RPS data entry best practices for owner and parcel location information

When updating information or reviewing sales in RPSV4 or RPS Online, it is important to maintain consistency in your data entry practices. This will help to ensure the integrity of your data and avoid future issues.

We recommend you follow these guidelines when updating ownership information:

• List only legal owners of the property.
• If there are multiple owners, list each one on its own line.
• Ensure that the owners for STAR purposes are listed in the owner fields where possible.

When entering addresses, be consistent in your formatting:

• If the property address and mailing address are the same, they should be formatted the same way.
• Complete all provided fields, such as street direction, whenever possible.
• If a directional word is truly part of a street name, such as North Street, spell it out in the Street/ Rural Route field.

When completing parcel location:

• include the municipality and hamlet or other descriptive name (Note: RPS Online has a hamlet field, RPSV4 does not) as applicable (this may not necessarily match the mailing address, which is dependent on the post office); and
• include the ZIP code if the parcel has a mailing address (Look up a ZIP code).

Depending on how a property is owned (for example individual, trust, government-owned, ect.), certain considerations should be taken into account when completing ownership information.

Use the following charts to determine the appropriate best practices to follow.