> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://develop.cotality.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The Cotality property ontology

> The entities, identifiers, and relationships that structure every Cotality answer — so business teams, developers, and AI agents share one mental model.

## Why an ontology

Cotality data spans many products and tools, but they all describe the **same real-world
things**: properties, the parcels they sit on, the structures built on them, the people who
own them, and the risks and markets around them. The ontology is the shared model that
connects those things so a fact retrieved by one tool means the same thing everywhere.

## Core entity model

```mermaid theme={null}
graph TD
  ADDR[Address] -->|resolves to| CLIP[CLIP — Property]
  CLIP -->|sits on| PARCEL[Parcel / Land]
  CLIP -->|has 1..n| STRUCT[Structure]
  CLIP -->|has 1..n| OWNER[Owner]
  CLIP -->|has| TXN[Transactions and liens]
  CLIP -->|scored by| RISK[Climate and peril risk]
  PARCEL -->|located in| GEO[Geography: ZIP → County → CBSA → State]
  GEO -->|aggregates| MKT[Market and HPI metrics]
```

## Entity glossary

| Entity                     | What it represents                                           | Anchored by                       |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------- |
| **Property**               | A distinct real-world property                               | [CLIP](/ontology/identifiers)     |
| **Parcel / Land**          | The legal land unit                                          | APN + CLIP                        |
| **Structure**              | A building on the parcel — a parcel can have 1..n structures | `structureId` / building sequence |
| **Owner**                  | Legal owner(s) of the property                               | Owner record                      |
| **Transactions and liens** | Sales, mortgages, encumbrances                               | CLIP history                      |
| **Risk**                   | Climate and peril scores for the property                    | CLIP + peril model                |
| **Geography**              | Nested location hierarchy                                    | ZIP → County → CBSA → State       |
| **Market metrics**         | Trends and HPI aggregated for a geography                    | Geography identifier              |

## The three relationships that matter most for agents

<Steps>
  <Step title="Address resolves to a Property (CLIP)">
    Addresses are ambiguous and unstable. The CLIP is stable. Always resolve an address to a
    CLIP before calling any data tool. See [identifiers](/ontology/identifiers).
  </Step>

  <Step title="A Property has one or more Structures">
    Never assume a single building on a parcel. Check `summaryNumberOfBuildings` and iterate
    the `structure` array if needed. See [property characteristics](/mcp/property-data/tools/property-characteristics).
  </Step>

  <Step title="A Property rolls up through Geography">
    Property → ZIP → County → CBSA → State connects a single address to market trends, HPI,
    and climate risk aggregates. See [geographic hierarchy → data assets mapping](/ontology/data-freshness).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Data assets bound to the ontology

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Property characteristics" icon="house" href="/mcp/property-data/tools/property-characteristics">
    Land, structure, ownership, and tax attributes per CLIP.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Climate and risk" icon="cloud-bolt" href="/mcp/property-data/tools/climate-risk-analytics">
    Age of Roof estimates and multi-peril climate scores per CLIP.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Market and HPI" icon="chart-line" href="/mcp/market-trend-analytics/tools/analytics">
    Listing trends, rental trends, HPI, and forecasts by geography.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Industry standards alignment

Cotality data is normalized to industry standards — MISMO (mortgage), ACORD (insurance),
USPS publication 28 (address), and OGC WKT (geometry) — so tool outputs integrate directly
into enterprise systems without field-level translation. See [Glossary](/ontology/glossary).