1. A system for sorting mail items, comprising: a first database containing addresses and zipcodes for a plurality of mail item recipients; a second database containing a plurality of individual and firm names and their associated addresses; an imaging device for capturing an image of address information on the mail item; and one or more subsystems containing an algorithm that: compares the address information with the first database and determines if there is a match, if the address information is unmatched, the algorithm compares the address information to the second database, and applies a set of criteria to the address information that is compared with the second database to determine if a match exists.