Common Ownership

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Introduction

An issue that frequently arises when working with tax parcels is that a single property can comprise multiple tax parcels, each with a set of assessor attribution. This is very common with commercial and industrial properties, but can also occur with residential properties. Misunderstanding this nuance can lead to costly mistakes when a property site must be evaluated, such as appraisal/valuation, environmental engineering, and many others.

Common Property Types where this occurs

Commercial Properties
Industrial Properties
Vacant Land
Agricultural Land
Large rural residential properties

The Challenge

The challenge is identifying all properties that make up a single site. It is not as simple as just using the assessor owner name on each record. Owner names come in many different variations. They can be under LLCs, different abbreviations, first name ordering, or first owner and second owner ordering. These nuances make the owner name an unreliable attribute for this identification.

Definition

Common ownership is defined as adjacent parcels that are touching and/or are within 300 feet of each other with the same owner.

LightBox Data Team

The LightBox Data team utilizes an algorithmic method using multiple datasets, including sales data, to mark these parcel groups as having common ownership.

An imperfect solution

Having common ownership does not always mean that the two properties are a single site. There are times when two properties are next to one another and are owned by the same entity, but are truly separate properties. While the data team works to identify this scenario, it is not always 100% successful. However, this solution is reliable over 95% of the time in properly identifying a site, and our clients still find this high margin of success to be very useful.

Parcel API

The LightBox Parcel API response will carry the common ownership count and has an API endpoint that allows for retrieval of all the parcels in a common ownership group. A companion to the common owner attribute is aggregated lot size, witch provides the aggregated lot size summed for all the parcels within the group. You can find these referenced in the related object on the Parcel API response.

Pro Tip:

If you are using our parcel data within a map interface and a target parcel is identified, using the common ownership count and the adjacent endpoint will allow you to show parcels that are next to the target parcel that have common ownership. You can then have the end user identify all the parcels that make up a site.

Parcels Boundaries within SmartFabric

Parcel data within the SmartFabric product, regardless of package, comes with attribution to help you determine this occurrence

SmartFabric Parcel Fields that support Common Ownership:

Name	Type	Size	Description
AGGR_ACREAGE	Double	float	Sum of lot acreage owned by the same ownership entity, within a single county extent. (see AGGR_GROUP for more detail on how ownership is identified)
AGGR_GROUP	String	100	ID indicating the grouping (ownership) of parcels for a single owner. Ownership identified by proprietary model that leverages both owner name and owner address. Parcels are identified within 300ft of adjacency, within a single county extent.
AGGR_LOT_WIDTH_MEDIAN	Integer	int	Median lot width of all parcels within the aggregated owner group (AGGR_GROUP).
AGGR_LOT_COUNT	Integer	int	Number of parcels owned by the same ownership entity, within a single county extent. (see AGGR_GROUP for more detail on how ownership is identified)

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Table of contents

Introduction
The Challenge
Definition
Parcel API
Parcels Boundaries within SmartFabric
More Information