The Scout
Terms
What you are buying, what we promise, and what we do not.
Last updated: 23 August 2026
What is The Scout?
The Scout is a published intelligence service for the real estate industry, with the mission of providing actionable information based on the most complete and accurate data sets available.
We read state, county and municipal public records and reporting, and we write about rapidly developing regions across Texas. In the Austin edition that is 22 counties across six classes of public record: city permit feeds, county plat and subdivision records, the state construction registry, meeting agendas, deed and clerk records, and appraisal rolls.
These terms are an agreement between you and the publisher of The Scout (“we,” “us,” “our”). The Scout is published from Texas. Questions about these terms, corrections and refund requests go through the contact form on this site.
Accuracy — read this one
We take data accuracy seriously. Every figure we publish can be attributed to a field, a record or a report. Every record carries its original source as well as a change log recording every change to the dossier since we created it.
Remember, we are reporting on other people’s filings, and filings contain errors. Addresses are mistyped, costs are estimates, projects are abandoned, and appraisal data routinely lags reality. The Scout is provided as information, and we do everything we can to ensure its accuracy. We cite all of our known sources. It is not a substitute for your own due diligence, a title search, a survey, legal advice or professional judgement, and no decision with money attached should rest on it alone.
We correct errors when they are discovered. Corrections are added to the Change log along with their date; we do not quietly edit the past.
Subscriptions
- Billed monthly in advance. Cancel any time and it stops at the end of the period you paid for.
- Coverage is the counties you selected. You can add or remove counties.
- While subscribed you can read every Project Dossier inside your coverage, as it stands and as it is updated.
The seven-day trial
$49 buys seven days of full access to one region. If you subscribe, that $49 is credited against your first month. If you do not, access ends and nothing further is charged.
Buying a single dossier
You receive the dossier as recorded, exactly as it stands at the moment of purchase. It is a snapshot in time and it is not updated when new data surfaces. If you need your dossier to include all of the project info plus changes over time, you will need a subscription.
A subscription is what keeps a dossier alive and up to date.
What you receive is listed before you buy. Every dossier carries a preview showing which fields are complete, which are confirmed empty, and which are still open. That preview is the description of the product, and we record it as it stood at the moment of your purchase.
All sales are final. The dossier is delivered immediately and in full, so there is nothing to return. If a dossier does not match what its preview showed, tell us at any time and we will make it right. If it matched and you simply were not satisfied, tell us within seven days and we will look at it.
Research work
Commissioned research is quoted before it starts, and the quote will tell you if we do not expect the record to hold the answer. Deep Search and Dossier work is half on commission and half before delivery.
A confirmed absence is an answer. If the records establish that there is no lien, no filing, no prior owner, that is the answer you commissioned and the full fee applies. Establishing an absence takes the same work as establishing a fact.
A source that is temporarily closed pauses the work, it does not end it. If a portal is down, a connection fails, or a county has not yet answered a request, we tell you which source we are waiting on and the date we will try again. A source we cannot reach one way we will try another — a different endpoint, a records request, or a person asking the clerk. We keep at it for ten business days, the same period Texas law allows a governmental body to respond to a public information request.
Some records are not published anywhere. Where a record exists only on paper at a courthouse or a district office, we can arrange for someone to retrieve it in person. That is quoted separately and begins only when you accept the quote and pay the deposit. The fee covers the search itself, not its outcome — if the record turns out not to be there, that is an answer, and the search still took place.
A record that stays out of reach is not an answer. If we still cannot obtain it, we tell you what we tried and what stopped us, and the second half is not charged.
What you may and may not do with it
Read it, use it in your work, quote it with attribution, and share an individual item with a colleague. Do not republish it wholesale, resell it, or feed it into a product you sell, without a written agreement. The underlying government records are public and always will be; the research, scoring, structure and writing are ours.
Sources and attribution
Much of what we publish is copied from Texas state, county and municipal government records. Every figure taken from a government record is published with the agency that is its source, that agency’s web address, and the date we read it. Those dates are part of the record and do not change when we update it.
No government agency endorses The Scout. Neither The Scout, nor any information as we present it, is endorsed by the State of Texas or by any state agency. Where a public record and our reading of it differ, the public record governs.
Cancellation and ending
You can cancel any time. We can decline or end service — if that happens for any reason other than a breach of these terms, we refund the unused part of what you paid.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas. Any dispute arising out of them is brought in the state or federal courts located in Travis County, Texas, and both parties agree to that venue.
Changes
If these change materially we will tell subscribers by email before the change takes effect.