People who can't make their mortgage payments never want to go into foreclosure – most are looking for ways to get out from under a property without creating long-term damage to their credit scores. If you can search public records at your local courthouse, you're likely to find delinquent mortgages.
Property sales records
Usually, you can find out who the current owner is and how much they still owe on their mortgage too. You might have to pay a small fee to get a report from your recorder's office.
Mortgages and related documents, including mortgage notes, are generally considered public records.
Go to Property Auctions
One of the most popular ways to find distressed properties is to visit property auctions where you can find properties that have been repossessed by lenders or banks. Check county court records, websites, newspapers, or direct advertising.
Generally, the legal foreclosure process can't start until you are at least 120 days behind on your mortgage. After that, once your servicer begins the legal process, the amount of time you have until an actual foreclosure sale varies by state. If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments, act quickly.
Visit your county's recorder's office.
Once you've found your local records office, you can search for the property by the homeowner's name. Some offices maintain their records in print form, while others have switched to digital archives. Don't be afraid to ask the office clerk if you need assistance.
Property deed: This document proves that you are the sole property owner. A certificate of satisfaction: Your local recorder or county clerk issues this document showing that you've paid off the loan on your property.
A notice of default is a public record registered with your local property records office, communicating that the lender has notified the borrower of their intent to pursue foreclosure. However, before a homeowner receives a NOD, they usually miss several mortgage payments consecutively.
The National Mortgage Database (NMDB) is the first component of the National Mortgage Database program. NMDB is updated quarterly for a nationally representative five percent sample of closed-end first-lien residential mortgages in the United States.
Undiscovered liens can result in high fines and even foreclosure on the home you worked so hard to obtain. Creditors should make all possible attempts to notify property owners of liens placed on their property but some liens can still go unnoticed so homeowners must take steps to protect themselves.
To get a better sense of whether products are being taken out in your name, you should be checking your credit reports. These are detailed listings of every form of credit in your name. So, if someone has got a credit card, loan or other product by pretending to be you, it should show up.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
HMDA requires many financial institutions to maintain, report, and publicly disclose information about mortgages. The Bureau has released the 2025 Online FIG and Online Supplemental Guide for Quarterly Filers for 2025, which are available here.
In most states, you can typically conduct a property lien search by address with the county recorder, clerk, or assessor's office online. The search for liens is free, though you may have to pay a small fee for a copy of the report, which will vary by county.
If you miss one mortgage payment, lenders will often issue you a 15-day grace period to pay without incurring a penalty. If you miss four consecutive mortgage payments (or are 120 days late), most lenders begin the process of foreclosure on your home.
Foreclosure is typically triggered after you miss three payments—that is, you go 90 days past due on your mortgage. A final foreclosure order, requiring you to vacate the property, takes at least another 30 days, by which time you'll have missed a total of four payments.
When you're ready to find out if the homeowners have delinquent mortgage payments, you can find this information in county court records. As you might suspect, delinquent mortgage payments are the primary sign that a property is in distress.
While defaulting on any loan should be avoided, a mortgage default may lead to foreclosure and losing your home. Even if you can resolve the mortgage default, it will still damage your credit score and make it challenging to qualify for future loans.
NETR Online is an excellent source to start with. Not only does it offer a paid public records search, but it will also link you to an assessor's office in your state where you may be able to access the information for free. In some cases, you will need to enter the property owner's name to conduct a search.
In most cases, the lien holder (the lender in this case) should send the release to be recorded within 30-90 days. If you aren't sure what the requirements are in your area, reach out to your real estate agent, title agent, or real estate attorney for guidance.
You can write off certain parts of your mortgage payment, like interest and property taxes, but not your entire mortgage payment.
Throughout the foreclosure process, various legal notices must be filed in your County Recorder's Office. This information is public record and available to anyone. Just visit your county's office and you can search for a Notice of Default (NOD), lis pendens or Notice of Sale. Two benefits to searching public records?
A notice of default is a public notice filed with a court or local recording office to begin the process of foreclosure. A mortgage lender or servicer can file this notice after four months (120 days) of missed mortgage payments.