Property Web Service Returns Melissa Identity Key for Primary Owners

The LookupProperty endpoint now returns a Melissa Identity Key (MIK) for each of the primary owners of a property. The MIK is a unique and persistent identifier for individuals across the US. This is a powerful tool that can readily identify a person and their associated data over time. As one can imagine, it is no easy task to create a unique identifier for ALL individuals. Because of this, MIK coverage can vary.

The MIK allows for:

• Unique identification of individual contacts
• Deduplication of varying or out of date records for a given contact
• Distinction of owners as individuals as opposed to organizations
• Simplification of tracking individuals regardless of:
  • Whether they change addresses
  • They’ve changed their email or phone number

The MIK can also be used across a variety of Melissa products to get additional owner information, beyond what is returned by Property WS alone. For example, a MIK can be used in Personator with the Append action as a lookup tool. If the record exists, Personator can return additional contact info and demographics about the individual associated with the input MIK.