How long to keep forwarding previous owner's mail?

[Amethyst]

The house we bought was owned by a divorcing couple. They rented it out at some point.

We get a lot of mail for the ex-husband. Much of it looks like stuff you'd want: finance companies, doctor's offices, insurance companies. I've been dutifully writing "Not at this address, please forward" and trudging to the mailbox, but that's getting tedious. Neighbors say they haven't seen the man since forever, so I'm thinking if it's been over a year and he hasn't bothered to inform these companies, it should be OK to just throw away the mail.

What do you all think?

(We get mail for the ex-wife, too, but it's all ads, and reminders to come back and visit the Mercedes dealership, the Corvette dealership, the Audi dealership, the liquor store...those go in the trash!)

 

[COcheesehead]

The forwarding should have been the previous owners responsibility. It’s as easy as filling out a card. Junk is never forwarded. I don’t think you have any obligation to forward the mail. You are being nice in doing so, but it’s not your problem.

 

[MRG]

After we had been in this house for 6 months we started to receive packages for some lady, I guess at some time she lived here. I found her and brought the package to her store. A few weeks later another package, I talked to the post office and UPS who told me what they needed her to do. I explained this to her twice and she wasn't receptive to doing anything.

Next box received went in the trash and somehow she's figured out how to change her address. Haven't received a box in over a year.

 

[Dtail]

I did it for a couple of months, then stopped.

 

[LRDave]

They should have told the USPS themselves. I think your obligation is over. Do you know your postperson? You might ask him/her.

When we moved in October, I dutifully told the post office and I also went online and updated my address with all companies we do business with, as well as some charities. The USPS warned us they would quit forwarding 2nd class mail after some date and I thought: "I'm OK with that..."

Well I'll be darned if almost every organization that used to send junk mail, solicitations and catalogs now send the same stuff to my new address. A broken junk mail link somehow heals itself.

 

[COcheesehead]

They should have told the USPS themselves. I think your obligation is over. Do you know your postperson? You might ask him/her.

When we moved in October, I dutifully told the post office and I also went online and updated my address with all companies we do business with, as well as some charities. The USPS warned us they would quit forwarding 2nd class mail after some date and I thought: "I'm OK with that..."

Well I'll be darned if almost every organization that used to send junk mail, solicitations and catalogs now send the same stuff to my new address. A broken junk mail link somehow heals itself.

There is a national change of address clearing house. If you submit an address change with the post office, the advertisers will eventually get your new address. The postman will not forward junk delivered to your old address, but you can get new junk at the new address.

 

[RunningBum]

The drawback to just pitching them is that bill collectors may actually come to your address if you haven't informed them he's not there anymore. Of course they may come to that address as the one on record anyway. Also, legally you aren't supposed to toss someone else's mail, though I would be tossing the junk for sure.

Can you keep a sharpie in the mail box and shuffle through mail right there and scribble "not at this address" and stuff it right back in? Or just keep a stack and once a month or so put them back in the box. Be sure to cross out any bar code on the envelope so that isn't read again and the mail comes back to you.

I assume you don't know the current address to fill out a change of address card? How about for the ex-wife? Let her deal with it. But neither of those is legal either and would more likely get you into trouble.

Talk to the postal carrier or postmaster to see if there's anything you or they can do. I get my mail through a small rural PO and I know both well enough to ask and feel like they'd do something if they could. Even in a big city the postmaster should take this seriously.

Another suggestion I've heard is to put a sticker on your mailbox to the effect of "so-and-so no longer lives here, do not deliver their mail" as a reminder to the carrier.

 

[Jerry1]

Unfortunately I’d have a hard time tossing mail that I thought was other than junk mail. I’d change what you write on the mail to Return to Sender. Not just because I like Elvis, but because eventually the company trying to get mail to this guy will have to figure out he no longer lives there.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We moved into our current house in 2010, and I still get junk mail almost daily for someone who was there even before the person we bought the house from. Some of it is porn and even racist. I went to the post office and asked what I could do to stop it and was told "nothing." The mail carrier knows I don't want to see it and he intercepts it, even though he's not supposed to. I throw whatever gets through in the recycle bin.

 

[jollystomper]

Can you keep a sharpie in the mail box and shuffle through mail right there and scribble "not at this address" and stuff it right back in?

+1 This is exactly what we did with the previous owner's sons mail, some of which, due to the content, we did not want to bring into the house. Eventually it stopped.

 

[kaneohe]

Just in case.........in the unlikely event that that person is ignorant of the procedure for informing USPS,you might make one of your notes on the forwarded mail reflect that info. Then after some time, a 2nd & Final notice.
That way,no guilt on your part and then you can do the Return to Sender notes before you finally start trashing them.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

I don’t know if this matters but - I write “return to sender - moved”
This has worked for the renters that had our place before we moved in - I even do it for junk mail - that has an address.

 

[Aerides]

I would probably keep it in a bundle over the next week (or two bundles if there's more than one addressee). Then have a chat with your carrier, ask them what they can do. Your carrier is likely the one sorting as well and should be able to be the line of first defense.

It's always good to have a friendly relationship with your main carrier anyway.

If their answer is unhelpful, then do the same but to your main PO postmaster.

 

[marko]

About twice a week we get mail that should've gone to a house across town. The mailman is an idiot; not even a similar name or street name. We throw it out.

 

[MichaelB]

About twice a week we get mail that should've gone to a house across town. The mailman is an idiot; not even a similar name or street name. We throw it out.

Why not just drop it back in the outgoing mail? We also regularly get mail and deliveries for a house two streets over with a similar address (rd vs st).

 

[marko]

They got rid of most of the mailboxes. The nearest one is about a mile away. If we left it in our box the mail carrier might leave it there for a week or two or three.
We have zero trust of the USPS ariund here at this point and have anything of importance go through UPS.

 

[athena53]

There is a national change of address clearing house. If you submit an address change with the post office, the advertisers will eventually get your new address. The postman will not forward junk delivered to your old address, but you can get new junk at the new address.

Yes, that's the problem. I think that junk mail advertisers are actually required to use this database to update their info and thus minimize undeliverable mail. It may be why some people don't fill out a Change of Address form.

 

[jimandthom]

Spouse is a retired rural carrier. They are required to deliver the mail to the address, not to the person.

Forwarding orders are good for only six months at a time.

Because the PO is going to more and more contract workers, you will often have a different carrier a couple of times a week.

Much of the mail comes presorted to the delivery PO.

It used to be that the clerk and carrier would handle each piece of mail to see who/address etc. and could make adjusments,that handling is now greatly reduced.

So if the presorted bundle has wrong mail in it, the carrier often will not see it.

Presorting is supposed to help on time management etc. If the weather is crappy, doesn't matter. If there is a car accident that required the road to be closed etc. he was still required to be back at the PO by a certain time so that any outgoing mail would be on the outgoing truck. If he missed that window, he was required to take it (on his own dime and time) to the next collection PO. It was about 30 miles away.

Having seen how things progressed during 34ish years-- I don't fault the carrier for very little.

 

[jimandthom]

In a similar issue---- we get collection calls on our landline for 1 couple. According to Spectrum, they recycle the telephone number after about 3 months.

We try to be polite to the caller as they are doing what they are informed/required to do as part of their job.

Same issue just a different venue. Easier to blame the final cog in the delivery wheel than the people who call the shots.

 

[marko]

Same issue just a different venue. Easier to blame the final cog in the delivery wheel than the people who call the shots.

Sure, but how does a letter for #3 Main St end up in the mail box for #4375 Southwest Eisenhower Drive 4 miles away (example) happen? The final cog has to read the address doesn't he?

 

[travelover]

I get junk mail addressed to my ex-wife. We have been divorced for 20 years and I’ve moved three times. Go figure.

 

[kcowan]

I dump it in a pile in the drawer by the front door and then stick it all in an envelope and write Return to Sender on the envelope once a month. After 3 months I trash it. I figure if the sender doesn't care, why should I? Mostly it looks like bank statements and investment statements. I suspect the recipient is online and does not need them.

I get misdirected mail too and treat it the same way. Let the senders realize that mail delivery is not reliable.

I still get catalogs addressed to the occupant from 12 years ago. I figure I am doing my part by recycling them.

 

[kgtest]

The house we bought was owned by a divorcing couple. They rented it out at some point.

We get a lot of mail for the ex-husband. Much of it looks like stuff you'd want: finance companies, doctor's offices, insurance companies. I've been dutifully writing "Not at this address, please forward" and trudging to the mailbox, but that's getting tedious. Neighbors say they haven't seen the man since forever, so I'm thinking if it's been over a year and he hasn't bothered to inform these companies, it should be OK to just throw away the mail.

What do you all think?

(We get mail for the ex-wife, too, but it's all ads, and reminders to come back and visit the Mercedes dealership, the Corvette dealership, the Audi dealership, the liquor store...those go in the trash!)

5 years later and I still get POs mail. I just recycle it, unless it's from the IRS or publishers clearing house

 

[sengsational]

I'm typically "UN holier than thou", but I take a moment to put a sticky on everything that isn't for us and put it back in the mailbox. I'd want someone else with a bit of my mail to do the same. If nothing else, it's training the (constantly changing) mail carrier.

 

[jimandthom]

Sure, but how does a letter for #3 Main St end up in the mail box for #4375 Southwest Eisenhower Drive 4 miles away (example) happen? The final cog has to read the address doesn't he?

Sort of a yes and no answer.

If it is part of the presorted mail, ie done at the processing centers read by machines, it comes to the carrier in order of delivery. So if that errant letter was part of the presorted mail for X address, they are not supposed to question it. It is truly a case of ---this is the order you receive it in, this is the order you deliver it in.

My spouse would review and not deliver, but that is also the difference you get when you have a carrier who worked the same route of decades versus the new system of having multiple contract people who work route A on Monday, maybe deliver packages on Tuesday, work route 12 on Wednesday, etc etc etc.

We have at times, since we moved to the city delivery system, had 3 (2 mail and 1 package) delivery in the same day.

I am certain that you will find the same level of incompetence, lack of judgement amongst business(private or public) and amongst all level of employees from bottom to top.