Data updated October 12, 2026 · Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County Pre-Foreclosure Homes & Listings
Santa Cruz County has 74 properties in active pre-foreclosure: owners who have received a recorded foreclosure filing but haven't lost the home. That ranks #39 of 58 counties, 0.4% of California's pre-foreclosure pipeline. Both stages are tracked from the recorded documents themselves — notices of default in their reinstatement window and notices of trustee sale with an auction date set — with cured and cancelled filings removed.
Search These 74 Pre-Foreclosure Properties
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The Profile
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The full foreclosure pipeline
Every notice of default and trustee sale, statewide. Auction date, time, location, opening bid, and the trustee's phone number.
True equity
Valuation minus every open loan on record, estimated balances included. Filter for the equity range your strategy needs.
The Full Santa Cruz County Distress Pipeline
Santa Cruz County Foreclosure Filings By Month
Notices of default and trustee-sale notices recorded in Santa Cruz County over the last 12 months, counted from the recorded documents. Over that period the county recorded 159 notices of default and 81 sale notices; July 2026 was the busiest month with 28 filings. Default filings over the last three months are up 52% against the three before, and sale notices are down 9%.
| Month | Notices Of Default | Sale Notices |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 10 | 3 |
| August 2026 | 14 | 10 |
| July 2026 | 20 | 8 |
| June 2026 | 8 | 14 |
| May 2026 | 8 | 3 |
| April 2026 | 13 | 6 |
| March 2026 | 23 | 4 |
| February 2026 | 11 | 7 |
| January 2026 | 13 | 11 |
| December 2025 | 14 | 8 |
| November 2025 | 10 | 2 |
| October 2025 | 15 | 5 |
Recorded filings by recording month; the month in progress is shown in the text above, not the table. A filing is counted when it records, whether or not it is later cured or cancelled.
Santa Cruz County At A Glance
Santa Cruz County is home to about 266,021 people and is tracked parcel by parcel across every city and unincorporated community inside it. Across Santa Cruz County the platform is tracking 74 in pre-foreclosure, 56 under a notice of default and 18 with an auction date set.
The pressure is not spread evenly. Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Aptos, Boulder Creek and Felton carry 78% of it between them, out of 13 communities in the county.
By ZIP, 95076, 95006, 95060 and 95003 run heaviest. Pajaro Valley Joint Unified School District and San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District contain the largest shares.
What's on Every Property Record
Every property links to its owner and mailing address, every open loan with recorded amounts, the past-due figure from the default filing, scheduled auction details where a sale is set, other liens, and true equity — then the AI distress score ranks the county's deepest distress first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many active pre-foreclosures are there in Santa Cruz County?
Properant tracks 74 active pre-foreclosures in Santa Cruz County as of October 12, 2026 — ranked #39 of California's 58 counties — counted from recorded county documents with releases and cancellations removed.
Is a Santa Cruz County pre-foreclosure list better than an auction list?
They serve different strategies. Pre-foreclosure owners — especially at the NOD stage — still control the property and can sell, which is where direct outreach works. The auction subset matters when you plan to bid. This list holds both stages, separately filterable.
Can I download the Santa Cruz County list?
Yes. Inside Properant you can filter Santa Cruz County by city, equity, owner type, and every other signal, save the list, and export it — or upload your own list for matching and enrichment. The trial is free and requires no credit card.
Work Santa Cruz County Like You Live at the Recorder's Office
This page is one slice of it. Properant connects every parcel in California to its owner, open loans, liens and foreclosure stage — then scores and skip-traces the ones worth calling.
Want to search these 74 pre-foreclosure properties?
Explore the live Santa Cruz County pre-foreclosure database in Properant.
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