How it works
How a Montrose Brief is made
The three parts
What the records show
Facts read directly from public records, grouped by the source they came from. Each source carries an endnote with the exact query and the date it was read.
What the records do not establish
Everything a source was asked for and could not answer, stated as such, with where a person would look next. A record that is absent from a system is reported as absent from that system, with the system's coverage floor alongside it.
Questions worth resolving
A short list drawn from fixed rules: an open or expired permit, a mapped flood hazard, a large gap between the last sale and the current assessment, and the zoning district with a link to its ordinance. Every question states why it appears.
Where the records come from
- Loudoun County GIS parcel and land-use layers contribute the parcel boundary, land use, election district, and year built.
- Loudoun County Real Estate Assessment public access contributes assessed values, physical characteristics, acreage, and the sales history.
- LandMARC permit records contribute every permit the county holds for the parcel, with type, status, and dates.
- The FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer county product contributes the flood zone at the parcel, read from the published county dataset rather than a live query.
- The USFWS National Wetlands Inventory contributes whether a mapped wetland polygon covers the parcel.
What a brief is
A reading of public records as they stood on the stated date. Each brief discloses the coverage floor of the systems it read: Loudoun County holds permit records from 1987-08-24 forward, and a brief says so whenever a property predates that.
What a brief is not
An inspection, a title search, an appraisal, or legal advice. It carries no score, ranking, or recommendation. It contains no school, crime, or demographic content: every client receives the same factual framework.
Coverage
Loudoun County now. Prince William County in progress. Fairfax County pending records access.
Privacy
No cookies, no analytics, no third-party requests. Briefs carry no owner names.