A real estate transaction, executed in a variety of ways,  that serves as a formal notice to the borrower informing them that a default has occurred and notifying them that a legal action will be taken unless the default is cured.  In some states, there are multiple notice actions required prior to the final sale of the property, back to the lender.  This category counts all the transactions that have occurred in a given month, which might tend to ‘over-state’ the real number of parcels in default if that state requires more than one notice to be filed.¹