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Wells County, Indiana Court Filings Intelligence

Live court-record analysis of property-related filings (foreclosure, probate, divorce, partition, guardianship). Data sourced direct from Wells County court dockets. Updated 2026-07-15. See methodology.

Investor takeaway

About Wells County

Wells County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 28,180. Its seat of government is Bluffton. Wells County is included in the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Fort Wayne—Huntington—Auburn Combined Statistical Area.

Source: Wikipedia

At a glance

1306 verified property-related court filings tracked across 62 months (Jan 2020 to Jul 2026).

0% of filings involve owners whose mailing address differs from the property address (1 of 1306 filings).

$197,300 median estimated property value across the 1 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 typeFilingsShare
Divorce 540 41.3%
Probate 418 32.0%
Pre-Foreclosure 132 10.1%
Guardianship 118 9.0%
Partition 98 7.5%

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

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Monthly filing activity

MonthFilingsvs prior
Jan 2020 22
Feb 2020 23 +1
Mar 2020 22 -1
Apr 2020 21 -1
May 2020 12 -9
Jun 2020 30 +18
Jul 2020 24 -6
Aug 2020 23 -1
Sep 2020 16 -7
Oct 2020 14 -2
Nov 2020 17 +3
Dec 2020 22 +5
Jan 2021 21 -1
Feb 2021 24 +3
Mar 2021 28 +4
Apr 2021 17 -11
May 2021 29 +12
Jun 2021 25 -4
Jul 2021 17 -8
Aug 2021 26 +9
Sep 2021 15 -11
Oct 2021 27 +12
Nov 2021 17 -10
Dec 2021 16 -1
Jan 2022 22 +6
Feb 2022 18 -4
Mar 2022 36 +18
Apr 2022 29 -7
May 2022 26 -3
Jun 2022 30 +4
Jul 2022 23 -7
Aug 2022 23 0
Sep 2022 29 +6
Oct 2022 22 -7
Nov 2022 20 -2
Dec 2022 19 -1
Jan 2023 18 -1
Feb 2023 17 -1
Mar 2023 26 +9
Apr 2023 26 0
May 2023 22 -4
Jun 2023 24 +2
Jul 2023 16 -8
Aug 2023 25 +9
Sep 2023 26 +1
Oct 2023 27 +1
Nov 2023 21 -6
Dec 2023 26 +5
Apr 2024 11 -15
Sep 2024 18 +7
Nov 2024 21 +3
Dec 2024 8 -13
Feb 2025 21 +13
Jun 2025 4 -17
Aug 2025 12 +8
Sep 2025 15 +3
Oct 2025 14 -1
Jan 2026 27 +13
Feb 2026 24 -3
Mar 2026 27 +3
Jun 2026 14 -13
Jul 2026 11 -3

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 Wells County account for 0.8% of all tracked filings, showing where distressed real estate activity clusters.

ZIPCityFilingsShare
46714 BLUFFTON 7 0.5%
46766 Liberty Center 2 0.2%
46777 1 0.1%

Based on filings with a parseable property address (1% of Wells County filings).

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Property value distribution

Estimated valueFilingsShare
$150k - $250k 1 100.0%

Source: third-party property enrichment (0% coverage on Wells County filings). Median $197,300; mean $197,300.

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Day-of-week filing pattern

DayFilingsShare
Sun 4 0.3%
Mon 283 21.7%
Tue 257 19.7%
Wed 262 20.1%
Thu 245 18.8%
Fri 242 18.5%
Sat 13 1.0%

Filings cluster Monday through Friday, with weekend filings essentially absent (court system closed). Computed for 1306 filings with a parseable date.

Building characteristics

Per-property details from third-party property enrichment, aggregated across the 10 filings with characteristic data:

IndicatorValue
Median lot size3090.0 acres
Owner-occupied (at time of enrichment)0.0%

Housing stock + distress signals

Underlying housing stock and distress indicators across all 12003 Wells County housing units, from US Census ACS 5-year data. National reference values shown for context.

Indicator Wells County US average
Vacancy rate (incl. seasonal + for-sale)5.4%10.5%
Share of owner-occupied units carrying a mortgage61.6%60.8%
Pre-1940 housing stock29.5%12.3%
Single-family detached share of housing stock78.1%61.2%
Residents age 65 or older18.4%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. Wells County sits within the Fort Wayne, 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$750
1-bedroom$755
2-bedroom$991
3-bedroom$1,203
4-bedroom$1,393

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 Wells 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)172
Year-over-year change (2024 → 2025)+135.6%
Single-family share of permits (2025)41.9%
Single-family units permitted72
Multifamily units permitted (2+ units per building)100

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

Wells 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.

IndicatorValuePeriod
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 Wells 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.").

PlaintiffForeclosure filings
CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC 1

Source: plaintiff names extracted from Wells County foreclosure complaint text. Court records are public information.

Post-filing sale outcomes in Wells 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 10 filings (0.8% of all 1306 filings) where parcel-level tracking is available.

30.0%
of tracked properties sold post-filing
182
median days from filing to sale
$215,000
median post-filing sale price
1.09x
sale price vs. assessed value

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 1 33.3%
91–180 days 0 0.0%
181–365 days 2 66.7%
Over 1 year 0 0.0%

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 5 2 40.0%

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. 66.7% of confirmed sales were directly driven by the filing.

Attribution Meaning Sales Share
Filing-driven Sale occurred as a direct result of the court filing (e.g., foreclosure auction, probate liquidation) 2 66.7%
Concurrent Sale recorded around the same time as the filing — likely related but not proven causal 1 33.3%

Source: county assessor and deed-transfer records cross-referenced with court filings by parcel ID. Sale outcomes tracked for 10 of 1306 filings (0.8% 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 540 41.3% +8.7%
Probate 418 32.0% -55.2%
Pre-Foreclosure 132 10.1% +160.0%
Guardianship 118 9.0% --
Partition 98 7.5% --

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 Mar and are lowest in Dec. Filing volume is relatively steady year-round.

Month Avg filings Relative
Jan 22
79%
Feb 21.2
76%
Mar 27.8
100%
Apr 20.8
75%
May 22.2
80%
Jun 21.2
76%
Jul 20
72%
Aug 21.8
78%
Sep 19.8
71%
Oct 20.8
75%
Nov 19.2
69%
Dec 18.2
65%

Average filings per calendar month across all observed years. Relative column shows each month as a percentage of the peak month (Mar), with a 1.5x 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
46714 Bluffton 7 0.5% --
46766 Liberty Center 2 0.2% --
46777 1 0.1% $197,300

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.

0.1%
Non-resident owners
Case type Total filings Non-resident %
Divorce 540 0.0%
Probate 418 0.0%
Pre-Foreclosure 132 0.8%
Guardianship 118 0.0%
Partition 98 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. Divorce, 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 34.1% 41.8% -7.7pp (falling)
Probate 24.4% 32.4% -8.0pp (falling)
Pre-Foreclosure 22.0% 9.6% +12.4pp (rising)
Guardianship 12.2% 8.9% +3.3pp
Partition 7.3% 7.3% +0.0pp

Distress diversity score: 2.15 (Shannon entropy; higher = more diverse distress sources). "Recent" = last 2 complete months; "Earlier" = all prior months.

Market Absorption & Turnover Analysis

1,306 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 1,306 active cases.

0.0%
Absorption Rate
1,306
Active Case Backlog
Month New Filings Resolved Net Inflow Absorption
Jan 2020 22 0 +22
0.0%
Feb 2020 23 0 +23
0.0%
Mar 2020 22 0 +22
0.0%
Apr 2020 21 0 +21
0.0%
May 2020 12 0 +12
0.0%
Jun 2020 30 0 +30
0.0%
Jul 2020 24 0 +24
0.0%
Aug 2020 23 0 +23
0.0%
Sep 2020 16 0 +16
0.0%
Oct 2020 14 0 +14
0.0%
Nov 2020 17 0 +17
0.0%
Dec 2020 22 0 +22
0.0%
Jan 2021 21 0 +21
0.0%
Feb 2021 24 0 +24
0.0%
Mar 2021 28 0 +28
0.0%
Apr 2021 17 0 +17
0.0%
May 2021 29 0 +29
0.0%
Jun 2021 25 0 +25
0.0%
Jul 2021 17 0 +17
0.0%
Aug 2021 26 0 +26
0.0%
Sep 2021 15 0 +15
0.0%
Oct 2021 27 0 +27
0.0%
Nov 2021 17 0 +17
0.0%
Dec 2021 16 0 +16
0.0%
Jan 2022 22 0 +22
0.0%
Feb 2022 18 0 +18
0.0%
Mar 2022 36 0 +36
0.0%
Apr 2022 29 0 +29
0.0%
May 2022 26 0 +26
0.0%
Jun 2022 30 0 +30
0.0%
Jul 2022 23 0 +23
0.0%
Aug 2022 23 0 +23
0.0%
Sep 2022 29 0 +29
0.0%
Oct 2022 22 0 +22
0.0%
Nov 2022 20 0 +20
0.0%
Dec 2022 19 0 +19
0.0%
Jan 2023 18 0 +18
0.0%
Feb 2023 17 0 +17
0.0%
Mar 2023 26 0 +26
0.0%
Apr 2023 26 0 +26
0.0%
May 2023 22 0 +22
0.0%
Jun 2023 24 0 +24
0.0%
Jul 2023 16 0 +16
0.0%
Aug 2023 25 0 +25
0.0%
Sep 2023 26 0 +26
0.0%
Oct 2023 27 0 +27
0.0%
Nov 2023 21 0 +21
0.0%
Dec 2023 26 0 +26
0.0%
Apr 2024 11 0 +11
0.0%
Sep 2024 18 0 +18
0.0%
Nov 2024 21 0 +21
0.0%
Dec 2024 8 0 +8
0.0%
Feb 2025 21 0 +21
0.0%
Jun 2025 4 0 +4
0.0%
Aug 2025 12 0 +12
0.0%
Sep 2025 15 0 +15
0.0%
Oct 2025 14 0 +14
0.0%
Jan 2026 27 0 +27
0.0%
Feb 2026 24 0 +24
0.0%
Mar 2026 27 0 +27
0.0%
Jun 2026 14 0 +14
0.0%
Jul 2026 11 0 +11
0.0%

Resolution by Case Type

Case Type Filed Resolved Absorption Avg Days
Divorce 540 0 0.0% n/a
Probate 418 0 0.0% n/a
Pre-Foreclosure 132 0 0.0% n/a
Guardianship 118 0 0.0% n/a
Partition 98 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 1306 total filings.

Case Aging & Stall Analysis

1,162 cases (89.0%) have been active for over a year without resolution. 19 filings in the last <30 days represent fresh opportunities.

1,162
Cases stalled 1yr+
89.0%
of all filings
1,306
Total tracked
Age Total Resolved Still active Resolution rate
<30 days 19 0 19 0.0%
30-90 days 6 0 6 0.0%
3-6 months 62 0 62 0.0%
6-12 months 57 0 57 0.0%
1-2 years 72 0 72 0.0%
2+ years 1,090 0 1,090 0.0%
Resolution speed by case type
Case type Total Resolved Rate Median days
Divorce 540 0 0.0%
Probate 418 0 0.0%
Pre-Foreclosure 132 0 0.0%
Guardianship 118 0 0.0%
Partition 98 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.

Repeat litigation patterns in Wells County

Of 1,206 unique property owners in court filings, 79 (6.6%) appear in multiple cases, including 14 with 3 or more filings. The most active repeat filer has 6 cases spanning 42 months. Guardianship cases have the highest repeat rate at 14.0%.

1,206
Unique owners
79
Repeat filers (2+ cases)
6.6%
Repeat rate
14
Serial filers (3+ cases)

Repeat rate by case type

Case type Repeat owners Total owners Repeat rate
Divorce 46 509 9.0%
Probate 41 390 10.5%
Pre-Foreclosure 2 130 1.5%
Guardianship 15 107 14.0%
Partition 2 97 2.1%

Analysis based on 1,206 unique owner names across court filings. Repeat filers are property owners appearing in 2 or more distinct cases.

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

Related Indiana guides

Indiana foreclosure process How to find leads in Indiana Top foreclosure counties in Indiana Indiana statewide analysis

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Cite: Keystone Court Data, "Wells County Indiana Court Filings Intelligence," 2026-07-15, https://keystonecourtdata.com/reports/wells-in-court-filings-intelligence · Download data (CSV)