NYC property due diligence: a public-record research workflow

Start by resolving the property

A street address is a search input, not a durable property identifier. Resolve it to the borough-block-lot identifier (BBL), building identification number (BIN) where available, and the coordinates returned by NYC GeoSearch before comparing records.

Condominium lots, corner properties, address ranges, and buildings with several BINs can produce legitimate ambiguity. Record the identifiers you used and do not silently merge incompatible lots or buildings.

• Confirm borough, block, lot, BIN, and normalized address.
• Note whether a source is parcel-, building-, radius-, or administrative-area scoped.
• Keep the retrieval date because public datasets change after you inspect them.

Read each source for the question it can answer

DOB permit and job-filing records describe applications and issued work permits; HPD records focus on housing-maintenance complaints and violations; 311 reflects service requests; PLUTO and zoning datasets describe tax-lot and planning attributes; ACRIS records documents, not a legal conclusion about title.

A record in one system does not automatically explain a record in another. Link records by identifiers and dates, then open the official record when a finding matters.

• Separate applications, issued permits, inspections, violations, complaints, and recorded documents.
• Treat open/closed labels as the publisher's field value at retrieval time.
• Use nearby or administrative-area records only as context, never as parcel evidence.

Preserve gaps instead of converting them to certainty

A successful query returning no rows is different from a timeout, disabled source, schema error, stale cache, or identifier mismatch. A defensible research file preserves those states instead of showing every failure as “no records.”

The absence of a public record does not prove compliance, safety, legal occupancy, clear title, or that work never happened. Important questions should be verified with the responsible agency and qualified professionals.

Build a reviewable file

For each material item, keep the source name, official link, source record identifier, observed date, property identifier used, and the raw field values that support the note. Summaries should point back to that evidence.

LotContext organizes this workflow into a private property workspace and exposes source status alongside records. It is research support, not a title report, inspection, appraisal, or legal opinion.