Tenants moved out but their mail is still showing up? sound familiar?
It is not unusual not to give a forwarding address to the USPS and landlords. For landlords, dealing with mail from former tenants is time-consuming and just plain annoying.
In a perfect world, people would always, like they’re supposed to, give the USPS their new address, but we know this doesn’t always happen. so if you’re reading this, you probably need help understanding what you can do to fix the problem and mitigate it in the future.
Read on to find out what you can do with mail from previous tenants.
Ways to stop mail from previous tenants
When figuring out how to stop mail delivery for former tenants, there are a few things you can do and an order to do it.
The first action you can take is to leave the mail for the carrier with “return to sender”, “no longer at this address”, or “moved” on the envelope. the carrier will return the mail to the post office of origin. the post office will forward it if they have a forwarding address, but if not, they will return the mail to the sender.
If the envelope has a barcode, the post office uses an automated system to sort the mail. the barcode corresponds to the address it is delivered to, so even if you write a note on the envelope, the barcode will still “send” the mail to your address. in this case, mark the barcode and write “not at this address” near it. drawing across a barcode will cause the post office system to record the mail as “undeliverable”.
If the post office returns the sender, hopefully the sender will update their records and send the mail to the revised address. the post office will take note of this and update their records.
A second action is to leave a friendly note inside the previous resident’s mailbox that says something like, “The previous tenant (name) no longer lives at this address, please just leave mail for the current tenant (name).”
mail carriers will most likely pay attention to this and sort mail in the future, recognizing this change.
Finally, if the mail keeps showing up after you try to “return to sender” and leave a note for the mail carrier, you should talk directly to the mail carrier in a friendly manner or go to your post office and ask to speak to the postmaster.
other questions about receiving mail from former tenants
Why else should I care about having a former tenant’s address?
Besides the hassle of dealing with mail from former tenants, there are practical reasons why not having a forwarding address is a problem. one, a landlord needs an address to send a security deposit. Second, what if there is a legal action, such as small claims court, and the landlord has no way of contacting the tenant? going to small claims court requires letters and notices to be sent.
can I look at, shred or throw away mail from a previous tenant?
no, looking at, shredding, or throwing away a previous tenant’s mail is illegal. You can serve up to five years in prison or pay a hefty fine for opening someone else’s mail because it’s considered theft.
Shredding or throwing away another person’s mail is also considered a form of theft. don’t do this.
can I fill out a change of address form for the previous tenant?
While it may be tempting to take matters into your own hands and fill out the change of address form, don’t.
To complete a change of address form, you must be the previous tenant, an executor, guardian, or agent authorized to file a change of address.
Filling out a change of address form without authorization to do so is a federal crime. you could get a fine or go to jail.
what if my tenant has passed away and that’s why I keep getting their mail?
It can happen that a tenant dies. You may expect or think that the family will take care of the deceased’s mail, but this does not always happen. If you need to prevent mail from being sent to a deceased tenant, you can take the following steps:
Go to the direct marketing association’s website and enter the name of your deceased tenant. it takes about three months for changes to occur. While this may not stop you from receiving all spam because only businesses using marketing and mailing lists will receive notifications, it should reduce it substantially.
write “deceased, return to sender” in the email. if this doesn’t work, talk to your carrier or go to your post office and talk to the postmaster.
Finally, the last and most time-consuming option is to contact the companies directly.
can I throw out the mail from previous tenants?
Landlords and new tenants may not discard or destroy mail addressed to a previous tenant. in fact, doing so is a federal crime. Plus, filling out a change of address form for your former tenant is also illegal – they’ll have to take that step themselves.
What if the letters you receive addressed to the previous tenant are spam? Although it may seem tempting to just throw them away, they are still protected by law, and technically you could still be prosecuted for destroying or disposing of them.
While destroying or disposing of someone else’s mail is illegal, it’s also important to note that landlords and new tenants are not responsible for holding the mail they receive for the old tenant for an extended period of time.
You may have grounds for legal intervention if the previous tenant refuses to complete change of address forms, forcing you to keep your mail indefinitely.
How can I stop receiving mail from previous tenants?
There are a few ways to make the constant flood of letters addressed to the previous tenant finally stop. one of the most obvious ways is to forward these items yourself if you know your new address. Cross out the USPS barcode and your old address, write in your new address, and place it in the mailbox.
This practice is not very sustainable as it still requires more work than you should be responsible for as a landlord or new tenant. some tenants simply leave a note in your mailbox to let your mail carrier know that a certain previous tenant no longer lives there and not to leave any mail for you.
Another option is to write “not at this address” or “moved” on the front of the envelope and leave it in the mailbox for the mail carrier to find. these actions are easy for you to take and put the onus on the post office system to stop delivering items to your address where the recipient no longer lives.
how the usps can help
It is illegal for individual citizens to discard or destroy mail that is addressed to someone else, but the process is slightly different for the USPS. When the USPS receives letters that are labeled “not at this address,” they can usually redirect the mail accordingly.
If the mail is deemed undeliverable, the USPS will handle these pieces of mail based on the item’s endorsements, which the sender lists on the mail. If no endorsements are present on the mail, the USPS can legally discard it.
a final thought
Dealing with mail still being delivered to a previous tenant can be a hassle, and you may want to avoid it, but using the different ways listed above can help resolve the issue.
Sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with it, so why not do it sooner?