This is very much lender-specific and will vary. 

It is delinquent enough (Greater than 90 days but below 120 days(can't file first legal until after the 120th day by federal rule (Except under very very specific circumstances)) to where the lender or servicer has sent the breach letter (Notice of pending foreclosure) with an expiration date that the loan will be referred to a foreclosure filing (Trustee/attorney) if the borrower(s) don't cure the breach within that defined period of time.* A notice of default is not a letter sent by a creditor saying they are late.

Is there a specific search filter that works well?

More specific: He stole months of rent and utility payments from a tenant (and threatened to evict her!)

I dont know the area, or the county for that matter, whatsoever.I did some preliminary due diligence on Clinton, including 5-year population trends, demographics, rental rates published, and some other region-specific data. 

Established over 40 years ago, NCREIF serves the institutional real estate investmentcommunity as its Data Central, representing the largest, most robust and diverse database of country-specific real estate assetsin the world.

@Christian Gibbs a lot depends on what the attendence at town council is about, are they specifically representing you and your property to town boards?

Those who are here for a specific purpose like finding deals or raising money typically struggle because the more people you help, the more people are willing to help you.  

but I'd be happy to chat more if you have specific questions.

Related - when you introduce yourself, make sure to call out your market, what you want to learn about, and who you want to meet very specifically.