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I left my apartment before the end of the agreed upon move out date which was supposed to be February 2nd (had a moving truck on January 10th, came back on the 11th) and it was obvious my landlord had been in the apartment overnight. Then while I was cleaning up a few items I had left, he ripped the door open and started screaming at me to leave. Anyway, I was for all intents and purposes still the occupant of the unit until a few days ago (Feb 2), and I never gave him my forwarding address (since then I opened a PO box in a few towns over which I will be sending a letter to him today so he has it for the security deposit I'm sure he'll never give back to me). Yesterday, I received a certified letter from him at my new address. I was very puzzled at first since I haven't even gotten my license at my new address yet and NOTHING can be linked to me here. I then realized I had given my new address to PSEG for my credit check that I anticipated. I called PSEG and they said a final statement was sent to my old address on January 27th which contained my new address within the letter. The certified mail from my landlord was sent to me oon January 30th. It's obvious my landlord has opened my mail and obtained my new address through doing this. What can I do about it?! I would like to have him get all the fines or penalties that can be given, because this is such an invasion of privacy. I have read a little bit on how the landlord is supposed to keep any property left at the apartment for a set period of time, and how mail is supposed to be dealt with but i'm not 100% clear on that.
Any feedback to the holding of mail and opening of mail is appreciated. Thank you!
I don't see any reason to think that the landlord opened your mail. If nothing else, the same day that you gave the new address to the electric company, that address went onto your credit report. Actually, that address might have gone onto your credit report on the day that you opened the PO Box.
There are lots of ways to find where you are that don't involve opening your mail.
You didn't put in a change of address with the post office? You didn't tell even a single friend or relative or neighbor where you were going?
are you sure you didn't do a change of address and the post just redirected your mail??
And whats the big deal with your LL not having your new address? I don't see why you'd go through the trouble and expense to set up a P.O.Box "a few towns over", it seems rather... crazy on your end.
You are moved out, you have no proof of any wrong-doing. Just move on with your life.
I'm sure the LL is glad to get rid of you, if this is how you handle your business.
I'm guessing you and your landlord didn't part on ideal terms.
If he read your mail, you're probably not going to prove it in any way that will result in penalties for him.
It's also equally as possible that he noticed you moved out well before the agreed on date and were worried that you were going to skip town and perhaps not pay him (if he's owed anything else). If that's the case, it's likely he ran a new background/address check on you and you'd be amazed how quickly those can sometimes switch to your new address. I think it's entirely possible that the PSEG credit check made it pop over to your credit report and he got it from there.
In the future, this is why you always want to get your mail forwarded as soon as possible -- and to furnish your former LL with your new address, PO Box or not, as you are surrendering your keys.
It would be best to let this go, because I don't think there's anything to gain here.
It is not necessarily obvious that the landlord opened your mail. That is conjecture and speculation on your part. I doubt the authorities could do much with the lack of evidence available. Your local postmaster should be able to advise you on this.
It's a federal offense to open another persons mail. You would have to prove he opened the mail. He could simply say the letter was opened and contents were spilled out. He could say you have him your address verbally. Pretty pointless. I guess you can complain to the postmaster and they will investigate. Most likely nothing will come out of it
One was outraged when I showed up at her new place...
She had left in the middle of the night...
I still knew where she worked and happened to see her car and I followed her to get her new address... nothing that you couldn't pay a private detective or skip tracer to do.
The owners got a judgement against her the last I heard and I did take it personal because I was naive and bought into her story about settling with her tax return money.
Even if it could be proved the landlord opened the mail, unless he stole and forged a check, it's highly unlikely a case like this would ever be accepted for prosecution. It's kind of like driving 60 in a 55 zone, yes, it's against the law, but they don't prosecute it so the cop doesn't pull you over and give you a ticket.
If a person is moving and doesn't have a new address yet, at least put your mail on "vacation hold" so it's not delivered to the old address. You can file a change of address later.
I left my apartment before the end of the agreed upon move out date which was supposed to be February 2nd (had a moving truck on January 10th, came back on the 11th) and it was obvious my landlord had been in the apartment overnight. Then while I was cleaning up a few items I had left, he ripped the door open and started screaming at me to leave. Anyway, I was for all intents and purposes still the occupant of the unit until a few days ago (Feb 2), and I never gave him my forwarding address (since then I opened a PO box in a few towns over which I will be sending a letter to him today so he has it for the security deposit I'm sure he'll never give back to me). Yesterday, I received a certified letter from him at my new address. I was very puzzled at first since I haven't even gotten my license at my new address yet and NOTHING can be linked to me here. I then realized I had given my new address to PSEG for my credit check that I anticipated. I called PSEG and they said a final statement was sent to my old address on January 27th which contained my new address within the letter. The certified mail from my landlord was sent to me oon January 30th. It's obvious my landlord has opened my mail and obtained my new address through doing this. What can I do about it?! I would like to have him get all the fines or penalties that can be given, because this is such an invasion of privacy. I have read a little bit on how the landlord is supposed to keep any property left at the apartment for a set period of time, and how mail is supposed to be dealt with but i'm not 100% clear on that.
Any feedback to the holding of mail and opening of mail is appreciated. Thank you!
Why would PSE&G have your new address and send your "final bill" to your old address? Honestly, that makes no sense.
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