Pre-foreclosure lists: where they come from and what to check

How the list is built

A pre-foreclosure list starts with a public filing. After a borrower defaults, the lender or its trustee puts a notice on the record in the county where the home sits. A vendor collects those filings, matches each to a parcel, and removes records that are no longer active.

Two filing types feed the list. In non-judicial states the trustee records a notice of default (NOD) and later a notice of trustee sale at the county recorder. In judicial states the lender sues, and a lis pendens (a recorded notice that a lawsuit affects the property) goes on the record. The state decides which route applies.

The table shows five states with the statute that governs the filing. The Route column (judicial or non-judicial) is vendor-reported, taken from a property-data publisher's state table published 05/29/2026. The filing and timing columns come from the statute text.

State	Route (vendor-reported)	Public filing	What the statute sets
California	Non-judicial	Notice of default, recorded in each county where the property sits	3 months must pass after the NOD, and the sale cannot be earlier than 3 months and 20 days after it (Civil Code 2924)
Texas	Non-judicial	Notice of sale copy filed with the county clerk	Residential borrower gets at least 20 days to cure before notice of sale; notice at least 21 days before the auction (Property Code 51.002)
Florida	Judicial	Notice of lis pendens in the county official records	Expires 1 year after the action begins unless a court extends it (Fla. Stat. 48.23)
New York	Judicial	Notice of pendency, filed with the county clerk	Filed at least 20 days before a final judgment directing a sale (RPAPL 1331)
Illinois	Judicial	Notice of foreclosure, recorded in the county	Names the plaintiffs, case number, court, and title holders of record (735 ILCS 5/15-1503)

Federal servicing rules sit under all of it. A servicer may not make the first notice or filing for a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure unless the loan is more than 120 days delinquent (12 CFR 1024.41(f)). The rule has exceptions, including due-on-sale violations and a servicer joining another lienholder's action.

Timeline stages

Most lists tag each record with a stage. The stage tells you how much time the owner has left, so it drives the offer you can make.

• Day 0Lender or trustee records the NOD, or files the lawsuit and lis pendens.
• Waiting periodCalifornia requires at least 3 months after the NOD. Texas gives a residential borrower at least 20 days to cure before notice of sale. Judicial states run on the court calendar.
• Notice of saleThe sale date is set and posted. In Texas the notice runs at least 21 days.
• AuctionThe property sells or reverts to the lender. It leaves the pre-foreclosure file.

A worked California example: an NOD recorded on 01/05/2026 cannot lead to a sale before 3 months and 20 days later, which is 04/25/2026. A buyer who reaches the owner by day 30 (02/04/2026) still has at least 80 days before the earliest auction date.

Filters that matter

Filter	Common setting	Why
Stage	NOD or lis pendens only	Earliest, most time to negotiate
Days since filing	0 to 30 first, then 31 to 90	Fresh filings are the strongest leads per one practitioner guide
Equity	Positive, cutoff set by your buy box	Thin or negative equity leaves the owner little room to negotiate
Owner-occupied	Yes for hardship outreach, no for investor-owned	Changes the message
Loan amount	Below your buy box	Keeps offers inside what you can fund
Property type	Single family, condo, 2 to 4 units	Matches common buyers

The equity cutoff is a practitioner choice, not a rule. Equity is estimated from the last sale, the recorded liens, and a current value model, so treat it as a screen and not a fact.

What a record contains

A county filing gives you the property address, the lender, the borrower name, and the filing type and date. A county NOD page described by one vendor guide lists the property address, lender name, borrower name, and reason for default.

A vendor record adds more. One published vendor page lists owner name, property and mailing address, up to 5 ranked phone numbers, email, a value estimate, equity percentage, and years of ownership. Another lists primary and secondary owner names, landline and mobile numbers, Do Not Call status, and the lien holder and its contact information. Those fields are matched on, not recorded in, the filing.

What to check before you pay

1. Filing date freshness. Ask for the filing date on every sample row and for the vendor's refresh schedule. One vendor page says data availability varies by state, daily in some and "bi-weekly" in others.
2. Cured and sold removal. Ask how the vendor drops records when the owner reinstates, the home sells, or the auction occurs. One practitioner guide notes a property drops off when the owner catches up or the home goes to auction, and advises calling the servicer to confirm the default is active.
3. Duplicate filings. A property can carry a notice of default and a later notice of trustee sale, or a refiled lawsuit. Count unique parcels, not rows.
4. Expired lis pendens. A Florida notice expires after 1 year unless extended, so an old row can describe a dead case.
5. Mailing address. The same guide warns that county mailing addresses may be out of date. Run USPS NCOA before mailing.
6. Spot check. Take 25 sample rows from your county and look up 3 on the recorder site.

Price benchmarks

These are published ranges from vendors, not prices for any list on this site. They conflict across pages, so check the live page.

Vendor type	Published range	What it covers
Pay per lead	$0.10 per delivered lead	Skip trace on each record, filings from the last 6 months
Monthly subscription	$39 per month	Daily leads within 50 miles of a home ZIP, 100 augmentations included
County recorder	Free to per-document fee	Filing only, no phones

Cost example, with assumed response rates: 500 leads at $0.10 is $50. If 10% answer and 1 in 10 of those becomes an appointment, 50 contacts produce 5 appointments, or $10 per appointment before your time. Replace the assumed rates with your own.

Who uses it, and the compliance notes

Investors and wholesalers mail owners early and offer a fast, as-is close. Agents offer a short sale or a listing. Loss-mitigation attorneys and housing counselors reach owners before the sale date. Read direct mail prospecting and cold calling prospecting for sequences.

Rules that matter:

• Calls. The FTC says sellers and telemarketers may not call numbers on the registry unless an exception applies, and must sync lists at least every 31 days. The civil penalty is up to $53,088 per violation, and each call can be a separate one (FTC Q&A). A vendor that says its leads are scrubbed has not scrubbed on your calling date.
• Mail. The Do Not Call rules cover calls. Mail is the usual first touch.
• Foreclosure rescue. California defines a foreclosure consultant as anyone who offers, for compensation, to stop or postpone a foreclosure sale, get forbearance, or similar (Civil Code 2945.1). A consultant may not claim or collect compensation until all services are fully performed (Civil Code 2945.4). Buying a house outright is a different activity, but check each state before you pitch services. Other states have their own statutes.

Related lists and counts

Stack this list with absentee owner lists, high-equity homeowner lists, and vacant property lists. Distress also shows up in tax-delinquent lists and probate leads. For the base file, see the homeowner list and the absentee owner counts. The full set is in Lists.

Next step

Send the counties and filing types you want to get counts. We return a count of matching parcels.

Questions people ask

Q01What is the difference between a notice of default and a lis pendens?

A notice of default is recorded by the lender or trustee in states that foreclose outside court. A lis pendens is filed when the lender sues in court. Both are public, both mark the start of pre-foreclosure.

Q02Is a pre-foreclosure list the same as a foreclosure list of bank-owned homes?

No. Pre-foreclosure means the owner still holds title and the auction has not happened. Bank-owned (REO) homes have already gone through the sale. One vendor page says it excludes bank-owned and already-auctioned inventory from its pre-foreclosure leads.

Q03How do I confirm a filing is still active before I reach out?

Look the document up on the county recorder or court site and check for a later release, dismissal, or sale. One practitioner guide advises calling the servicer named on the notice of default. In Florida, a lis pendens older than 1 year has no effect unless a court extended it.

Q04How long does the pre-foreclosure window last?

It varies by state and by loan. California sets a floor of 3 months and 20 days from the notice of default to the earliest sale. Judicial states depend on the court calendar, and a Florida lis pendens expires after 1 year unless extended.

Q05Can I charge an owner to stop or delay a California foreclosure?

Not up front. California treats anyone who offers, for pay, to stop or postpone a foreclosure sale as a foreclosure consultant, and Civil Code 2945.4 bars collecting any fee until every promised service is fully performed. Buying the house outright is a separate activity.

Sources

1. 12 CFR 1024.41, loss mitigation procedures (CFPB), 120-day ruleconsumerfinance.gov
2. California Civil Code 2924, notice of default and sale timing (Statute text as published by FindLaw)codes.findlaw.com
3. California Civil Code 2945.1, foreclosure consultant definitioncodes.findlaw.com
4. California Civil Code 2945.4, no compensation before full performancecodes.findlaw.com
5. Texas Property Code 51.002, notice of sale and cure periodtcss.legis.texas.gov
6. Florida Statutes 48.23, lis pendensleg.state.fl.us
7. New York RPAPL 1331, notice of pendency in foreclosurenysenate.gov
8. Illinois 735 ILCS 5/15-1503, notice of foreclosureilga.gov
9. FTC Q&A for telemarketers about the Do Not Call provisionsftc.gov
10. Pre-foreclosure properties by state, judicial vs non-judicial (published 05/29/2026) (Vendor-reported classification)dealmachine.com
11. How to find pre-foreclosure leads from county records (Vendor-reported)goliathdata.com
12. Pre-foreclosure lead vendor page, per-lead price and record fields (Vendor-reported)tracerfy.com
13. Pre-foreclosure lead vendor page, monthly price and filing-type filters (Vendor-reported)archagent.com