Help & learning
Learn the register in an afternoon.
Start here
Your first ten minutes
1:48The dashboard, the map, one parcel and why it scored what it did, the star that brings its changes to you, the phone outside, and the alerts the next morning. The whole routine in under two minutes.
What is Lots & Parcel?
1:42One map and one record of every property in town, built from Maryland's public records, from sales and flood zones to foreclosure filings and 311 complaints. See how code officers, inspectors, town halls, neighborhood associations, and researchers put it to work.
The Lots & Parcel map
0:53Every parcel colored by its status. Filter to what needs attention, point at a lot for its owner and score, outline everything one owner holds, and find the parcel you're standing on from your phone.
One parcel. Every public record.
1:38Sales, foreclosure filings, 311 complaints, permits, FEMA flood zones, and state program areas, connected to the parcel they belong to in one dated timeline. Connected, they tell a story no single record can.
Your first week
Five things, ten minutes each.
Day 1
Open the map and turn on one layer
Start with Flood or Sewer service area. Every parcel is colored by status; the layer shows what the public record adds on top.
Open the map →Day 2
Open any parcel and read its score
Each point has a reason and a source. Nothing is hidden behind a number.
Open the register →Day 3
Step outside and tap “Here”
On your phone the register finds the parcel under your feet. Add a photo and a dated note; that is what later holds up in a hearing.
Try it on your phone →Day 4
Clear your first alert
Alerts are what changed last night. Open one, decide if it matters, clear it. Ten minutes every morning is the whole routine.
See alerts →Day 5
Ask one question
“Which parcels are owned by someone who mails out of state?” Answers cite the parcels they came from.
Ask the register →
Short how-tos
One screen, one minute.
A film for each part of the app, recorded from the real register. These are being produced now and land here as they finish; the glossary and checklist cover the ground until then.
- 0:60Soon
Reading a parcel page
Owner, mailing address, the score with its reasons, the public-record timeline, and where your notes live.
- 0:75Soon
The map: filters, layers, owner outlines
Filter to what needs attention, turn on flood, sewer and 311, outline everything one owner holds.
- 0:60Soon
Field mode on your phone
Add the app to your home screen, tap Here, take a photo, write a note, and see it on the desktop register.
- 0:45Soon
Alerts and the morning routine
What each alert type means, clearing them, and why they stop after the first night.
- 0:90Soon
From observation to notice
For verified local governments: an observation, an ordinance-cited notice, the deadline that tracks itself.
- 0:45Soon
Reports for the board
A dated PDF of what changed and what is flagged, with every line traceable to a record.
- 0:40Soon
Inviting your team and roles
Admins, inspectors, read-only viewers for commissioners and board members. No per-seat fees.
- 0:60Soon
Scoring settings
What the weights do, how to tune them for your town, and why records alone never reach Vacant.
What things mean
The glossary.
- Status bands
- Occupied, Watch, Likely vacant, Vacant. The first three come from public records and scoring; Vacant needs a person's observation.
- Score
- A number built from sourced signals: an absentee mailing address, a non-arms-length sale, a foreclosure filing, repeated 311 requests, a flood zone, and so on. Every point names its reason.
- Watch
- Enough signals to be worth a look, not enough to call it anything. Most towns live here.
- Likely vacant
- The records are stacking up. The register still won't say Vacant; it is asking someone to go and look.
- Observation
- A dated field note, usually with a photo, made by a person on the lot. The only thing that can mark a parcel Vacant, and the thing that later stands up in a hearing.
- Absentee owner
- The tax bill goes to an address outside the town's local ZIP codes. A signal, not a verdict.
- Alert
- Something changed last night: a status moved, a sale or foreclosure was recorded, a 311 request came in. You clear it once you have looked.
- Watch a parcel
- A star on a parcel. Its changes are pinned on your dashboard and arrive in one email each night something changed. Personal to you; other members pick their own. (Not the same as the Watch status band above.)
- Public record vs. your work
- Records (sales, flood, sewer, permits, 311) are shared facts from the state and county. Notes, photos, observations, notices and scoring settings are yours alone, never visible to another organization.
- Notice
- For verified local governments: a letter that cites your ordinance, generated from the parcel page, with a deadline the register tracks.
- Re-checked nightly
- Every night the register re-scores every parcel. Public records themselves are re-pulled from the state and county about weekly; each item carries its own date.
Stuck on something?
A person answers. Weekdays 9–5 ET on the phone; email any time.