Court Records and Distressed-Property Glossary
Plain-English definitions of court-filing terms that appear in our reports. Each term includes how the filing translates into a real-estate-investor lead.
Pre-Foreclosure
The stage between a lender filing a foreclosure complaint with the county court and the property being sold at a sheriff sale or other auction. The homeowner still holds title and often has significant equity. This is the earliest investor-actionable stage of distress.
Investor angle: the homeowner has a motivation deadline (the auction) but options (sell, refinance, modify). The earlier in the process you reach them, the more options exist and the less competition you face.
Foreclosure
The legal process by which a lender takes ownership of a property when the borrower fails to keep up with mortgage payments. In judicial-foreclosure states (Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania), the lender must file a complaint in court; in non-judicial states, the process happens outside the court system.
Investor angle: the public court filing is the earliest reliable signal in judicial-foreclosure states. In our coverage states, every foreclosure starts as a court complaint.
Lis Pendens
Latin for "suit pending." A formal notice filed with the county recorder that a lawsuit affecting a particular property is in progress. In foreclosure context, a lis pendens is typically filed shortly after the foreclosure complaint hits the docket.
Investor angle: by the time a lis pendens hits the recorder, the case has already been on the court docket for days or weeks. Court records give you the earlier signal.
Notice of Default
A formal notice issued by a lender indicating that a borrower has failed to make mortgage payments. In some states this is filed publicly; in others it remains internal to the lender until the foreclosure complaint is filed in court.
Investor angle: not consistently public. The court filing is the more reliable trigger in judicial-foreclosure states.
Probate
The court-supervised process of administering a deceased person's estate, including the distribution of any real estate owned by the decedent. Heirs typically prefer to sell inherited property rather than carry the taxes and upkeep, making probate cases a common source of motivated sellers.
Investor angle: the executor named in the probate filing is the decision-maker. They often want a quick close so the estate can be settled.
Pre-Probate
The window between the death of a property-owning homeowner and the formal opening of a probate case in court. The family may want to sell the home before incurring legal fees. Identified through obituary monitoring cross-referenced against property ownership records.
Investor angle: this is the earliest, lowest-competition window in the estate-property lifecycle. Once a probate case is filed and lawyers are retained, the process slows and competition grows.
Partition Action
A court-ordered process for forcing the sale or division of jointly-owned real estate when the co-owners cannot agree. Common after divorces, inheritance disputes, and dissolved business partnerships. The owners typically want out.
Investor angle: the parties may be willing to sell at a discount just to end the litigation. The court controls the process timeline.
Guardianship
A court-appointed authority for managing the affairs of an incapacitated adult. When the guardian has authority to sell the real property of the incapacitated person, the home is often sold to fund their care.
Investor angle: the guardian (often a family member or court-appointed professional) is the decision-maker. The home is typically vacant or near-vacant, simplifying showings.
Tax Sale
A public auction of a property whose owner has fallen behind on property taxes. The buyer purchases a tax-sale certificate that gives them rights to the property if the owner does not redeem (pay back taxes plus interest) within a state-specified window.
Investor angle: owners on the verge of a tax sale often have real equity and are willing to sell at a discount before they lose the property.
Sheriff Sale
A public auction of a property held by the county sheriff, typically after a foreclosure judgment has been entered. The proceeds satisfy the lender's claim. Often the final step before the property becomes bank-owned (REO).
Investor angle: by sheriff-sale stage, the homeowner has typically lost ownership. The opportunity has moved to the auction itself or to the post-auction REO.
REO (Real Estate Owned)
Property owned by a lender (typically a bank) after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction. The lender holds title and typically lists the property for sale on the open market. REO inventory is what most public aggregator interfaces show in foreclosure-state contexts.
Investor angle: REO is the latest stage of distress. The homeowner is out of the picture; the seller is the bank. By this stage, the property may have been sitting empty for months.
Divorce / Dissolution of Marriage
Court proceeding to legally end a marriage. When the parties own real estate together, the case usually requires either selling the home or transferring it between the parties. A material source of motivated sellers.
Investor angle: divorcing parties typically need to liquidate jointly-owned property to settle the estate. Speed and certainty often matter more than top-dollar price.
Quiet Title
A court action to resolve disputed ownership of real estate. The party initiating the case is typically trying to clear title clouds (tax liens, missing heir issues, prior mortgages) so the property can be sold.
Investor angle: the filer is preparing the property for sale. Reaching them as the case clears can position you as the buyer.
Owner-Occupied vs Absentee Owner
Owner-occupied means the property owner lives at the property. Absentee (non-resident) owner means the owner's mailing address differs from the property address. Does not equal rental property — the owner may have moved temporarily, inherited the property and not occupied it yet, or maintained a separate mailing address.
Investor angle: absentee-owner properties skew toward higher motivation to sell because the owner has logistical friction maintaining a property they do not live at.
Where to see these filings in our data
Every term above maps to a filing type we track in our court-records intelligence reports. State reports show the full filing mix per state; county reports show per-county breakdowns. Browse the top markets ranking for a fast tour.