Methodology

PearlAudit analyzes New York City tax lots. Its zoning and floor-area-ratio (FAR) analysis is grounded in the NYC Zoning Resolution itself, and every rule it reports carries a citation to the governing section of the Resolution. When a dossier says a lot has unused development rights, it names the section the ceiling comes from — so the claim is checkable at its source, not taken on faith.

Flood determinations are made at the level of the individual parcel, using the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer: a lot is reported as inside or outside a Special Flood Hazard Area based on its own boundary, never a ZIP-code approximation. That same per-lot precision runs through the rest of the analysis — every geographic result is tied to the specific lot in the City’s official parcel records, not a neighborhood average.

The parcel records and most municipal datasets refresh on a monthly cycle, matching the City’s own publication schedule. Recorded documents such as deeds and mortgages update more frequently, since the City publishes them a few weeks after recording. Every dossier and every data surface cites the as-of date of the records behind it, so the freshness of any figure is visible right where it appears. See our data sources page for the full source list.

Every figure PearlAudit shows traces to a public record. We do not estimate, interpolate, or model a value where the record is silent — absence renders as “no record on file,” never as a guess. If two authoritative sources disagree, we say which one governs. If a rule cannot be resolved for a specific lot, the dossier says so plainly instead of picking an answer.

The same doctrine applies to what a record’s absence means: no open violations on file is a statement about the file, not a certification that a building complies.

PearlAudit is a research tool, not legal advice. Zoning analysis, flood determinations, and public-record summaries are produced from official sources with care, but records contain errors, publication lags, and edge cases — verify independently before transacting, and engage licensed professionals (an attorney, architect, or engineer) for any decision that depends on these figures.

Where sources disagree on a lot’s area, we use the New York City Department of Finance record — the record the City assesses and bills against.