How Properant Builds Its Data

Properant works from public records, linked parcel by parcel. These are the kinds of records behind the numbers:

Each record is attached to its parcel by the county’s assessor’s parcel number, so a property has one profile that carries its whole recorded history. A document that names several parcels is attached to each of them.

Most California foreclosures are non-judicial: the lender moves through recorded notices, and every step leaves a document in county records. Properant follows each property through those documents.

1. Notice of Default (NOD). The property enters pre-foreclosure the day the notice records. See the notice of default list.
2. Notice of Trustee Sale (NTS). An auction date is set and the property moves to the auction stage. Postponements and cancellations update as they record. See the trustee sale list.
3. Trustee’s Deed. The sale is complete. If title went back to the lender, the property is tracked as bank-owned. See the REO list.

A foreclosure leaves the active count when a document that resolves it records: a rescission of the notice, a release or reconveyance of the loan, a new loan that pays it off, or a trustee’s deed. One that goes quiet also leaves once its statutory timeline has run with nothing further recorded. Cures and cancellations are removed — a notice of default reinstated last month is not on the list.

Counts are of distinct documents and distinct properties. A single filing that covers several parcels is one filing, and the same notice is never counted twice.

A lien filing alone says nothing about whether the debt is still owed — that depends on whether a release was recorded later. Properant matches every loan and involuntary lien (judgments, federal and state tax liens, mechanics liens, utility liens, HOA assessment liens) against the releases, reconveyances and withdrawals recorded after it.

Matching uses every identifier the documents carry — document number, book and page, recording date, parcel, amount, and the names of the parties. Lenders sell and assign loans, so a release is checked against the loan’s whole chain of holders, not just the original lender. Releases recorded against a related parcel count too. A lien with no release on record stays open.

The same lien recorded against several owners of one property, or re-recorded for the exact same amount, counts once — so a single claim is never added up as several debts. See the property lien list.

Equity is an estimated market value minus what is still owed on the property. “Still owed” means every loan that remains open after release matching, each at its best current balance: the unpaid balance stated in a recorded notice of sale when there is one, otherwise an estimate from the loan’s recorded amount and age. A loan whose balance has reached zero is treated as paid off.

A loan recorded against several parcels at once is split across them by value, so one blanket loan does not make every parcel it touches look underwater. The same equity figure is used everywhere — the property profile, search filters, sorting and exports.

Daily. New recordings and assessment and tax changes are processed every night, and property profiles, lists and the public county and city pages refresh with them. A property leaves a list the day the county records the release, cure or sale that resolves it. Structure-fire reports refresh weekly. Tax-auction pages follow each county’s published sale list and track redemptions daily.

Every public page shows an “Updated” date: the day its counts were computed. The counts on this site were last computed October 15, 2026. County and city pages report a new change date to search engines only when their own numbers move, never just because a day passed.

To cite a Properant figure, quote it with the “Updated” date shown on the page it came from and link that page.

The monthly California Foreclosure Report counts foreclosure starts — distinct notices of default recorded during the month — and auction notices, statewide and for each county, by recording date. One filing covering several parcels is one start. Month-over-month and year-over-year changes compare the same counties.

Statewide totals are checked against independently published California foreclosure figures before an edition is released. Past editions stay on the page as first published, so nothing is silently rewritten.

Public pages publish aggregates: counts by county, city, ZIP code, month, property type and bid range, each dated. Lists also show a small curated set of sample properties, chosen by distress score, with the identifying details — owner, mailing address, parcel number, lender, contact information — hidden behind “See In App.” Tax-auction pages show counts only; the lot list itself is inside the product.

Full property records — owner, mailing address, open loans and liens, equity, foreclosure stage and auction details — are inside Properant, starting with a 7-day free trial.

If a record looks wrong, email support@properant.com with the address or parcel number. We fix the rule that produced the error for every property it affects, not just the one you found, and the fix carries through to every page that uses it. More ways to reach us are on the contact page.