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Definition/Description
Term/Tip
Docket Number
A number, sequentially assigned by the court clerk at the start of a lawsuit. The Docket number is used by the court to track a pending lawsuit as it travels through the system.
This number should be listed on all papers that are filed with the court.
Sheriff Number
Most sheriff departments use their own independent numbering system. These numbers can be found in most public notices and sheriff lists.
Use the sheriff number to reference properties when calling the local sheriffs department to ask questions in your research.
Lot and Block
A description of real property that identifies a parcel of land by reference to lot and block numbers within a subdivision, as specified on a plat of subdivision duly recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds.
The lot and block is useful when calling the local tax offices to see if there is an outstanding balance due. The Sheriff is supposed to announce if there are outstanding taxes, but there are times when the amounts are wrong or they forget to mention them at all.
Defendant
The person for whom relief or recover is sought in an action or suit; also, the accused in a criminal case; the person or entity who is being foreclosed on.
The defendant is the person or entity who owns the house. The defendant can also be a lien holder in in 2nd or 3rd position. When beneficial, you can buy the house from the defendant before it goes to sale.
Plaintiff
A plaintiff" means a person who brings a civil action or who sues in a civil action and is so named in the record.
The Plaintiff is the party holding the loan that is in default. Banks and financial institutions will be the plaintiff in most foreclosures because they are the parties loaning the money.
Plaintiff’s Attorney
The plaintiff’s attorney (or also called the foreclosing attorney) handles all legal representation required for the plaintiff.
A Plaintiff must follow certain procedures when foreclosing a loan and for this process they use an attorney.
Judgment
A judgment is a court’s final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties to a case.
The Judgment amount is the total dollar amount owed to the plaintiff at the time the judgment is entered. Judgments on this web site are generally lower then the payoff of the loan. The reason for this is that principal/interest payments are always being calculated into the loan until it is paid off.
Release Date
The release date refers to the first date the public notice was in the newspaper or the first date the sheriff list was available to the public.
A Public Notice is advertised 4 times, the first date it is advertised would be the release date. Refer to the Public Notice Schedule to determine these dates and conduct your searches accordingly.
A Sheriff List is released on a specific day for each county, these days are the release dates. Refer to the Sheriff List Schedule to determine these dates and conduct your searches accordingly.
Sale Date
All properties are scheduled to be sold on dates specific to each county. Reference the Sheriff Sale Schedule to determine these dates and conduct your searches accordingly.
Properties are generally posted 4 weeks prior to the sale date. A good rule to remember is that release dates and the initial sale dates run 4 weeks apart. So if you wanted to see properties scheduled 4 weeks in the future, you could also search for the newest release date in that county to get the same results.
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