New Program Makes It Easier To Find Out Everything About Your Next Home

• June 25, 2013
• 2 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Homes on Capitol Hill.

Want to know if the home you are about to rent or buy ever had mold, a lead problem, or the type of environment that is attractive to rats?

According to Atlantic Cities, a new program from Code for America will create a streamlined process for real estate websites to grab violation data from cities to post on their site, along with other property details. The House Facts Data Standard has launched in San Fransisco, and a handful of other cities have agreed to share their data. Trulia, Lovely, PadMapper and Civic Insight have signed up to grab the data and display it on their sites.

DC isn’t on the list yet, but the city’s Property Information Verification System offers a variety of information on residential properties in DC, including violations, permits and the results of any commercial inspections. While it’s not quite as easy as seeing the information just by scrolling through a listing, it’s a one-step process that any potential buyer or renter can do. It also bodes well for DC’s participation in the House Facts Data Standard program; if the information is already in a central location, it should be easy for Code For America to access.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/new_program_will_make_it_easier_to_find_out_how_safe_your_home_is/7245

2 Comments

1. adam said at 11:32 pm on Tuesday June 25, 2013:
   Unfortunately the coding of the information in PIVS is so obscure that it's almost impossible to figure out what the actual issue is/was.

1. Joe said at 8:10 pm on Wednesday June 26, 2013:
   Please. DC's databases are so screwed up this company won't last the first lawsuit.