mercer County Clerk within 90 days of the sale. The township keeps a RealAuction site at robbinsville.newjerseytaxsale.com. Township offices, 2300 Route 33, (609) 259-3600.
- Lawrence Township: the sale is normally held in the last quarter of the year. Tax Collector, 2207 Lawrenceville Road, 609-844-7041.
- Princeton, Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough publish their sale notices and lists in the local newspaper and at each collector's office; Princeton Tax Collection is at 400 Witherspoon Street, 609-924-1058.
New Jersey rules
- Minimum return
- One-time penalty at redemption by certificate amount (2% over $200, 4% over $5,000, 6% over $10,000), added to the interest
- Redemption
- The right to redeem lasts until it is cut off by a foreclosure judgment, not for a fixed term. What varies by parcel is how soon the holder may start that action: two years after the sale for a private purchaser, six months for the municipality or its assignee, and any time for abandoned property. Once a foreclosure complaint is filed and notice of it is filed with the tax collector, redemption is made in that court action and carries the court-fixed attorney's fees and costs. All other redemptions must go through the municipal tax collector's office; a lienholder who knowingly takes a redemption outside that office forfeits the certificate.
- Surplus proceeds
- Surplus arises only from a sheriff's sale or Internet auction demanded by the owner under N.J.S.A. 54:5-87(b). The sheriff deducts the cost of the sale and deposits the surplus with the Clerk of the Superior Court, and the owner or heirs claim it by motion under N.J.S.2A:50-37 and the Rules of Court; that is the exclusive route. If the owner does not demand a sale, the holder may foreclose without one and the owner has no claim against the holder for any equity. In an abandoned-property foreclosure the court may bar claims to surplus equity and no sheriff's sale is required.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mercer County, New Jersey sell tax liens or tax deeds?
When is the Mercer County tax certificate sale?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Verified Sep 28, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the office that runs the sale before you bid.
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