KevBlack's suggestion worked. Steps:
1. I logged in to my credit card site to verify how my address was listed. I had my apt number listed as Unit 12 on Address Line 1.
2. I logged into iTunes website and changed my Address Line 1 from '#12' to 'Unit 12' and saved to match my credit card address line.
3. I then tried to update my Apps in my iPhone and encountered the invalid error message again and entered my password.
4. This brought me to the Credit Card page where I entered my 3 digit code. I verified that the address was bearing the change I had made in Step 2, and it was.
5. I submitted and my apps began to download resolving the issue.
It seems that the validation is occuring for the credit card address on this line where Apple iTunes account is looking for an identical match from your credit card site OR maybe the '#' may be causing the issue.
In either case I agree with BlueHarbor that Credit Card Info should not matter if your Update is a free one, which it was in my case.
Seems like Apple customer service needs to clean this process up a bit or LET THEIR CUSTOMERS KNOW IN ADVANCE BEFORE INTRODUCING CHANGES THAT MAY AFFECT THEM since we are all scrambling after the fact to find out why our app updates failed and the error messages are not specific about which address is invalid (credit card vs. email address)
Thanks KevBlack for the help.