A
Arrearage
The amount the homeowner is behind on their loan. Not the whole loan balance, just the missed payments, late fees, and penalties that have piled up. The lender usually wants all of this paid before they'll call off a foreclosure.
ARV (After Repair Value)
What the property should be worth after you fix it up and it's ready to sell. This is the number you build everything else around: your repair budget, your max bid, your profit target all flow from it. Get this number wrong and everything else is wrong with it. Pull it from actual recent comparable sales nearby, not from what you're hoping the property will fetch.
As-Is Sale
You buy it exactly as it sits. No repairs by the seller, no disclosures about what's wrong with it, no backing out if you find problems after the fact. You do your research before you bid. There is no "after."
Assignment of Bid
When the winning bidder transfers their winning position to someone else before the deed is recorded, typically for a fee. The original bidder won the auction but isn't taking the property; a third party steps in instead. It's a real strategy but has moving parts that need legal review before you rely on it.
B
Beneficiary
The lender. The entity that holds the loan on the property and is owed the money. They're the ones running the foreclosure, setting the opening bid, and collecting the proceeds.
Bridge Loan
Short-term financing to get from buying the property to either selling it or securing longer-term financing. Higher cost than a regular loan, meant to be paid off fast. Important caveat for auction buyers: a bridge loan doesn't automatically get you cash at the courthouse steps. You still need to solve the certified funds problem before you bid.
C
Certified Funds
Cashier's checks or other payment guaranteed by a bank, not a personal check. Georgia courthouse auctions require this. Because you don't know your exact winning bid in advance, experienced investors bring a stack of cashier checks in different denominations they can combine to match whatever number they win with.
Chain of Title
The ownership history of a property, recorded in public records from the beginning. Every time the property changed hands, it should be documented. Gaps or problems in that history can create title defects that follow the property to the next buyer, including you.
Confirmation Hearing
A court check to confirm a foreclosure sale price was fair. Georgia is a non-judicial state, so auctions here generally don't require one. Worth knowing the term; you'll rarely run into it.
Continuance
The sale got postponed, not canceled, just moved to a later date. It can happen for many reasons and a property can be continued more than once. Always check sale status leading up to, and on auction day. Sales can be postponed right up to the time the crier starts to cry them.
Courthouse Steps
The actual physical location where Georgia foreclosure auctions happen: outside, on the steps of the county courthouse, in most cases. A notable exception is Hall County, GA, which has the sale inside. Not a figure of speech. The auction is conducted outdoors at the courthouse on the first Tuesday of the month. Each of Georgia's 159 counties runs its own auction at its own courthouse.
Crier
The person running the auction at the courthouse steps, calling out properties, taking bids, and managing the process. Criers work for the law firm handling the foreclosure. Some criers cry for multiple law firms. Sometimes criers in busy metro counties will cry a property while other criers are simultaneously crying other properties. Knowing where to stand matters. In most rural counties, criers will wait for other criers to finish crying before they begin crying, but they don't have to. So, keep your head on a swivel and know what you are looking for. Also, don't be afraid to ask the crier to confirm what property they are crying.
D
Deed Under Power
The deed you receive when you win a Georgia foreclosure auction, also called a foreclosure deed. The lender's attorney signs it over to you. It conveys whatever interest the lender had the right to sell, which may or may not be perfectly clean title depending on what else is attached to the property.
Default
The borrower stopped meeting the terms of their loan, usually by missing mortgage payments. Default is what starts the foreclosure clock.
Deficiency Judgment
If the property sells at auction for less than what was owed on the loan, the lender can potentially sue the borrower for the difference. As a buyer this is between the lender and the previous owner, not your problem. Properties with large deficiencies sometimes attract lower opening bids.
Distressed Property
A property in some form of financial or physical trouble: behind on payments, headed to auction, already taken back by the lender, or physically deteriorated. DistressedProps focuses specifically on properties in the foreclosure pipeline.
DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)
A way lenders measure whether a rental property earns enough income to cover its loan payments. If you buy a foreclosure, renovate it, and want to hold it as a rental, a DSCR loan is one of the most common refinance paths. The lender looks at the property's rental income rather than your personal income, which makes it a popular option for investors with multiple properties.
E
Equity of Redemption
The borrower's legal right to pay off the full debt and reclaim the property before the foreclosure sale is completed. In Georgia, that right expires the moment the property sells at auction. There is no window after the sale for the previous owner to buy it back. This is specific to Georgia non-judicial foreclosures.
F
First Tuesday
Georgia law requires foreclosure auctions to be held on the first Tuesday of every month, between 10 AM and 4 PM, in all 159 counties. When the first Tuesday falls on a legal holiday, the auction moves to the following Wednesday. This is set by statute and does not change.
G
GSCCCA (Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority)
The statewide system where Georgia's real estate and UCC records are indexed and searchable. This is where you look up deeds, security deeds, liens, and fixture filings on a property before you bid. It is the primary starting point for pre-auction title research. The website is gsccca.org.
H
Hard Money Loan
A short-term loan backed by the property itself rather than being based entirely on the borrower's income or credit history. Faster to get than a conventional bank loan and widely used by real estate investors. The tradeoffs are higher interest rates, origination fees, and short repayment windows. One critical thing to understand: getting approved for a hard money loan does not mean you have money at the courthouse on sale day. How and whether a lender can fund the auction purchase needs to be solved before you bid, not after.
HOA Lien
A lien a homeowners association places on a property for unpaid dues or assessments. Some HOA liens survive a foreclosure sale and can attach to the new owner. Pre-auction title research should identify any HOA liens and clarify whether they follow the property through the sale.
I
IRS Tax Lien
A federal lien recorded against a property when the owner owes unpaid federal taxes. The IRS has a right of redemption after a foreclosure sale: they have 120 days to step in, reimburse the winning bidder, and take the property back. It is rare but real. Surface it in title research before you bid.
J
Judicial Foreclosure
A foreclosure that goes through the court system, requiring a lawsuit and judge approval before the property can be sold. Georgia mostly does not work this way. Most Georgia foreclosures are non-judicial, meaning no court is required. Judicial foreclosures do exist here in certain situations, but the courthouse auction you are researching is almost always non-judicial.
Junior Lien
Any lien recorded after the first mortgage: second mortgages, home equity lines, contractor liens, judgment liens. When a first mortgage forecloses, junior liens are generally wiped out and the buyer does not inherit them. Confirm what survives with title research.
L
Legal Notice / Legal Advertisement
The formal public announcement that a foreclosure auction is scheduled. Georgia law requires the lender to publish it in the county's official legal newspaper for four consecutive weeks before the sale. This is one of the ways foreclosure aggregators like DistressedProps find and surface upcoming listings.
Lis Pendens
Latin for "suit pending." A recorded notice that a property is involved in active litigation. It is a red flag in title research because unresolved legal proceedings can affect ownership, possession, or your ability to resell after purchase. Common sources include divorce proceedings, quiet title actions, and probate disputes. A foreclosure sale does not automatically make a lis pendens disappear.
LTC (Loan-to-Cost)
The loan amount expressed as a percentage of total project cost: what you paid plus what you plan to spend on renovation. A lender offering 85% LTC on a $300,000 total project would lend up to $255,000. Different from LTV, which is based on the property's value rather than your costs.
LTV (Loan-to-Value)
The loan amount expressed as a percentage of the property's value. A lender offering 70% LTV on a $200,000 property would lend up to $140,000. Higher LTV means more borrowing relative to value, which lenders treat as more risk and typically charge more for.
M
Mechanic's Lien
A lien a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier can file when they did work on a property and were not paid. It attaches to the property itself, not just the person who owes the money. Whether it survives a foreclosure depends on when it was recorded relative to the mortgage being foreclosed. Find it in title research before you bid.
N
Non-Judicial Foreclosure
A foreclosure that happens outside the court system. Georgia is primarily a non-judicial state, meaning lenders can move through the process without filing a lawsuit or getting a judge to sign off. It is faster than judicial foreclosure, and the courthouse auction is the endpoint with no court approval needed after the sale.
Notice of Sale
The official written notice that a property is scheduled for foreclosure auction. In Georgia, the lender must send notice to the borrower at least 30 days before the sale and publish it in the county legal newspaper for four consecutive weeks. This notice is the start of your research window as an investor. The notice must contain the name and contact information for the person with authority to negotiate the loan on behalf of the lender. The notice should also contain the correct legal description of the property. A faulty notice would potentially be grounds for the foreclosure to be overturned in court.
O
OCGA
The Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia's written body of law. When someone references "Georgia law" on foreclosure auctions, they are almost always pointing to a specific OCGA section. The two that come up most often: OCGA 44-14-162 (the rules governing non-judicial foreclosure sales) and OCGA 9-13-161 (the first Tuesday requirement).
Opening Bid
The minimum amount the lender will accept at auction. Usually set at roughly the outstanding loan balance plus fees, though lenders have discretion. If no bid meets or exceeds the opening bid, the lender takes the property back as REO. The opening bid is publicly disclosed on approximately 40% of the properties that remain pending foreclosures by the day of sale, per DistressedProps proprietary data.
P
Power of Sale
The clause in a Georgia security deed that allows the lender to sell the property without going to court if the borrower defaults. This clause is what makes Georgia's non-judicial foreclosure process possible. Without it, a lender would need a court order to foreclose.
Pre-Foreclosure
The period after a borrower has defaulted but before the property sells at auction. The borrower still owns it and may still be able to sell, refinance, or work something out with the lender. Some investors reach out to owners during this window to explore buying the property directly, before it ever reaches the auction.
R
Redemption Period
A window of time after a sale during which the previous owner can pay to reclaim the property. Georgia non-judicial foreclosures do not have this for the borrower: once the auction happens, it is done. Georgia tax sales do have a redemption period. The two are different processes and the difference matters.
Remote Bidding
Bidding on a foreclosure auction without physically standing at the courthouse. Some Georgia properties are simultaneously listed on platforms like Xome or Auction.com, which allow investors to register and bid online. When a remote option exists it is often the simpler path, but the underlying courthouse sale is still happening. Confirm both sets of rules before you participate.
REO (Real Estate Owned)
What happens when nobody bids enough at a foreclosure auction. The property reverts to the lender, who now owns it and sells it through their own process, typically listed with an agent or sold in bulk. DistressedProps tracks active foreclosure listings, not REO inventory.
S
Security Deed
Georgia's version of a mortgage, also called a deed to secure debt. The key difference from a traditional mortgage: in Georgia, the lender actually holds title to the property as collateral while the loan is outstanding. The borrower gets title back when the loan is paid off. This is why Georgia can foreclose without going to court: the lender already holds title and is exercising the power of sale.
Senior Lien
The first mortgage, recorded first, with priority over everything else. When a senior lien forecloses, it typically wipes out most of the junior liens behind it. Buying at a first-mortgage foreclosure is generally cleaner for title purposes than buying at a junior lien foreclosure.
Servicer
The company that manages a loan day to day: collecting payments, sending notices, and initiating foreclosure when a borrower defaults. The servicer is often not the original lender. The entity listed in a foreclosure notice is frequently a servicer acting on behalf of whoever owns the underlying debt.
Sheriff's Sale
A property sale run by the county sheriff to collect on a court judgment. Not the same as a mortgage foreclosure auction. Both can happen at the courthouse on the same day, but they involve different legal processes, different payment structures, and different title implications.
T
Tax Sale / Tax Deed Sale
A sale run by the county tax commissioner to collect unpaid property taxes. Not the same as a foreclosure auction. The key distinction: Georgia tax sales come with a redemption period, meaning the previous owner has a window after the sale to pay up and get the property back. DistressedProps currently only covers foreclosure listings, not tax sales.
Title Insurance
Insurance that protects you if a title problem surfaces after you buy the property, subject to the exceptions of the policy, something that existed before the sale but was not caught in the title search. Old unreleased liens, forged deeds, undisclosed heirs, errors in public records. For foreclosure purchases, where title research happens under time pressure and without normal closing protections, title insurance is the safety net for what the search might have missed.
Title Search
A review of public records to trace a property's ownership history and surface any liens, judgments, or other claims that could affect your purchase. For foreclosure buyers, this happens before you bid, not after. Once you win, you inherit any title problems that were not extinguished or resolved by the foreclosure. Do your title research before you bid. Consult an attorney if you do not understand the status of title on a particular property.
U
UCC Fixture Filing
A recorded filing that gives a creditor a claim on equipment or fixtures attached to a specific property, such as financed solar panels, HVAC systems, or pools. The equipment may be physically part of the house, but someone else may have a financial claim on it. Searchable through GSCCCA. Find any open fixture filings before you bid.
Upset Bid
In some states, a window exists after a foreclosure auction during which someone can outbid the winner. Georgia does not have this for non-judicial foreclosure auctions. When you win at the courthouse steps in Georgia, you won. The term occasionally creates confusion for investors who have bought in other states.
V
Vesting Deed
The recorded deed that put the current owner's name on the property. It is the starting point for a title search: find it, note when it was recorded, then search forward from that date for anything else filed against the property.
W
Wrongful Foreclosure
A foreclosure that was conducted incorrectly, meaning the lender failed to follow the required legal process. If a court agrees, the sale can potentially be voided. As a buyer, this is the risk that title insurance and a qualified local attorney help protect you against.
We are investors, not lawyers. This glossary reflects how these terms work in practice at Georgia courthouse auctions. Always verify with a licensed Georgia real estate attorney before making purchasing decisions.