Pre-foreclosure leads
Pre-foreclosure cold calling, done with care
An owner behind on the mortgage has a deadline, and often other buyers calling. We skip trace your pre-foreclosure list, call every owner while there is still time, and hand you the ones for whom selling is the right answer, with the timeline and the numbers.
Timing is the whole job
Where the owner is when we call
Behind on payments
Under federal mortgage servicing rules, a servicer generally cannot make the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days past due. Owners in this window still have every option: catching up, a loan modification, or a sale on their own terms.
The notice is filed
In judicial states the lender files a lawsuit and a lis pendens. In non-judicial states it records a notice of default or a notice of sale. These filings are public, and they are where most pre-foreclosure lists come from.
A sale date is set
The auction date is the hard deadline. From the first filing to the sale can take a few months in some states and more than a year in others, which is why the calls have to start early and keep going.
After the sale
Once the house sells at auction or goes back to the lender, the former owner can no longer sell it. Calls stop there.
On the call
What our callers find out
- Whether it is still theirs, and whether they live there. Owner-occupied, rented or empty changes the whole conversation.
- What they want. Keep the house, sell it, or buy time. A caller who listens to that is the one who gets the call back.
- The timeline, including a sale date if there is one and they are comfortable sharing it.
- Roughly what is owed and what they think it is worth. Equity decides whether a sale can solve the problem at all.
- Who else is on the title, because a spouse or co-owner has to agree to any sale.
Every call is recorded, and each owner who wants an offer reaches you the same day with these notes. The rest go on a follow-up schedule, because the deadline keeps moving.
Our rules
What we will not do on a pre-foreclosure call
No promise to stop the foreclosure
We are calling about buying a house, not saving it. Owners who want to keep the home are better served by their lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor, whose foreclosure help is free, and our callers say so.
No legal, credit or tax advice
Questions about bankruptcy, credit or a deficiency go to a professional. Our callers do not guess.
No pressure and no invented deadlines
The owner already has a real deadline. Adding a fake one costs trust and, in some states, legal trouble.
No re-dialing a clear no
An owner who asks not to be called again goes on the do-not-call list that day.
Rules that apply
Calling, and buying, from owners in foreclosure
The usual telemarketing rules apply to a pre-foreclosure list like any other: scrub the Do Not Call registry and your own do-not-call list, and call only during allowed hours. Our guide is real estate cold calling legal? covers them.
Buying is the part with extra rules. Several states regulate purchases from owners in foreclosure through equity purchaser or foreclosure rescue laws, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado among them, with required contract terms, disclosures and cancellation rights. Have your attorney check your purchase paperwork for each state you buy in. This page is general information, not legal advice.
How it works
Your list, our callers
Bring your pre-foreclosure list from your county filings or your data provider. We skip trace every owner to a phone number, scrub it against the Do Not Call registry and call it within days. Each seller who wants an offer reaches you the same day, and the rest are followed up on a schedule.
The questions we ask on every seller call are in 20 questions to ask motivated sellers, and how we follow up is in following up with motivated sellers.
Common questions
About pre-foreclosure leads
Where do pre-foreclosure lists come from?
From public filings: a lis pendens in judicial states, and a notice of default or notice of sale in non-judicial states. Investors pull them from the county court or recorder, or buy them from data providers that collect the filings.
Is it legal to cold call homeowners in pre-foreclosure?
Yes, under the same telemarketing rules as any other list: no numbers on the Do Not Call registry or your own do-not-call list, and calls only during allowed hours. Some states add rules for buying from an owner in foreclosure, so have your attorney review your contracts.
How fast should pre-foreclosure leads be called?
As soon as the filing is public. The owner has a sale date coming and other buyers calling, so the first useful conversation usually wins. Owners who are not ready get called again on a schedule until the sale date.
Can you call my pre-foreclosure list?
Yes. Send the list, we skip trace and scrub it, and a dedicated caller works it. Real estate investors get the first week of calling free.
Call your pre-foreclosure list while there is time
Real estate investors: your first week of calling is free. If we don’t hand you at least 3 sellers who want an offer, you pay nothing.