Haley Settle | 11.30.06

The hike in lis pendens, which is Latin for “suit pending,” is one of the best indicators of the housing market’s increasing instability in New Jersey, and it could be a sign of things to come.

“Lis pendens are the first legal step taken in the home foreclosure process that indicate a homeowner is behind in his or her payments and headed for foreclosure,” said Jeffrey Posner, president of SheriffSalesOnline.com. “A house in a lis pendens proceeding means it is about eight or nine months away from being sold in a sheriff’s sale,” said Posner.

So what is fueling this rise in default? The 17 interest rate hikes by the Fed since mid-2004 have made money tight formany homeowners. And with approximately $200 billion worth of adjustable rate mortgages resetting to higher rates in 2006 and more than $1 trillion scheduled to reset in 2007, borrowers in New Jersey and across the nation are finding it more difficult to make the higher payments.

Sheriffsalesonline.com is a subscriber service providing timely notice of troubled properties in the lis pendens, public notice, and sheriff sale stages. For more information, visit www.sheriffsalesonline.com.