Distressed Property Lead Scraper - Probate & Foreclosure

Distressed Property Lead Scraper - Probate & Foreclosure

Scrape probate, foreclosure, sheriff sale, tax lien, and tax sale leads straight from US county and state government open-data portals — no login, scraping challenges, or CAPTCHAs involved, because it's all public data served through official APIs.

Queries 24 verified Socrata open-data portals across 12 states, classifies matching datasets by event type, and normalizes every row into one 30-field schema — case number, owner/defendant name, property address, sale date, and an estimated-equity calculation when the source publishes both value and mortgage figures.

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Copy this block into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any LLM to start using this actor.

parsebird/distressed-property-scraper on Apify. Call: ApifyClient("TOKEN").actor("parsebird/distressed-property-scraper").call(run_input={...}), then client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items for results. Key inputs: eventTypes (array, default [] = all, one or more of "probate"/"foreclosure"/"sheriff_sale"/"tax_lien"/"tax_sale"), states (array of US two-letter codes, default [] = all covered states), counties (array of county names e.g. "King"/"Cook"/"Orleans", case-insensitive, default [] = all), dateFrom/dateTo (ISO "YYYY-MM-DD", filters sale_date or filing_date), minEstimatedEquity (integer USD, 0 = off), onlyOwnerOccupied (boolean, default false), maxItems (integer, default 100). Output fields: event_id, event_type, source_url, dataset_name, domain, county, state, filing_date, sale_date, case_number, decedent_name, executor_name, attorney_name, defendant_name, plaintiff_name, property_address, parcel_apn, property_type, estimated_value_usd, mortgage_balance_usd, lien_amount_usd, opening_bid_usd, winning_bid_usd, owner_occupied, property_equity_estimate_usd, status, lat, lng, raw_source_fields (original row, JSON-encoded). Full actor spec: fetch build via GET https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parsebird~distressed-property-scraper (Bearer TOKEN). Get token: https://console.apify.com/account/integrations

What does Distressed Property Lead Scraper do?

This Actor queries the Socrata open-data network — the same backend used by data.cityofnewyork.us, data.nola.gov, datacatalog.cookcountyil.gov, and dozens of other county and state portals. It searches a curated, verified list of 24 of these portals for datasets matching your requested event type(s), pages through each match, and normalizes the wildly heterogeneous source columns (cdccasenumber, propertyaddress, house_number + street_name, physadd, block + lot, and more) into one consistent schema.

• 📍 24 verified portals across 12 states — LA, WA, MD, CT, IL, MA, CO, CA, NY, NJ, OR, PA, TX
• 🏛️ 5 event types — probate, foreclosure, sheriff sale, tax lien, tax sale
• 🧩 Column normalization — case numbers, party names, addresses, parcel IDs, and dollar amounts get mapped to one schema regardless of how each source portal names them
• 💰 Equity estimation — when a source publishes both an assessed value and a mortgage balance, property_equity_estimate_usd is calculated automatically
• 🔎 Precision-filtered — administrative/procedural datasets that merely mention an event type (lender exemption affidavits, grant-award lists, election results) are excluded; so are aggregate statistics tables that have no identifying case or property behind each row
• ⏱️ Scheduling — run this Actor daily or weekly via Apify Scheduler to catch newly filed cases as county portals update
• 🔌 API access — trigger runs and pull results programmatically via the Apify API or client libraries
• 🔗 Integrations — connect to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, Slack, and webhooks without writing code
• 📊 Flexible export — download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or query them via API

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
event_type	probate, foreclosure, sheriff_sale, tax_lien, or tax_sale
state / county	US state code; county name when the portal is county-scoped, null for city/state-level portals
case_number	Court case or docket number
defendant_name / plaintiff_name	Defendant/debtor/owner and plaintiff/creditor/lender, when the source labels them
decedent_name / executor_name / attorney_name	Probate-specific party names
property_address / parcel_apn	Street address and assessor parcel number, assembled from split columns when needed
filing_date / sale_date	Filing/recording/notice date and scheduled or completed sale date
estimated_value_usd / mortgage_balance_usd / property_equity_estimate_usd	Assessed value, outstanding mortgage, and the calculated equity gap (only when the source publishes both figures)
opening_bid_usd / winning_bid_usd	Auction bid amounts
owner_occupied	true/false when the source marks homestead/owner-occupancy status
raw_source_fields	The original source row, JSON-encoded, so nothing the source publishes is ever lost

Field population depends entirely on what each source portal publishes — a NYC tax lien list and a Louisiana sheriff sale record don't share the same columns. raw_source_fields always preserves the original row for anything the unified schema doesn't cover.

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
eventTypes	array	[] (all)	One or more of probate, foreclosure, sheriff_sale, tax_lien, tax_sale
states	array	[] (all)	US two-letter state codes. Filters source portals by geographic scope
counties	array	[] (all)	County names, e.g. King, Cook, Orleans. Case-insensitive
dateFrom / dateTo	string	""	ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD). Keeps records with a sale_date or filing_date in range
minEstimatedEquity	integer	0	Drops records where estimated_value_usd − mortgage_balance_usd is below this USD amount. 0 disables the filter
onlyOwnerOccupied	boolean	false	Drops records where owner-occupancy can't be verified true from the source
maxItems	integer	100	Hard cap on records returned, counted across all datasets
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify proxy off	Socrata endpoints are open, unauthenticated APIs — proxies aren't needed. Leave the default

Output example

{
  "event_id": "data.nola.gov:d52w-8nva:2012-5883",
  "event_type": "sheriff_sale",
  "source_url": "https://data.nola.gov/d/d52w-8nva",
  "dataset_name": "Sheriff Sales - Lien Foreclosures",
  "domain": "data.nola.gov",
  "county": "Orleans",
  "state": "LA",
  "filing_date": null,
  "sale_date": null,
  "case_number": "2012-5883",
  "decedent_name": null,
  "executor_name": null,
  "attorney_name": null,
  "defendant_name": "GREGORY DELORIMIER/ MILDRED C DELORIMIER / KIM DELORIMIER/ GAIL C GILBERT/ DEBORAH ZANCA/ MICHAEL DELORIMIER",
  "plaintiff_name": "CITY OF NEW ORLEANS",
  "property_address": "5300 LAFAYE STREET",
  "property_address_normalized": "5300 LAFAYE STREET",
  "parcel_apn": null,
  "property_type": null,
  "estimated_value_usd": null,
  "mortgage_balance_usd": null,
  "lien_amount_usd": null,
  "opening_bid_usd": null,
  "winning_bid_usd": 0,
  "owner_occupied": null,
  "property_equity_estimate_usd": null,
  "status": "Pending",
  "lat": null,
  "lng": null,
  "raw_source_fields": "{\"cdccasenumber\":\"2012-5883\",\"defendant\":\"GREGORY DELORIMIER\",...}"
}

Download results in JSON, CSV, or Excel directly from the Apify Console, or pull them programmatically via the API.

Use cases

• Direct mail / lead generation — build targeted lists of probate, foreclosure, or tax-sale leads by state and county for real estate investors and agents
• Skip tracing pipelines — feed defendant/decedent names and last-known addresses into your enrichment or skip-tracing workflow
• Market research — track foreclosure and tax-sale volume trends across counties over time with scheduled runs
• Equity-targeted outreach — filter on minEstimatedEquity to find properties where a source portal publishes both value and mortgage data
• Compliance and due diligence — cross-reference case numbers and parties before making an offer

How it works

1. Go to the Distressed Property Lead Scraper page on Apify Store
2. Click Try for free — new users get a free trial to test the Actor before paying
3. Choose your event types (or leave empty for all 5) and optionally filter by state/county
4. Optionally set dateFrom/dateTo, minEstimatedEquity, or onlyOwnerOccupied to narrow the feed
5. Click Start — the Actor searches the Socrata catalog for matching datasets, pages through each one, and normalizes every row
6. When the run finishes, download your leads as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or fetch them via the API

Use with the Apify API

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("parsebird/distressed-property-scraper").call(run_input={
    "eventTypes": ["foreclosure", "sheriff_sale", "tax_lien"],
    "states": ["LA", "NY"],
    "maxItems": 500,
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"{item['event_type']} - {item['state']}/{item['county']} - {item.get('property_address') or item.get('case_number')}")

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('parsebird/distressed-property-scraper').call({
    eventTypes: ['foreclosure', 'sheriff_sale', 'tax_lien'],
    states: ['LA', 'NY'],
    maxItems: 500,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.log(`${item.event_type} - ${item.state}/${item.county} - ${item.property_address || item.case_number}`);
});

See the Apify API documentation for full reference, or the Actor's API tab for ready-to-run request snippets in more languages.

How much does it cost to run?

This Actor uses Pay-per-event pricing — you only pay for leads actually returned, with no separate platform rental fee.

Plan	Price per event	Price per 1,000
Free	$0.0011	$1.10
Bronze	$0.00099	$0.99
Silver	$0.00089	$0.89
Gold	$0.00079	$0.79

One lead-scraped event is charged for each record successfully normalized and pushed to the dataset. A 100-lead run costs about $0.11 on the Free plan or $0.079 on Gold; a 5,000-lead multi-county sweep costs about $5.50 (Free) to $3.95 (Gold). Start with the free trial and a low maxItems to preview results before scaling up.

FAQ

How do I scrape probate and foreclosure records in the US? This Actor queries the Socrata open-data network — the same backend used by data.cityofnewyork.us, data.nola.gov, datacatalog.cookcountyil.gov, and other county and state portals. It classifies matching datasets by keyword and dataset category, pages through each one, and normalizes the heterogeneous columns into a single distressed-property schema.

What data can I get from this scraper? Up to 30 normalized fields per record — case numbers, defendant and plaintiff names, property addresses, parcel IDs, sale dates, bid amounts, property types, and owner-occupancy flags where available. Field population depends entirely on what each source dataset publishes; the raw source row is always included in raw_source_fields so you can dig deeper.

Does this scraper need proxies? No. Socrata open-data APIs are public, unauthenticated, and don't rate-limit casual use. Leave proxyConfiguration at its default (proxy off).

Can I filter by state, county, or event type? Yes. Set states to one or more two-letter codes and/or counties to county names to restrict which portals get queried. Set eventTypes to any subset of probate, foreclosure, sheriff_sale, tax_lien, tax_sale. Combine with dateFrom/dateTo and minEstimatedEquity to narrow the feed further.

Which states and counties does it cover? 24 verified portals across LA (Orleans, East Baton Rouge parishes + state), WA (King County + state), MD (Prince George's, Howard, Montgomery counties + state), CT (state), IL (Cook, Macoupin counties), MA (Middlesex/Cambridge), CO (state), CA (Santa Clara, San Mateo, Riverside, Sonoma counties), NY (NYC, Nassau County + state), NJ (state), OR (state), PA (state), and TX (state). Coverage is limited to portals verified to exist and return real datasets — see the Actor's input schema for the exact state list. It expands as we verify new county/state portals.

Why don't all records have an address, case number, or dollar amounts? Not every source portal publishes every field. A NYC tax lien list, for example, has no defendant name because it lists properties, not court cases; some probate archive indexes have no financial data because they're historical case indexes rather than live filings. Records with no identifying field at all (case number, address, parcel ID, or party name) are dropped rather than returned as an empty shell.

Can I schedule recurring runs? Yes. Use Apify's Scheduler to run this Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval to catch newly filed cases as portals update.

Is it legal to scrape this data? Yes — every record here comes from a government open-data portal that publishes it specifically for public access via API, not from scraping a private website. You're still responsible for how you use the data (e.g. compliance with your state's telemarketing/solicitation laws if you use it for outreach). See Apify's blog post on the legality of web scraping for general background.

Can I access results via API? Yes. Every run's dataset is available through the Apify API and client libraries (Python, JavaScript) — see the Actor's API tab for ready-made snippets.

Something not working? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console — the ParseBird team monitors it directly.

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