Concepts

Jurisdictions

Places, their levels, and how to identify them.

jurisdiction

A state, county, parish, city, town, township or village. Other calls take its jur_ id.

tier

The jurisdiction's level: national, region (a state or province), subregion (a county or district) or local (a city, town, township or village).

type

The local name for the kind of jurisdiction: county, parish, city, town, village or township. Two jurisdictions of the same tier can have different types.

fips

The jurisdiction's US Census codes: the full GEOID, its level, and the state and county codes. Null outside the US.

identifiers

Every code for a jurisdiction or parcel, one per scheme, primary first. Jurisdictions have census_geoid and gnis. Parcels have the schemes their county issues, such as apn or pin.

within

The jurisdictions that contain this one, largest first. For a township, its county and state.

geometry

The shape of a jurisdiction, parcel or zoning district, as GeoJSON in WGS 84. Returned only with include=geometry.

coverage

The record counts for a jurisdiction, by record type, including jurisdictions inside it, with the date of the latest update. Null means no records of that type are available.

Parcels

The county land record and its parts.

parcel

One piece of land in the county record. Its prc_ id stays the same when its number or boundary changes.

number

The parcel's primary identifier, as published: an APN, PIN or account number. Unique only within the issuing county.

area

The parcel's area, measured from its boundary, in square meters and acres. stated_acres is the area in the county record.

address

An address on the parcel, as published. A parcel can have several, primary first, or none.

owner

An owner name, as published. One name can include several people. Order is kept as published.

assessment

The latest assessment: the tax year, the class and use the assessor assigned, the values by basis (market, assessed and taxable), and the exemptions on it.

buildings

Every building on the parcel, main building first: year built, area, stories, units, rooms, quality, condition and construction.

sales

Recorded sales, most recent first: each one's date, price, deed type, seller, buyer, recorded document and whether it was at arm's length.

legal

The legal description, as published, with its parts: subdivision, plat, block, lot, section, township and range.

code

A coded value with three parts: the code and description as published, and standard, the same value in a nationwide vocabulary. Parcel type, owner kind, deed type, sale qualification, and assessment class and use are codes.

standard

The nationwide value of a code, for comparing counties. Null where the value is not classified yet.

as_of

The date of the most recent update to the parcel.

Zoning

The districts on the zoning map and the rules the ordinance gives each one.

zoning

A zoning classification: a district's code, name and category, as published. Other calls take its zon_ id.

kind

base or overlay. A place has one base district and any number of overlays. precedence ranks overlays when their rules conflict.

allowances

Each use the ordinance lists, with its result: permitted, conditional, prohibited or unknown, and where the ordinance says so. Returned only with include=allowance.

standards

Dimensional standards, such as setbacks, height and lot size. Returned only with include=standard.

legal_status

adopted, or proposed when the classification is part of a pending amendment.

Permits and cases

Building permits, and zoning and land use decisions from councils and planning boards.

permit

A building or trade permit: its type, status, the work described, the parties named on it, its valuation and its dates.

case

A zoning or land use decision from a council or planning board: a rezoning, variance, special use, subdivision or site plan, with its status, parties, dates and the zoning it concerns.

decision

The outcome of a permit or case, with its dates and any conditions of approval. Null while the permit or case is pending.

party

A person or company named on a permit or case, with its role, such as applicant, owner or contractor.

Lists

The places an organization saves.

list

A named list of places, shared by everyone in the organization. Other calls take its lst_ id.

list_item

A place on a list: a site (one or more parcels), a jurisdiction, a postal_code or a drawn area, with a status and notes. A jurisdiction, ZIP code or area can carry a filter.

Monitoring

The lists an organization watches, and where their events are sent.

monitor

Watches one list. Permits and cases filed on its places are sent as permit.created and case.created events.

webhook

A URL that receives the event types it subscribes to, signed with its secret.

Requests

How to find parcels, and what each lookup costs.

locator

A way to find a parcel: an address, a number with its county, a point, or a prc_ id. One per request.

match

How a locator matched a parcel: the matched field, the score and the matched value.

suggestion

A result for partly typed text, such as an address or county name, with the query that finds it.

batch

Several locators in one request, each with its own status: matched, ambiguous, unmatched or invalid.

credit

The unit of billing. A lookup costs 1 credit. A search costs 1 credit per 20 results. A batch costs 1 credit per match. The same lookup is free again for 24 hours. Empty results, jurisdiction lookups, suggestions and monitoring are free.

Commonly confused terms

acres and stated_acres

acres is measured from the boundary. stated_acres is the area in the county record. They often differ.

number and identifiers

number is the county's primary identifier for the parcel. identifiers lists every code under every scheme. A number from one scheme does not match another scheme.

code and standard

code is the county's own value. standard is the nationwide value. Compare counties on standard, not code.

market, assessed and taxable value

market is the assessor's estimate of value. assessed is the basis for tax, often a fraction of market. taxable is assessed value after exemptions.

a parcel and an address

A parcel can have several addresses, and one address can have several parcels, such as condominiums. An address lookup returns every matching parcel.

a parcel and a property

A parcel is the county's land record, as published. Fields the county does not publish are null, not estimated.

a jurisdiction and the jurisdictions within it

A parcel's jurisdiction is the one that assesses it, usually the county. within lists the jurisdictions above it. The city in an address is not necessarily the parcel's jurisdiction.

no coverage and no match

No results in a covered county means no matching parcel. Null coverage means the county is not covered yet. Check coverage first.