Who is foreclosing

Mostly a few large lenders and servicers. 385 plaintiffs have upcoming sales on record, and the ten busiest brought 58% of them, led by City of Philadelphia with 626. 39 upcoming sales name a private person as plaintiff; those are counted here but not named.

Because it is one lender. A foreclosure is often brought by a bank as trustee for a securitization trust ("U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee for ..."), by a servicer under a trade name ("d/b/a"), or by a successor after a merger, and each sheriff types the name differently. We group on the lender's own name, list the trusts it sues for, and keep every spelling on the records themselves.

Often. A foreclosing lender may bid up to its judgment without paying cash, and when no one outbids it the property goes back to the lender and becomes bank-owned (REO). A third-party bidder who beats that credit bid buys the property, and the lender is paid from the sale.