A recent survey shows that over 60% of movers normally receive mail addressed to former residents of their homes. We’ve all gotten mail meant for someone else. It’s difficult to figure out what to do with mail that isn’t meant for you, especially when you can’t get a hold of its recipient or don’t even have an idea of who the person is. Let’s know how to stop getting mail for someone who doesn’t live here.
Now when you receive such mail, your immediate instinct may be to throw it away but this is not a great idea since it is considered a felony and you could be looking at serious jail time. Instead you can try returning it to the postal office or inform your landlord.
This article is dedicated to showing you how you can ‘permanently’ put an end to receiving mail from people who don’t live there.
How to stop getting mail from someone who doesn’t live here
Follow the below-listed steps to ensure that you stop receiving mail addressed to someone else and that you’re doing it the right way.
- Write ‘Return to Sender ‘
If you receive mail that belongs to someone else but has the same address. You’ll be able to find the sender’s details in the upper-left area of the mail.
You can simply write ‘Return to Sender ‘ in the mail. It is advised to do this with a sticky note to ensure that the ink of your marker or pen doesn’t leak through the envelope damaging the mail inside.
You can even tape the sticky note to the envelope if you’re afraid it might fall off.Usually, when the sender receives the mail, they send it back to your address believing that the postal office made a mistake.
If the mail gets to you again, write ‘Return to Sender ‘ and put it back into your mailbox, and let your postal worker take care of it.
After a few more to and fro, either the sender realizes that they’ve got the wrong address of the attempted recipient and makes corrections or the post office will stop sending when they find out that this is happening repeatedly.
- Write ‘Not at this address ‘
This is an alternative to the first method and is similar to the first except that it gives the sender more details. When the sender receives the mail back with ‘Return to Sender ‘, they may not understand or think it’s a mistake and send it again but when the mail comes back with a ‘Not at this address’ label they’ll know that the person they’re trying to contact doesn’t stay at the address, stop sending, and start looking for the new address of the recipient. The same goes for the postal office.
Note that this method is normally used for first-class mail and like the previous method, it’s best if you write this on an attached sticky note.
- Place a sticky note on your mailbox
Instead of using phrases to communicate with your postal worker, you can write a clear and precise explanation on a sticky note and attach it to your mailbox. The common templates to use for this method are:
(Intended recipient’s name) doesn’t live at this address
OR
No other tenants except (Your name)
An alternative to this is to write a polite note to your postal worker notifying that the person does not live there and asking them to stop delivering the mail. This note can be left in the mailbox.
- Strike out the barcode
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has a printed-out barcode on every piece of mail. The USPS uses this barcode to sort and know the addresses of recipients of mail. So if you write a note on the mail like ‘Return to Sender ‘, it will still find its way back to you but if you cross out the barcode, the system will record the mail as ‘undeliverable’.
- Talk to your Landlord
If you just moved to a renting house, then you should consider speaking to your landlord if you keep receiving a former tenant’s mails.
Since most landlords keep recent contact details of previous tenants, they may know the new address of the tenant and forward it themselves or get in touch to let the tenant know that their mails are coming to the wrong place.
- Talk to your mail carrier directly
You can decide to talk to your postal carrier or local post office, explaining your situation to them, and encouraging them to stop sending mails addressed to someone else. This is seen to be a more effective method than writing notes on the letter.
- Deliver the mail yourself
If you are familiar with the owner of the letter, or know his or her address, and don’t mind, you can take the mail yourself to the person and encourage the person to change his or her mailing address. You shouldn’t do this, however, if you aren’t okay with it.
Things you shouldn’t do to a wrongly addressed mail
The below-listed are illegal to do to a wrongly addressed mail
- Do not open the mail
- Do not throw the mail away
- Do not cross out the recipient’s name
- Do not fill out a change of address for the recipient
Conclusion
Receiving another person’s mail can be frustrating, however, you should never open, dispose of, or tamper with it as this may send you to jail or ‘gift’ you with an enormous fine. Follow the steps listed in this article to return a wrongly addressed mail the right way.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I keep a wrongly addressed mail?
If you receive a wrongly addressed mail and keep it you’re committing a crime and can be charged for ‘concealing mail ‘.
- Can I open another person’s mail?
No, it’s illegal to do this.
