How We Source and Maintain Foreclosure Data
Our data is only useful if you can trust where it comes from. This page explains exactly how Foreclosure Data Hub collects foreclosure, pre-foreclosure, and bank-owned (REO) records, how often we refresh them, what we verify, and the limits of what public foreclosure data can tell you.
Where the data comes from
Foreclosure data is fragmented by design. Every county, trustee, law firm, and asset manager publishes filings and sale notices in its own format and on its own schedule. We pull from public county records (Notices of Default and lis pendens), trustee and foreclosure-law-firm sale sites, government and private auction platforms, and lender/asset-manager REO listings, then normalize listing records into a consistent format. Our source categories are:
- County recorder and court records
- Recorded mortgage documents, notices of default, and lis pendens in supported Early Filings counties. This beta is separate from scheduled-sale listings.
- Sheriff and court sale calendars
- Judicial sale notices, auction schedules, opening bids, and reported postponements where published.
- Trustee and foreclosure law firm notices
- Public sale notices and scheduled trustee auctions, with fields and geographic reach varying by feed.
- Public legal notices
- Statutory foreclosure and sale notices published in local legal newspapers and public notice systems.
- Auction platforms
- National and regional auction inventories; one property can appear in more than one feed.
- Government and lender REO listings
- Bank-owned and agency-owned properties published by government housing programs, lenders, or asset managers.
The listing registry contains 46 configured feeds; this does not mean every feed has current inventory. Provider names remain private. Stable numbered feed IDs in the dashboard and API identify records without disclosing providers. The API exposes each feed's coverage tier and states where enumerated. See product facts and coverage for count definitions and trial terms.
How often it updates
The core listing pipeline is scheduled daily at 6 AM ET. Trustee-sale and county-filing pipelines have separate schedules; each published data page shows its own snapshot date. Each run re-pulls active filings and sale notices, adds new records, and updates statuses (for example, a property moving from pre-foreclosure to scheduled auction, or from auction to REO). Records that no longer appear at the source are aged out so the dashboard reflects what is currently active.
What we capture and standardize
Sources disagree on column names, date formats, and how addresses are written. For every record we normalize the address, parse the filing or auction date into a single format, extract the ZIP and county, classify the property by foreclosure stage, and attach a market valuation estimate where one is available. Owner details are included where the underlying public record provides them.
Accuracy and verification
We report records as they appear at the source and flag the source for every listing so you can trace it back. We do not invent records or inflate counts. When this site publishes a market statistic, such as a filing count or a month-over-month trend, it is computed from the records in our own database unless a third-party study is explicitly cited.
Limitations we are honest about
- Coverage depth varies by county. Some jurisdictions publish complete, timely records; others lag or publish little online, so volume by area is uneven.
- Valuations are estimates, not appraisals. Treat market valuations as a starting point for your own underwriting, not a guaranteed value.
- Public records can be delayed or amended. Auction dates get postponed and filings get withdrawn. Always confirm against the official county or trustee record before acting on a property.