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Can I get suggestions for apartment info?

Question

Last Updated: April 1, 2013

When attempting to validate an address, is there any way get a suggestion of possible valid addresses when the address entered could not be validated?

Using your service, I entered the following address which I know is incorrect:

60 W. 12th St
Suite 1000
Hialeah Fl, 33010

Your service returns a message letting me know that the secondary part of the address is incorrect. It would be wonderful if, for example, in this case, the service lets me know that the secondary part of the address is incorrect and makes the following suggestions:

60 W. 12th St
Apt A
Hialeah Fl, 33010

60 W. 12th St
Apt B
Hialeah Fl, 33010

60 W. 12th St
Apt C
Hialeah Fl, 33010

Now, it may be that your service already provides this type of functionality. If it does, could you please direct me to the online demo or documentation?

Answer

The "apartment suggestion feature" that you would like is also one that I would like. The difficulty is that the USPS (and those of us who are licensed to use their data) aren't permitted to disclose address data other than to match what is requested. So, if you ask for 100 North Main St, we are unable to tell you that there is a 99 and a 101 but only to attempt a match on the provided address.

However, if you are using our API, you could certainly send a batch request (if you have determined the parameters). For example, instead of just searching for 100 North Main St, you could send us (in a single request) 1-100 North Main and then display the results. That would allow you to present suggestions to your users in the event that the requested address is invalid. The parameters I speak of would have to do with the secondary information (secondary info could be 1-100+ or A-J+...). If you submit 100 North Main #1, 100 North Main #2... (or a, b, c) you can then return that to your users.

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