Quickstart Guide| Property

Introduction

Property can be used to:

Look up U.S. properties by address, county FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) and APN (Assessor's Parcel Number), or Melissa Address Key (MAK)
Find the owner's name, address, and value of the home
Learn about the various properties and characteristics of a property such as size, rooms, number of buildings, amenities, improvements, etc.
Find other properties owned by a homeowner

Basic Order of Operations

Single

Determine which of the three functions you would like to use to achieve your goal:

LookupDeeds: Find historical deeds for a property
LookupHomesByOwner: Find other properties owned by an individual
LookupProperty: Find additional information about a specific property

Put the property data into JSON, XML, or REST format
Make sure to include your license key
Specify the output columns you would like to see

There are many possible outputs, but leaving this option blank and getting the pre-selected default outputs is a good start
To see all possible outputs for any of the functions, use “GrpAll”
Other output column options are found here: http://wiki.melissadata.com/index.php?title=Property_V4

Under “Input/Output”, go to “Request” for the function you are using

Send the request to the service URL using HTTP GET:

LookupDeeds: https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupDeeds
LookupHomesByOwner: https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupHomesByOwner
LookupProperty: https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupProperty

Receive the result back from the service

Batch (LookupProperty Only)

Put the input request together using JSON or XML. Put up to 100 records into the request array
Make sure to include your license key
Specify the output columns you would like to see – they will apply to all records in the request

There are many possible outputs, but leaving this option blank and getting the pre-selected default outputs is a good start
To see all possible outputs for any of the functions, use “GrpAll”
Other output column options are found here: http://wiki.melissadata.com/index.php?title=Property_V4

In the “Reference” section under “Input/Output”, go to “Request” for the function you are using

Make sure to specify the same options for all records in the batch to maintain consistency
Send the full request to the service URL: https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupProperty using HTTP POST
Receive the result back for all addresses from the input

Input Request

Single

LookupDeeds

With a REST request, you can include all the input along with the URL for an easy and quick way of sending a single record.

curl -X GET “https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupDeeds?id=LICENSE_KEY&t=Test&opt=page:1&cols=&mak=&fips=&apn=&txid=&format=JSON&ff=22382%20Avenida%20Empresa%20Rancho%20Santa%20Margarita%20CA%2092688"

LookupHomesbyOwner*

curl -X GET "https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupHomesByOwner?id=LICENSE_KEY&t=Test&mak=&ff=FREEFORM&format=JSON"

*Replace FREEFORM with the primary address of a property owner.

LookupProperty

curl -X GET “https://property.melissadata.net/v4/WEB/LookupProperty?id=LICENSE_KEY&t=Test&format=JSON&cols=&account=&addresskey=&a1=22382%20Avenida%20Empresa&a2=&apn=&city=Rancho%20Santa%20Margarita&country=&fips=&ff=&mak=&state=CA&postal=92688"

You will have to replace the LICENSE_KEY with a real license to generate a result. You can also toggle between getting XML or JSON back using the format input parameter. As you can see, in this example, we are asking for JSON back. JSON is also returned by default when a format is not specified.

Input Fields

LookupDeeds

Input Name	REST Input	Description	REQUIRED
License Key	`id`	The License Key issued by Melissa.	YES
Transmission Reference	`t`	Value passed through unchanged to the response for identification or any other purpose	No
Columns	`cols`	Specifies which column(s) to be output	No
Format	`format`	The desired format of the response. Possible values are json or xml	No
Property MAK	`mak`	A propietary unique key identifier for an address	No*
FreeForm	`ff`	The free form address	No*
FIPS	`fips`	Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code for the property	No*
APN	`apn`	Assessor's Parcel Number for the property	No*
Transaction ID	`txid`	Specific transaction ID to specify one deed or transaction	No*

*The following are the possible minimum input requirements.

FIPS & APN
Property MAK
Transaction ID
Free Form"

LookupHomesByOwner

Input Name	REST Input	Description	REQUIRED
Transmission Reference	`t`	Value passed through unchanged to the response for identification or any other purpose	No
License Key	`id`	The License Key issued by Melissa	Yes
Format	`format`	The desired format of the response. Possible values are json or xml	No
Owner MAK	`mak`	A propietary unique key identifier for an address	No*
FreeForm	`ff`	The free form address	No*

*The following are the possible minimum input requirements.

Owner MAK
Free Form

LookupProperty

Input Name REST Input Description REQUIRED

TransmissionReference t Value passed through unchanged to the response for identification or any other purpose No

CustomerId id The License Key issued by Melissa Yes

Columns cols Specifies which column(s) to be output No

Options

opt

Desc

Code	Description
Off	Default. Returns back values in the web service response as codes. This is intended for developers developing applications/software expecting standardized codes
On	Instead of returning back the codes, the codes are replaced with their human readable descriptions and meanings. This is intended for those more interested in getting the meanings/descriptions upfront. When integrating, keep in mind the length of the strings/descriptions can vary between fields. Maximum description length is 255 characters

TotalRecords - Batch Only. The number of records in the request Yes*

Format format The desired format of the response. Possible values are json or xml No

RecordID - Batch Only. Used as a unique identifier for each individual address record No

AddressKey addresskey 11 digit key of the property. Based on the Zip5, Plus4 and two digit delivery code No**

AddressLine1 a1 Address Line 1 No**

AddressLine2 a2 Address Line 2 No

APN apn Assessor's Parcel Number for the property No**

City city City No**

Country ctry Country. Note that currently only properties in the US can be looked up at the moment No

FIPS fips Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code for the property No**

FreeForm ff The free form address No**

MAK mak A propietary unique key identifier for an address No**

State state US State No**

PostalCode postal Postal Code No**

*Only required with POST (Batch) Requests.

**The following are the possible minimum input requirements.

Address Key
FIPS & APN
FIPS & Account Number
MAK
FreeForm
Address Line 1 with either Postal Code, or City and State

Input Best Practices

For the fastest processing when using any of the Property functions, prioritize the possible inputs in the following order:

FIPS and APN (both must be used)
FIPS and Account Number (both must be used)
MAK
Address Key
Address (parsed or free form)

LookupDeeds

Multiple Historical Deeds - When using LookupDeeds, there may be many historical deeds. The deeds are returned in reverse chronological order, so the first record returned is the most recent. By default, the service returns every available historical deed. If you would only like a specific number of recent records, you may add the option for pagination. For example, in a JSON REST request, you would add &opt=page:X, where X is the number of deeds you would like returned. If no number is specified, the default is 1.

LookupHomesByOwner

Use the Correct Input – To get a list of properties owned by a specific individual, you must input the individual’s primary address using either a freeform address or MAK. Using any property owned by the individual is not sufficient.

LookupProperty

Service Codes – Some of the output columns are populated with service codes. For example, possible results for “Fireplace” are various numbers, such as "1" and "10", which means "Yes" and "Wood Stove", respectively. Results are based on the level of detail that the county provides. Service codes can be found here: http://wiki.melissadata.com/index.php?title=Property_V4%3ALookupProperty_Service_Codes

If you would prefer to have short descriptions returned instead of the service codes, you can toggle the option parameter called Desc from off (default) to on.

REST: opt=desc:[on/off]
POST:

XML: <Options>Desc:[on/off]</Options>
JSON: "Options": "Desc:[on/off]",

Narrow Down Your Outputs – Look at the possible outputs (found here: http://wiki.melissadata.com/index.php?title=Property_V4%3ALookupProperty#Columns) and narrow them down to what you need when possible. There are hundreds of possible outputs and it will be faster to process your data and easier to analyze your results when unnecessary information is not outputted.

Multiple Property Matches - Depending on the information provided, there may be several possible matches for a property in our database. If that’s the case, we have developed several criteria to return the best match. If the returned property is not the property you were searching for, you can check if there were additional property matches by looking for a “YCXX” (Property Count) code in the Results output. YC01 indicates one match, which is what was returned; YC02 indicates two matches, and so on. If the code is YC02 or greater, the FIPS, APN, and MAK for the other properties (if available), are returned under the “AssociatedParcels” output column. Note that “GrpAssociatedParcels” is not returned by default and must be specified in the columns parameter to be returned.

Output Response

Single

Here are example results of single requests for the three functions.

LookupDeeds (default output columns only)

{
  "Version":"string",
  "TransmissionReference":"string",
  "Results":"string",
  "TotalRecords":"string",
  "Records": [{
    "DocInfo": {
      "RecordingDate":"string"
    },
    "TxDefInfo": {
      "TransactionType":"string",
      "TransferInfoPurchaseTypeCode":"string"
    },
    "TxAmtInfo": {
      "TransferAmount":"string",
    },
    "PrimaryGrantor": {
      "Name1Full":"string",
      "Name2Full":"string"
    },
    "SecondaryGrantor": {
      "Name3Full":"string",
      "Name4Full":"string”
    },
    "PrimaryGrantee": {
      "Name1Full":"string",
      "Name2Full":"string",
    },
    "SecondaryGrantee": {
      "Name3Full":"string",
      "Name4Full":"string",
    },
    "TitleCompInfo": {
      "StandardizedName":"string",
    },
    "Mortgage1": {
      "RecordingDate":"string",
      "Type":"string",
      "Amount":"string",
      "LenderFullName":"string",
      "TermDate":"string",
      "InterestRate":"string",
    },
    "Mortgage2": {
      "RecordingDate":"string",
      "Type":"string",
      "Amount":"string",
      "LenderFullName":"string",
      "TermDate":"string",
      "InterestRate":"string",
    },
  }]
}

LookupHomesByOwner (all columns are returned by default)

{
  "Version":"string",
  "TransmissionReference":"string",
  "Results":"string",
  "TotalRecords":"string",
  "Records": [{
    "MAK":"string",
    "BaseMAK":"string",
    "FIPS":"string",
    "APN":"string",
    "PropertyAddress":"string",
    "PropertyCity":"string",
    "PropertyState":"string",
    "PropertyZip":"string",
    "PropertyPlus4":"string"
  }]
}

LookupProperty (default output columns only)

{
  "Version":"string",
  "TransmissionReference":"string",
  "TransmissionResults":"string",
  "TotalRecords":"string",
  "Records": [{
    "RecordID":"string",
    "Results":"string",
    "Parcel": {
      "FIPSCode":"string",
      "UnformattedAPN":"string",
      "FormattedAPN":"string",
    },
    "PrimaryOwner": {
      "Name1Full":"string",
    },
    "CurrentDeed": {
      "MortgageAmount":"string",
      "MortgageDate":"string",
      "MortgageTerm":"string",
      "MortgageDueDate":"string",
      "LenderName":"string",
    },
    "Tax": {
      "AssessedValueTotal":"string",
      "MarketValueTotal":"string",
      "TaxFiscalYear":"string",
      "TaxBilledAmount":"string",
    },
    "PropertyUseInfo": {
      "YearBuilt":"string",
    },
    "SaleInfo": {
      "AssessorLastSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorLastSaleAmount":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleAmount":"string",
      "DeedLastSaleDate":"string",
      "DeedLastSalePrice":"string",
    },
    "PropertySize": {
      "AreaBuilding":"string",
      "AreaGross":"string",
      "AreaLotAcres":"string",
      "AreaLotSF":"string",
    },
    "IntRoomInfo": {
      "BathCount":"string",
      "BedroomsCount":"string",
      "RoomsCount":"string",
    }
  }]
}

Batch (LookupProperty Only)

Here is an example response from a batch request with two records.

{
  "Version":"string",
  "TransmissionReference":"JSON BATCH TEST",
  "TransmissionResults":"string",
  "TotalRecords":"2",
  "Records": [{
    "RecordID":"1",
    "Results":"string",
    "Parcel": {
      "FIPSCode":"string",
      "UnformattedAPN":"string",
      "FormattedAPN":"string",
    },
    "PrimaryOwner": {
      "Name1Full":"string",
    },
    "CurrentDeed": {
      "MortgageAmount":"string",
      "MortgageDate":"string",
      "MortgageTerm":"string",
      "MortgageDueDate":"string",
      "LenderName":"string",
    },
    "Tax": {
      "AssessedValueTotal":"string",
      "MarketValueTotal":"string",
      "TaxFiscalYear":"string",
      "TaxBilledAmount":"string",
    },
    "PropertyUseInfo": {
      "YearBuilt":"string",
    },
    "SaleInfo": {
      "AssessorLastSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorLastSaleAmount":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleAmount":"string",
      "DeedLastSaleDate":"string",
      "DeedLastSalePrice":"string",
    },
    "PropertySize": {
      "AreaBuilding":"string",
      "AreaGross":"string",
      "AreaLotAcres":"string",
      "AreaLotSF":"string",
    },
    "IntRoomInfo": {
      "BathCount":"string",
      "BedroomsCount":"string",
      "RoomsCount":"string",
    }
  },{
    "RecordID":"2",
    "Results":"string",
    "Parcel": {
      "FIPSCode":"string",
      "UnformattedAPN":"string",
      "FormattedAPN":"string",
    },
    "PrimaryOwner": {
      "Name1Full":"string",
    },
    "CurrentDeed": {
      "MortgageAmount":"string",
      "MortgageDate":"string",
      "MortgageTerm":"string",
      "MortgageDueDate":"string",
      "LenderName":"string",
    },
    "Tax": {
      "AssessedValueTotal":"string",
      "MarketValueTotal":"string",
      "TaxFiscalYear":"string",
      "TaxBilledAmount":"string",
    },
    "PropertyUseInfo": {
      "YearBuilt":"string",
    },
    "SaleInfo": {
      "AssessorLastSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorLastSaleAmount":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleDate":"string",
      "AssessorPriorSaleAmount":"string",
      "DeedLastSaleDate":"string",
      "DeedLastSalePrice":"string",
    },
    "PropertySize": {
      "AreaBuilding":"string",
      "AreaGross":"string",
      "AreaLotAcres":"string",
      "AreaLotSF":"string",
    },
    "IntRoomInfo": {
      "BathCount":"string",
      "BedroomsCount":"string",
      "RoomsCount":"string",
    }
  }]
}

Output Fields

Response Level - All

Output Name	Description
`Version`	The current revision number of Property.
`TransmissionReference`	Returned value will be the same as the input TransmissionReference to be used as a unique identifier.
`TransmissionResults*`	Service Errors (SE Codes) and General Transmission Errors (GE Codes)
`Results**`	Property results for status (YS Codes), error (YE Codes), and changes (YC Codes). See the Interpreting Results section below for more details.
`Total Records`	The total number of records returned.

*For LookupProperty only. For LookupDeeds and LookupHomesByOwner, SE Codes and GE Codes are included in the "Results" output.

**For LookUpProperty, Property Results are at the Record Level.

Record Level - LookupDeeds (Default)

Group	Output Name	Description
DocInfo	`RecordingDate`	The official filing date with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
TxDefInfo	`TransactionType`	The transaction type
TxDefInfo	`TransferInfoPurchaseTypeCode`	The type of resale transaction. E.g. construction, subdivision, etc.
TxAmtInfo	`TransferAmount`	The amount, in dollars, of consideration in an ownership changing transaction
PrimaryGrantor	`Name1Full`	The full name of the primary seller
PrimaryGrantor	`Name2Full`	The full name of the secondary seller
SecondaryGrantor	`Name3Full`	The full name of the third seller
SecondaryGrantor	`Name4Full`	The full name of the fourth seller
PrimaryGrantee	`Name1Full`	The full name of the primary buyer or borrower
PrimaryGrantee	`Name2Full`	The full name of the secondary buyer or borrower
SecondaryGrantee	`Name3Full`	The full name of the third buyer or borrower
SecondaryGrantee	`Name4Full`	The full name of the fourth buyer or borrower
TitleCompInfo	`StandardizedName`	The standardized name of the title company
Mortgage1	`RecordingDate`	The first mortgage official filing date with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
Mortgage1	`Type`	The type of loan for the first mortgage. E.g. conventional, construction, FHA, etc
Mortgage1	`Amount`	The loan amount of the first mortgage
Mortgage1	`LenderFullName`	The full standardized name of the lender for the first mortgage
Mortgage1	`TermDate`	The due date of the first mortage
Mortgage1	`InterestRate`	The interest rate of the first mortgage
Mortgage2	`RecordingDate`	The second mortgage official filing date with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
Mortgage2	`Type`	The type of loan for the second mortgage. E.g. conventional, construction, FHA, etc
Mortgage2	`Amount`	The loan amount of the second mortgage
Mortgage2	`LenderFullName`	The full standardized name of the lender for the second mortgage
Mortgage2	`TermDate`	The due date of the second mortage
Mortgage2	`InterestRate`	The interest rate of the second mortgage

Record Level - LookupHomesByOwner

Output Name	Description
`MAK`	Melissa Address Key. A unique key assigned to the address record
`BaseMAK`	A unique key assigned to the base address of a complex with apartments or suites
`FIPS`	The six-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code for the county containing the property
`APN`	The Assessor's Parcel Number (APN)
`PropertyAddress`	The address of the property
`PropertyCity`	The city containing the property
`PropertyState`	The state containing the property
`PropertyZip`	The zip code containing the property
`PropertyPlus4`	The plus 4 of the zip code containing the property

Record Level - LookupProperty (Default)

Group	Output Name	Description
-	`RecordID`	Position of the record in the response array
-	`Results`	Returns record specific result codes. For more information, see the Interpreting Results section below.
Parcel	`FIPSCode`	The five-digit numeric Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code
Parcel	`UnformattedAPN`	The unformatted Assessor Parcel Number (APN)
Parcel	`FormattedAPN`	The formatted Assessor Parcel Number (APN). Special characters are removed
PrimaryOwner	`Name1Full`	The full name of the primary owner. The primary owner holds the most interest in the property at the time the assessment file was created
CurrentDeed	`MortgageAmount`	The loan amount of the mortgage
CurrentDeed	`MortgageDate`	The mortgage official filing date
CurrentDeed	`MortgageTerm`	The duration of the loan. MortgageTermCode indicates the type of unit (month or year)
CurrentDeed	`MortgageDueDate`	The due date of the mortage
CurrentDeed	`LenderName`	The name of the lender for the mortgage
Tax	`AssessedValueTotal`	The assessed properties' total value
Tax	`MarketValueTotal`	The assessed properties' total market value
Tax	`TaxFiscalYear`	The fiscal year
Tax	`TaxBilledAmount`	The property tax amount billed to the owner
PropertyUseInfo	`YearBuilt`	The year the primary structure was built on the property
SaleInfor	`AssessorLastSaleDate`	The date the primary owner acquired the property with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
SaleInfor	`AssessorLastSaleAmount`	The amount paid by the primary owner for the property
SaleInfor	`AssessorPriorSaleDate`	The date the previous owner aquired the property with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
SaleInfor	`AssessorPriorSaleAmount`	The amount paid by the previous owner for the property
SaleInfor	`DeedLastSaleDate`	The deed sale date for the most recent sale with the format: YYYY-MM-DD
SaleInfor	`DeedLastSalePrice`	The deed sale price for the most recent sale
PropertySize	`AreaBuilding`	The total square footage of all structures' living area on the property
PropertySize	`AreaGross`	The total square footage of all structures on the property
PropertySize	`AreaLotAcres`	The lot size in acres
PropertySize	`AreaLotSF`	The lot size in square feet
IntRoomInfo	`BathCount`	The number of bathrooms on the property. Includes partial bathrooms
IntRoomInfo	`BedroomsCount`	The number of bedrooms on the property
IntRoomInfo	`RoomCount`	The number of rooms on the property

Interpreting Results

Result Codes

Property returns back a string of YSXX (Property Status) result codes which provides details on the property results that are returned. Property may also return YEXX (Property Error) result codes to indicate we did not have a match for a requested property in our database or YCXX (Property Change) result codes to indicate that multiple matches for a requested property were found. Additional result codes that are shared across Melissa products could also be returned.

Code	Description	Recommendation
`YS02`	An Address match was found.	Good
`YS04`	Detailed information was returned.	Good
`YS05`	More than one match was found.	Good
`YS06`	A FIPS + Account match was found.	Good
`YS07`	A MAK or BaseMAK match was found.	Good
`YE01`	No FIPS, APN, or AddressKey was provided.	Bad
`YE02`	No match was found.	Bad
`YE03`	The FIPS, APN, or AddressKey provided was invalid.	Bad

For a list of the common transmission errors, see the General Info - Response Level Errors page.

For the full list of all possible result codes, please visit our Result Wiki page at Property Result Code Details.