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AFX Research, provider of 1980 environmental lien and AUL search reports

The Technology Behind Our E-Lien and AUL Research

You are assembling a Phase I, not buying a records search. Everything here exists to make the records component arrive as something your report can absorb rather than as another PDF to read and retype.

The records component is an input, not a deliverable

For an environmental professional the lien and AUL search is one section of a much larger document. It arrives, someone reads it, someone transcribes the findings into the assessment, and someone checks that the parcel in the search is the parcel in the report. Three of those four steps are transcription, and transcription is where errors enter a Phase I.

So the platform behind these searches is built to hand you structured findings rather than a document to re-read. What does that work is catalogued on the AFX technology platform, which every property in the AFX network draws on.

A single-site order still works exactly as before. Order it, and the report arrives.

What the platform does

  • Bulk ordering by API

    Submit an entire portfolio programmatically instead of keying sites one at a time, with token-based authentication and a sandbox to test against before anything counts. Learn more about Bulk ordering by API

  • Findings as structured data

    Each instrument as a set of fields rather than a paragraph, so recorded liens and AULs flow into your Phase I template and your tracking system without anyone retyping a book and page. Learn more about Findings as structured data

  • Delivery under your own cover

    Your client hired you, not your vendor. White-label templating puts your firm name, colors, and disclaimers on the records component of the assessment. Learn more about Delivery under your own cover

  • Project-grouped portal

    Sites grouped by project rather than scattered across order numbers, with the researcher reachable and the archive intact when the same parcel returns years later. Learn more about Project-grouped portal

  • Parcel identifiers

    Durable identifiers and map overlays tie the lot in your assessment back to the parcel an instrument actually describes, which matters most where a site was subdivided after recording. Learn more about Parcel identifiers

  • AI-assisted document reading

    Recorded instruments get read and structured at volume, which is how a restriction buried in a 1987 agreement surfaces at all rather than staying invisible to an index search. Learn more about AI-assisted document reading

Ordering a portfolio, not a parcel

Acquisition diligence rarely arrives one site at a time. A dozen parcels land together on a single deadline, and the slow part is submitting them, then tracking which have cleared. Connected buyers push the whole set through the REST API and let each site clear independently.

Everyone else works from the order management portal, which keeps sites grouped by project rather than scattered across order numbers, and keeps the archive reachable when the same parcel comes back around in three years.

Either way, findings return as a report and as a structured data abstract carrying each instrument, its classification, and its recording reference as fields. That second form is the one that removes the transcription step from your assessment.

Delivered under your own cover

Your client engaged your firm. The records component of the assessment reads better, and sits better in the deliverable, when it carries your identity rather than a vendor logo. White-label report templating handles that, with separate templates where a standalone lien search and a bundled chain of title should not arrive looking identical.

The parcel in the record, and the lot in your report

An activity and use limitation recorded against a parent parcel in 1991 can now burden six lots with six addresses and six parcel numbers, none of which match the legal description in the instrument. Durable parcel identifiers and map overlays connect the lot you are assessing back to the ground the instrument actually describes, which is the difference between finding an AUL and reporting that there was none.

Upstream of that, language models read the instruments rather than the index, which is how a use restriction buried in a 1987 private agreement surfaces at all. A certified abstractor reviews every finding before it reaches you.

None of it changes what a records search is. It reports what has been recorded in the county searched, for the term searched. Obligations that were never recorded, or that live in a state registry rather than the land records, sit outside its scope, and the conclusion stays with the environmental professional.

Questions from environmental professionals

Can we submit a portfolio rather than one site at a time?

Yes. The REST API accepts sites in bulk, which is the practical way to handle an acquisition covering a dozen parcels on one deadline. Authentication is token based and a sandbox is available for testing. Each site then clears independently, so results arrive as they finish rather than all at the end.

Can findings drop straight into our Phase I template?

Yes. Alongside the report, findings are available as a structured abstract carrying each instrument, its classification, and its recording reference as separate fields. That is what lets the records component populate a template and a tracking system without a retyping step where errors enter.

Can the report carry our firm name instead of yours?

Yes. Report generation is brandable, so the document that reaches your client shows your logo, colors, and disclaimers. Send a high-resolution logo and we configure the template, including separate templates where a standalone lien search and a bundled chain of title should not look identical.

What happens when a site was subdivided after an AUL was recorded?

This is where parcel identity does the work. An activity and use limitation recorded against a parent parcel can now burden several lots carrying different addresses and parcel numbers, none matching the description in the instrument. Durable parcel identifiers and map overlays connect the current lot back to the ground the instrument describes.

Does a clean report mean the site carries no environmental encumbrance?

No, and the report should never be read that way. What a records search can establish is bounded by what was filed, in the county searched, across the term searched. An obligation that was never recorded, or that sits in a state registry instead of the land records, is invisible to it. Treat the report as evidence about the land records and nothing wider. The judgment remains yours to make.

Ready to order your ASTM E1527-21 search?

Reports emailed in 3–5 business days. Questions? Call 877-848-5337.

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