Pre-foreclosure refers to the state of a property that is in the early stages of being repossessed due to the property owner’s inability to pay an outstanding mortgage obligation. Reaching pre-foreclosure status begins when the lender files a default notice on the property, which informs the property owner that the lender will proceed with pursuing legal action if the debt is not taken care of. At this point, the property owner has the opportunity to pay off the outstanding debt or sell the property before it goes into foreclosure.