How to stop receiving previous homeowner's mail (Plano, Post: insurance, new house)

[Whyrallnamestaken]

Every day I remove a stack of mail from my box that is addressed to the previous homeowner. This includes what looks like a bank statement, insurance information and numerous catalogs that I have no interest in. Is there anything I can do to stop this? I thought about bundling it all together and taking it to the post office with a note saying the "Jones" no longer live here. I have been in the house for almost 6 weeks. I personally get very little mail because I pay and receive my bills online.

[houstonfan]

I did that, and I also put a note in my mailbox for the mailman, but it still comes and it's been more than a year, lol. Maybe you can fill out one of those mail fowarding cards that the post office has, if you know his forwarding address. I ended up taking all the mail and writing 'return to sender' and that helped somewhat but I still get a lot of junk mail. At least i don't get more bills.

[trbstang]

On anything that looks important, just mark it "Return to sender, not at this address" in bold marker and drop it back in the outgoing mailbox. I usually mark an "X" across the address too, along with the markering out the barcodes on the envelopes, or it may end up back in your mailbox via the autosort system. We had a few that returned to me that way! The sender should should take care of it. We did have to contact several of the catalogs and tell them to remove the address from their database, and eventually they almost all did. It may take a few months, but the junk mail should slow down.

[Johnhw2]

I have owned my house in Plano for over 2 years, the couple before us owned it for 5 years. I still get catelogues for the prior owner of 7 years ago. No wonder the PO is losing Billions. Not to mention the garbage since that is precisely where the wrong addressee mail goes.What a non productive system....out source it to FedEx or UPS!

[JanND]

Originally Posted by Whyrallnamestaken

Every day I remove a stack of mail from my box that is addressed to the previous homeowner. This includes what looks like a bank statement, insurance information and numerous catalogs that I have no interest in. Is there anything I can do to stop this? I thought about bundling it all together and taking it to the post office with a note saying the "Jones" no longer live here. I have been in the house for almost 6 weeks. I personally get very little mail because I pay and receive my bills online.

I would write a note to the letter carrier....or stop and ask them. Ask if it will help if you personally go to the post office...Or, write on the letter...Return to Sender....It does get to be a pain. Really inconsiderate of the previous occupants.

[crone]

Only first class mail is forwarded to the new address. The 3rd. class will continue to be delivered.

My neighbor moved to care for her ailing father. She forwarded all of her mail to her new address. Nothing was to be put in the box for her remaining here husband. She forgot that she was executor of her mom's estate and did not forward the mail in her mom's name. There was nothing the carrier could do, even though the carrier knew she had moved. They asked me to call her and tell her to fill out the form to move her mom's mail.

There has been some screw up with the forwarding instructions or the carrier is an idiot. Call the postmaster at your local post office, if it is happening every day. The post office used to notify the sender of the new address. Have they stopped doing that?

[elnina]

Maybe you should notify the post office? They sort the mail...

[HookTheBrotherUp]

We had the exact some problem recently; my wife was very patient and just kept sending them back. They eventually stopped. As for junk mail, nothing short of removing your mailbox will fix that. As you know, the US Post Office has filed for bankruptcy now for the second time, and is missing their payments and have gone into default; they will deliver anything to make a buck, they love delivering junk mail to you, it is what keeps them afloat.

Just as a side note, since we owned two homes at once while we were in transition, the mailbox at the new house was full, and I noticed mail delivery stopped. I cleaned it out, but it filled up again, but then the mail stopped again. So, perhaps just get a very small mailbox, or a slot that only fits a bill at a time?

[jtothemak]

Put your last name on a sticker in your mailbox, but at the end of day it depends on your local friendly mail carrier and whether they care about doing a good job or not.

[elnina]

Just cross off your address, remove the bar code ( or mask with a Sharpie) and write: recipient moved out - return to sender.
You don't need to put on a stamp. Put back in your mailbox and rise the flag. Done.