Howard County, Indiana Court Filings Intelligence
Live court-record analysis of property-related filings (foreclosure, probate, divorce, partition, guardianship). Data sourced direct from Howard County court dockets. Updated 2026-07-16. See methodology.
- Filing volume accelerating (+89.7%) — last 2 complete months (110 filings) vs prior 2 complete months (58 filings). Excludes the current calendar month (in progress).
- 41.3% of filings are Divorce — the dominant lead category in Howard County during the observed window.
About Howard County
Howard County is one of 92 counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,658. The county seat is Kokomo. Originally named Richardville County, it was renamed in 1846 to commemorate General Tilghman Ashurst Howard.
Source: Wikipedia
At a glance
4846 verified property-related court filings tracked across 58 months (Jan 2020 to Jul 2026).
85 typical monthly filing volume.
0% of filings involve owners whose mailing address differs from the property address (0 of 4846 filings).
$75,100 median estimated property value across the 7 filings with property-enrichment data (0% coverage).
3.2% Indiana unemployment rate (BLS, as of 2026-05). Filings should be read against the local-economy backdrop.
Filing type breakdown
| Filing type | Filings | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 2003 | 41.3% | |
| Probate | 1174 | 24.2% | |
| Guardianship | 619 | 12.8% | |
| Pre-Foreclosure | 590 | 12.2% | |
| Partition | 460 | 9.5% |
Each row is a distinct case verified for current owner-of-record before inclusion.
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Monthly filing activity
| Month | Filings | vs prior | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2020 | 108 | ||
| Feb 2020 | 89 | -19 | |
| Mar 2020 | 78 | -11 | |
| Apr 2020 | 61 | -17 | |
| May 2020 | 85 | +24 | |
| Jun 2020 | 95 | +10 | |
| Jul 2020 | 86 | -9 | |
| Aug 2020 | 89 | +3 | |
| Sep 2020 | 100 | +11 | |
| Oct 2020 | 94 | -6 | |
| Nov 2020 | 98 | +4 | |
| Dec 2020 | 73 | -25 | |
| Jan 2021 | 92 | +19 | |
| Feb 2021 | 86 | -6 | |
| Mar 2021 | 101 | +15 | |
| Apr 2021 | 115 | +14 | |
| May 2021 | 86 | -29 | |
| Jun 2021 | 96 | +10 | |
| Jul 2021 | 76 | -20 | |
| Aug 2021 | 83 | +7 | |
| Sep 2021 | 75 | -8 | |
| Oct 2021 | 87 | +12 | |
| Nov 2021 | 80 | -7 | |
| Dec 2021 | 83 | +3 | |
| Jan 2022 | 90 | +7 | |
| Feb 2022 | 86 | -4 | |
| Mar 2022 | 104 | +18 | |
| Apr 2022 | 103 | -1 | |
| May 2022 | 95 | -8 | |
| Jun 2022 | 88 | -7 | |
| Jul 2022 | 90 | +2 | |
| Aug 2022 | 109 | +19 | |
| Sep 2022 | 98 | -11 | |
| Oct 2022 | 90 | -8 | |
| Nov 2022 | 70 | -20 | |
| Dec 2022 | 73 | +3 | |
| Jan 2023 | 87 | +14 | |
| Feb 2023 | 115 | +28 | |
| Mar 2023 | 107 | -8 | |
| Apr 2023 | 65 | -42 | |
| May 2023 | 100 | +35 | |
| Jun 2023 | 91 | -9 | |
| Jul 2023 | 88 | -3 | |
| Aug 2023 | 101 | +13 | |
| Sep 2023 | 88 | -13 | |
| Oct 2023 | 113 | +25 | |
| Nov 2023 | 83 | -30 | |
| Dec 2023 | 71 | -12 | |
| Jan 2024 | 27 | -44 | |
| Feb 2024 | 81 | +54 | |
| Mar 2024 | 79 | -2 | |
| Apr 2024 | 89 | +10 | |
| May 2024 | 56 | -33 | |
| Jan 2026 | 38 | -18 | |
| Feb 2026 | 20 | -18 | |
| Mar 2026 | 35 | +15 | |
| Jun 2026 | 75 | +40 | |
| Jul 2026 | 25 | -50 |
Each row reflects new filings entering the dataset that month, after ownership verification. Most recent month may be partial.
Geographic concentration by ZIP
Top 3 ZIPs in Howard County account for 0.3% of all tracked filings, showing where distressed real estate activity clusters.
| ZIP | City | Filings | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46902 | Kokomo | 8 | 0.2% | |
| 46901 | Kokomo | 4 | 0.1% | |
| 46979 | Russiaville | 1 | 0.0% |
Based on filings with a parseable property address (0% of Howard County filings).
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Property value distribution
| Estimated value | Filings | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $75k | 3 | 42.9% | |
| $75k - $150k | 2 | 28.6% | |
| $250k - $400k | 1 | 14.3% | |
| $400k+ | 1 | 14.3% |
Source: third-party property enrichment (0% coverage on Howard County filings). Median $75,100; mean $285,443.
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Get owner names, phone numbers, and property details for every new filing in Howard County. One subscriber per county.
Day-of-week filing pattern
| Day | Filings | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 22 | 0.5% | |
| Mon | 957 | 19.7% | |
| Tue | 936 | 19.3% | |
| Wed | 919 | 19.0% | |
| Thu | 958 | 19.8% | |
| Fri | 1036 | 21.4% | |
| Sat | 18 | 0.4% |
Filings cluster Monday through Friday, with weekend filings essentially absent (court system closed). Computed for 4846 filings with a parseable date.
Building characteristics
Per-property details from third-party property enrichment, aggregated across the 16 filings with characteristic data:
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median lot size | 1550.0 acres |
| Owner-occupied (at time of enrichment) | 0.0% |
Housing stock + distress signals
Underlying housing stock and distress indicators across all 39795 Howard County housing units, from US Census ACS 5-year data. National reference values shown for context.
| Indicator | Howard County | US average |
|---|---|---|
| Vacancy rate (incl. seasonal + for-sale) | 11.7% | 10.5% |
| Share of owner-occupied units carrying a mortgage | 64.4% | 60.8% |
| Pre-1940 housing stock | 17.9% | 12.3% |
| Single-family detached share of housing stock | 75.9% | 61.2% |
| Residents age 65 or older | 19.6% | 17.3% |
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. Howard County sits within the Kokomo, IN. Used to set Section 8 voucher amounts; investors use it as a defensible rent-estimate floor for buy-to-rent underwriting.
| Unit size | Fair market rent / month |
|---|---|
| Efficiency / studio | $884 |
| 1-bedroom | $890 |
| 2-bedroom | $1,123 |
| 3-bedroom | $1,388 |
| 4-bedroom | $1,567 |
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 Howard County from the US Census Building Permits Survey. Trend signal on whether new housing demand is accelerating or contracting in this market.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Total housing units permitted (2025) | 106 |
| Year-over-year change (2024 → 2025) | -45.4% |
| Single-family share of permits (2025) | 100.0% |
| Single-family units permitted | 106 |
| Multifamily units permitted (2+ units per building) | 0 |
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
Howard 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.
| Indicator | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana home price index (year-over-year) | +4.3% | 2026-01-01 |
| Indiana home price index (cumulative since 2020) | +64.9% | 2026-01-01 |
| National mortgage delinquency rate (30+ day, single-family) | 1.89% | 2026-01-01 |
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.
Most active foreclosure plaintiffs in Howard County
Top mortgage holders and servicers named in foreclosure complaints filed in this county. Lender names are normalized to collapse common legal-suffix variants (e.g. "as Trustee for X Trust", "N.A.").
| Plaintiff | Foreclosure filings |
|---|---|
| EVERWISE CREDIT UNION | 1 |
Source: plaintiff names extracted from Howard County foreclosure complaint text. Court records are public information.
Post-filing sale outcomes in Howard 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 16 filings (0.3% of all 4846 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.
| Timeframe | Sales | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 30 days | 0 | 0.0% | |
| 31–90 days | 0 | 0.0% | |
| 91–180 days | 0 | 0.0% | |
| 181–365 days | 1 | 33.3% | |
| Over 1 year | 2 | 66.7% |
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.
| Filing type | Tracked | Sold | Sale rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 10 | 2 | 20.0% |
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. 33.3% of confirmed sales were directly driven by the filing.
| Attribution | Meaning | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deferred | Sale happened well after the filing (over 1 year) — weaker filing connection | 2 | 66.7% |
| Filing-driven | Sale occurred as a direct result of the court filing (e.g., foreclosure auction, probate liquidation) | 1 | 33.3% |
Source: county assessor and deed-transfer records cross-referenced with court filings by parcel ID. Sale outcomes tracked for 16 of 4846 filings (0.3% parcel coverage). Timing based on 3 sales with valid filing and sale dates. Prices based on 3 sales with recorded sale amounts.
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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.
| Case type | Total | Share | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 2003 | 41.3% | -41.2% |
| Probate | 1174 | 24.2% | -56.5% |
| Guardianship | 619 | 12.8% | -28.6% |
| Pre-Foreclosure | 590 | 12.2% | +44.0% |
| Partition | 460 | 9.5% | -6.7% |
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 Oct and are lowest in Jan. Filing volume is relatively steady year-round.
| Month | Avg filings | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 73.7 | 77% |
| Feb | 79.5 | 83% |
| Mar | 84 | 88% |
| Apr | 86.6 | 90% |
| May | 84.4 | 88% |
| Jun | 89 | 93% |
| Jul | 85 | 89% |
| Aug | 95.5 | 99% |
| Sep | 90.2 | 94% |
| Oct | 96 | 100% |
| Nov | 82.8 | 86% |
| Dec | 75 | 78% |
Average filings per calendar month across all observed years. Relative column shows each month as a percentage of the peak month (Oct), with a 1.3x peak-to-trough ratio.
ZIP code distress hotspots
Distress is geographically dispersed across 3 ZIP codes, with no single area dominating.
| ZIP | Area | Filings | Share | Median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46902 | Kokomo | 8 | 0.2% | $57,200 |
| 46901 | Kokomo | 4 | 0.1% | $90,150 |
| 46979 | Russiaville | 1 | 0.0% | $250,100 |
Top 3 of 3 ZIP codes with filings.
Non-resident owner analysis
Most filings (100%) involve owner-occupied properties. The relatively low absentee rate suggests distress is primarily hitting homeowners, not institutional investors.
| Case type | Total filings | Non-resident % |
|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 2003 | 0.0% |
| Probate | 1174 | 0.0% |
| Guardianship | 619 | 0.0% |
| Pre-Foreclosure | 590 | 0.0% |
| Partition | 460 | 0.0% |
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.
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Distress composition and shifts
Pre-Foreclosure share is rising. Probate share is declining. High diversity in distress types suggests multiple independent factors driving court filings, not a single economic shock.
| Case type | Recent share | Earlier share | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 37.3% | 41.4% | -4.1pp |
| Pre-Foreclosure | 27.3% | 11.8% | +15.5pp (rising) |
| Probate | 14.5% | 24.5% | -10.0pp (falling) |
| Guardianship | 12.7% | 12.8% | -0.1pp |
| Partition | 8.2% | 9.5% | -1.3pp |
Distress diversity score: 2.12 (Shannon entropy; higher = more diverse distress sources). "Recent" = last 2 complete months; "Earlier" = all prior months.
Market Absorption & Turnover Analysis
43 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 43 active cases.
| Month | New Filings | Resolved | Net | Inflow | Absorption |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2024 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.0% | |
| Feb 2024 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 0.0% | |
| Mar 2024 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 0.0% | |
| Apr 2024 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 0.0% | |
| May 2024 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 0.0% | |
| Jan 2026 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 0.0% | |
| Feb 2026 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.0% | |
| Mar 2026 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 0.0% | |
| Jun 2026 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 0.0% | |
| Jul 2026 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 0.0% |
Resolution by Case Type
| Case Type | Filed | Resolved | Absorption | Avg Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 21 | 0 | 0.0% | n/a |
| Probate | 10 | 0 | 0.0% | n/a |
| Guardianship | 7 | 0 | 0.0% | n/a |
| Pre-Foreclosure | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | n/a |
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 43 total filings.
Case Aging & Stall Analysis
28 cases (65.1%) have been active for over a year without resolution. 9 filings in the last <30 days represent fresh opportunities.
| Age | Total | Resolved | Still active | Resolution rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <30 days | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0.0% |
| 3-6 months | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0.0% |
| 2+ years | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0.0% |
Resolution speed by case type
| Case type | Total | Resolved | Rate | Median days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | 21 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Probate | 10 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
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.
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 Howard 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 (0% 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 2026-07-16 from the live database. Numbers reflect the dataset at that moment.
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Cite: Keystone Court Data, "Howard County Indiana Court Filings Intelligence," 2026-07-16, https://keystonecourtdata.com/reports/howard-in-court-filings-intelligence · Download data (CSV)