DeKalb County, Indiana Court Filings Intelligence

• Max gross cap rate 6.4% at HUD Fair Market Rent — $11,520/year (2BR FMR × 12) on the $181,363 median estimated market value. Section-8-eligible rent ceiling; real-market rent typically exceeds FMR; excludes operating costs (taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management).
• 53.8% of filings are Divorce — the dominant lead category in DeKalb County during the observed window.

About DeKalb County

DeKalb County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 43,265. The county seat is Auburn.

Source: Wikipedia

At a glance

Filing type breakdown

Each row is a distinct case verified for current owner-of-record before inclusion.

Monthly filing activity

Each row reflects new filings entering the dataset that month, after ownership verification. Most recent month may be partial.

Geographic concentration by ZIP

Top 8 ZIPs in DeKalb County account for 44.2% of all tracked filings, showing where distressed real estate activity clusters.

Based on filings with a parseable property address (44% of DeKalb County filings).

Property value distribution

Source: third-party property enrichment (71% coverage on DeKalb County filings). Median $181,364; mean $217,393.

Day-of-week filing pattern

Filings cluster Monday through Friday, with weekend filings essentially absent (court system closed). Computed for 104 filings with a parseable date.

Building characteristics

Per-property details from third-party property enrichment, aggregated across the 90 filings with characteristic data:

Housing stock + distress signals

Underlying housing stock and distress indicators across all 18280 DeKalb County housing units, from US Census ACS 5-year data. National reference values shown for context.

Source: US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS 2023 5-year). National reference values are ACS 2022 5-year US totals. Why these matter: vacancy rate is the strongest single proxy for distressed inventory; mortgage-carrying share defines the risk pool exposed to rate environment; pre-1940 stock signals deferred maintenance and renovation opportunity; senior population correlates with probate pipeline depth.

Rent benchmark (HUD Fair Market Rent)

HUD sets Fair Market Rents at the metro area level — the same FMRs apply to every county within the metro. DeKalb County sits within the DeKalb County, IN. Used to set Section 8 voucher amounts; investors use it as a defensible rent-estimate floor for buy-to-rent underwriting.

Source: US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents (None). 40th-percentile gross rent including utilities. Why this matters: Section-8-eligible tenants are a baseline demand floor for rental inventory at these price points; FMR is the official ceiling for voucher-eligible rents.

New construction (market momentum)

Annual building permits filed in DeKalb County from the US Census Building Permits Survey. Trend signal on whether new housing demand is accelerating or contracting in this market.

Source: US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual cumulative data. Why this matters: permits trending up signals strong demand for new inventory; permits contracting at the same time foreclosure activity rises indicates broader market softening (deals price differently). Multifamily share shows whether the market is densifying or holding to single-family stock.

Macro context: state home prices and national delinquency

DeKalb County filings should be read against the broader housing-market backdrop. Indiana state home-price trend and the national mortgage-delinquency rate are the two macro signals most directly relevant to foreclosure exposure.

Sources: Federal Housing Finance Agency state house price indices (FRED series INSTHPI); Federal Reserve Board, Mortgage Delinquency 30+Day Rate on Single-Family Residential Mortgages (FRED series DRSFRMACBS). Updated quarterly. Free public data.

Post-filing sale outcomes in DeKalb County

What happens to distressed properties after a court filing? By cross-referencing each filing's property with county assessor and deed-transfer records, we track which properties sold, how long the process took, and at what price. This analysis covers 91 filings (87.5% of all 104 filings) where parcel-level tracking is available.

Time from filing to sale

How quickly do distressed properties sell after a court filing is recorded? This distribution shows where post-filing sales cluster.

Sale rates by filing type

Not all distress types lead to property sales at the same rate. Foreclosures tend to result in eventual sales more often than probate or divorce filings.

How sales relate to the filing

Not every post-filing sale is caused by the court case. We classify each sale's relationship to the original filing so investors can focus on the highest-signal outcomes. 83.3% of confirmed sales were directly driven by the filing.

Source: county assessor and deed-transfer records cross-referenced with court filings by parcel ID. Sale outcomes tracked for 91 of 104 filings (87.5% parcel coverage). Timing based on 6 sales with valid filing and sale dates. Prices based on 6 sales with recorded sale amounts.

FEMA flood zone exposure

Are distressed properties concentrated in flood-prone areas? By checking each property's coordinates against FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer, we identify which filings fall in Special Flood Hazard Areas (mandatory flood insurance zones). This analysis covers 85 properties with geocoded locations.

Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), queried by property coordinates. Zones A/AE/AH/AO/V/VE are Special Flood Hazard Areas (1% annual flood chance, mandatory flood insurance). Zone X is minimal risk. 85 properties checked.

Filing velocity by case type

How each distress category is trending — are foreclosures accelerating while divorces cool, or vice versa? This breakdown is only possible with direct court-record data.

Trend = recent 2-3 month volume vs prior 2-3 months (current partial month excluded). Positive = accelerating; negative = cooling.

Seasonal filing patterns

Court filings peak in Jan and are lowest in Mar. Filing volume is relatively steady year-round.

Average filings per calendar month across all observed years. Relative column shows each month as a percentage of the peak month (Jan).

ZIP code distress hotspots

Distress shows moderate geographic concentration — the top 5 ZIP codes represent 40.4% of filings.

Top 8 of 8 ZIP codes with filings.

Non-resident owner analysis

Most filings (98%) involve owner-occupied properties. The relatively low absentee rate suggests distress is primarily hitting homeowners, not institutional investors.

Non-resident = owner's mailing address differs from the property address. Could indicate out-of-state landlords, inherited estates, second homes, or in-transition properties.

Distress composition and shifts

Guardianship share is rising. Pre-Foreclosure share is declining.

Distress diversity score: 1.72 (Shannon entropy; higher = more diverse distress sources). "Recent" = last 2 complete months; "Earlier" = all prior months.

Property Value Profile

The median assessed value of properties in court filings is $173,700. Guardianship filings involve the highest-value properties (median $354,900), while Pre-Foreclosure filings trend lower (median $140,600). The largest segment (43.0%) falls in the $100K - $250K range.

Based on county assessor records for 86 properties with court filings (82.7% of total filings). Values are tax-assessed amounts, not market listing prices.

Investment Opportunity Score by ZIP Code

Across 5 ZIP codes with sufficient court filing data, ZIP 46706 (Auburn) ranks highest with an investment opportunity score of 75/100, driven by high filing volume (16 cases). 2 of 5 scored ZIPs are above the average score of 52.

Based on 104 court filings across 5 ZIP codes. ZIPs with fewer than 3 filings are excluded. Property values from county assessor records. Absentee status from property ownership verification.

Distress Capital Analysis

$16,213,869 in assessed property value is currently tied up in 86 court-filed properties. Divorce filings represent the largest capital pool ($7,655,852 across 44 properties).

Capital at Risk by Filing Type

Based on 86 properties with assessor valuations (82.7% of 104 total filings). Values are county assessor estimates. Equity calculated from estimated value vs outstanding mortgage balance where available.

Market Absorption & Turnover Analysis

104 court filings tracked with 0 resolved (0.0% absorption rate). The court system is accumulating cases faster than they resolve, creating a growing backlog of 104 active cases.

Resolution by Case Type

Absorption rate measures the percentage of filed cases that have reached a terminal resolution (judgment, dismissal, settlement, or sale). A low absorption rate indicates a growing backlog of active cases in the court system. Resolution timing based on 0 resolved cases out of 104 total filings.

Property Type Distribution

43.2% of distressed properties are classified as Single Family, followed by Residential (22.7%). Notably, Guardianship filings skew toward Agricultural (33.3%).

Property classifications from county assessor records for 88 properties (84.6% of total filings). Categories normalized from assessor codes.

Case Aging & Stall Analysis

58 cases (55.8%) have been active for over a year without resolution. 23 filings in the last <30 days represent fresh opportunities.

Case aging computed from filing date to present for unresolved cases. Resolution classified from court docket entries (judgments, settlements, dismissals, sheriff sales). Cases with a resolution event are removed from the stall count.

Property Age & Distress Profile

75 filings (72.1% of scope) have year-built data. Pre-1960 properties are most common (37%). Newer properties (2000+) average $276,877 — 1.6x the value of Pre-1960 stock ($175,411).

Value trend: 2000+ properties average $276,877 — 1.58x the value of Pre-1960 stock ($175,411).

Construction year sourced from county tax assessor records. Value is assessed value from the most recent available tax assessment. Resolution timing based on court docket events.

Property Value Distribution

The median property value in distressed filings is $167,700, with the largest concentration (20.9%) in the Under $50K range. Probate filings have the highest median value ($173,600) while Pre-Foreclosure filings are lowest ($140,600).

Assessed property values from county assessor records for 91 properties (87.5% of total filings). Values reflect tax-assessed amounts, not market price.

Ownership Duration Before Filing

The median ownership duration before a court filing is 8.0 years, with 36.6% of owners holding the property 10+ years (a strong equity signal for investors).

Duration calculated from last recorded property sale to court filing date for 41 properties (39.4% of total filings). Longer ownership often correlates with higher equity.

Serial distressed properties in DeKalb County

Of 86 unique properties in court filings, 5 (5.8%) have multiple filings. Average time between repeat filings: 7 months. Probate properties have the highest repeat rate at 8.7%.

Serial distress rate by case type

Analysis based on 86 unique property addresses across court filings. Serial distressed properties have 2 or more distinct case filings at the same address.

Land vs improvement value composition

Across 71 properties with assessed value breakdowns, the median land share is 16.0% (median land value $36,000, median improvement value $153,000). 2 properties (2.8%) are land-dominant (50%+ land value) — potential teardown or vacant-lot targets. Probate cases skew most land-heavy (median 16.8%) while Divorce skews most improvement-heavy (16.1%).

Land share distribution

Land share by case type

Analysis of 71 properties (68.3% of filings) with assessed land and improvement value breakdowns.

Prior sale value trajectory

Across 54 properties with purchase and assessed value data, the median value change since purchase is +64.4%. 15 properties (27.8%) are underwater (current assessed value below purchase price). Short-hold owners (<5 yr) show a median -6.3% value change vs +177.3% for long-hold (10+ yr). Pre-Foreclosure cases have the highest underwater rate (45.5%) while Divorce has the lowest (28.1%).

Value change distribution

Holding period vs value change

Value trajectory by case type

Analysis of 54 properties (51.9% of filings) with both prior sale price and current assessed value data.

Why these filings are invisible on most public foreclosure sites

The largest public foreclosure-aggregator interfaces surface only post-auction bank-owned properties in Indiana. Pre-foreclosure court filings are not visible to their non-paying users. Keystone tracks the court filing the day it hits the docket, weeks or months before any property reaches the auction stage those aggregators surface.

Methodology and full audit: Court-vs-aggregator coverage gap report.

Methodology and data sources

• Court filings are collected directly from DeKalb County court records, which are public information.
• Every filing in this dataset has been verified for current owner-of-record. Entity-owned filings (LLCs, trusts, banks) and properties where the named party is not the current owner are excluded.
• Property value figures come from third-party enrichment (71% coverage on this dataset).
• Individual case data, defendant names, and property addresses are not published. Reports show aggregated statistics only.
• The methodology page at /reports/methodology documents data sources, sample sizes, and known limitations in detail.
• This report was generated 2026-07-14 from the live database. Numbers reflect the dataset at that moment.

Top cities for filings within DeKalb County

Where filings concentrate inside DeKalb County, by parsed property city or township.

Share is computed against filings with a parsed property city (not against total DeKalb County filings — addresses missing the city portion are excluded from the denominator). Top 5 shown; smaller cities aggregate into the long tail.

Related Indiana guides

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