What constitutes a "bad address"?

Question

What exactly is a bad address?

Answer

Excellent question, and one that we have never specifically answered in writing so it's a good exercise to do.

VALID ADDRESS:

218 Gadsden Hwy Birmingham, AL 35235

INVALID ADDRESSES:

[house number invalid]
214 Gadsden Hwy
Birmingham, AL 35235

[house number missing]
Gadsden Hwy
Birmingham, AL 35235

[street/zip mismatch]
218 Gadsden Hwy
35211

[missing state or zip]
218 Gadsden Hwy
Birmingham

[street misspelled]
218 Catsden Hwy
Birmingham, AL 35235

[street misspelled]
218 Gads Hwy
Birmingham, AL 35235

VALID ADDRESSES (but not deliverable):

You can also have this same address and it could be vacant or marked as inactive. That would make an otherwise valid address, not deliverable.

So, those are just a few examples. Indeed, there are many ways that a single address could be bad. It could be incomplete or just plain wrong.

Here is a list of the return codes that we have about the addresses, and also some examples for them.