First American DataTree Earns U.S. Patent for Data Search Engine
November 5, 2020
First American DataTree received a U.S. patent for its property data search engine FlexSearch.
Based on a proprietary model of data acquisition and manufacturing, First American DataTree fully covers the U.S. housing stock and over seven billion recorded document images. FlexSearch returns search results performed against billions of documents at once in seconds, First American said in a release.
“Most property and information solutions are built upon databases with limited sets of select data fields from public record data, which means a significant amount of important information cannot be searched or accessed, leaving valuable data on the cutting room floor,” said Calvin Powell, vice president of technology at First American DataTree. “FlexSearch is built to provide valuable, often inaccessible information to every DataTree customer.”
Traditional real estate data providers offer a limited set of data fields that typically only include address, owner name, or APN search fields that have either been manually extracted from recorded documents or sourced from the county. According to First American, the patented FlexSearch technology unlocks data allowing users full and complete access to the entire text contained in billions of public record documents, including notaries, attorney names, homeowner’s associations and multiple party names. Custom query tools allow searches to be further narrowed by document name, county and state. With the ability to search and identify common threads of data across multiple documents, FlexSearch helps to mitigate risk by uncovering undisclosed encumbrances and detecting suspicious transactions in hard-to-find recorded documents.
“FlexSearch is a testament to the commitment of our skilled experts to deliver best-in-class data through innovative solutions that save our customers time, money and resources,” said Robert Karraa, president at First American DataTree. “The unrivaled depth and breadth of First American data assets are now more accessible than ever.”
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