To stop someone’s mail from coming to your house, write “Not at this address” on each envelope and drop it back in your mailbox, then contact your local post office if the deliveries keep arriving. For a single misdelivered piece that’s the whole job. For a former resident whose mail shows up week after week, you’ll need the post office to flag the address in their system so it stops at the sorting stage instead of landing in your box.
What you cannot do is throw it away. Under federal law, taking mail addressed to someone else and destroying, hiding, or opening it can carry criminal penalties when done to obstruct the correspondence.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1702 – Obstruction of Correspondence Prosecutors aren’t chasing people who tossed one credit card offer, but the safe habit is to always put unwanted mail back into the postal stream.
Return a Single Piece the Right Way
For a letter addressed to someone who doesn’t live at your address, write “Not at this address” on the outside of the envelope and put it back in your mailbox with the flag up, or drop it in a USPS collection box. Do not cross out, cover, or write over the original address. The postal service needs the address intact to route the piece back to the sender.2USPS. How is Undeliverable and Misdelivered Mail Handled
If the letter belongs to a neighbor and just landed in the wrong box, don’t write anything on it. Put it back in your mailbox or hand it to your carrier for redelivery.2USPS. How is Undeliverable and Misdelivered Mail Handled
You can also mark unopened mail “Refused” and send it back if you simply don’t want it. The one exception: if the piece is a response to a sales offer or solicitation you previously accepted, USPS won’t let you refuse it after the fact.3USPS. Refuse Unwanted Mail and Remove Name From Mailing Lists
Get the Post Office to Stop Delivering It
Marking envelopes one at a time works for the occasional stray. When mail for a former resident keeps arriving, you need the delivery itself to stop.
Leave a Note for Your Carrier
Place a legible note inside your mailbox listing only the last names of current residents, something like “Smith household only.” Your carrier will use it to screen out mail for anyone else. Laminate the card or use a weatherproof sleeve, because a soggy note in the bottom of a mailbox stops working.
Ask a Post Office Supervisor to Flag the Address
If the carrier note isn’t enough, go to the post office that serves your address and ask to speak with a supervisor. Request that they add a notation to your address record showing the former resident no longer lives there. Once the address is flagged, future mail for that person is returned automatically instead of delivered to you.
Shutting Down a Specific Sender
For a particular company whose mailings you find offensive, federal postal law gives you a tool most people have never heard of. You can file PS Form 1500 at any post office and request a prohibitory order against that mailer, submitting the original offending mailpiece with the completed form. Once the sender receives the order, they have 30 calendar days to stop all mailings to your address and remove your name from their lists. Violations can be pursued as contempt in federal court.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3008 – Prohibition of Pandering Advertisements The statute gives you sole discretion to decide what qualifies as offensive, which in practice makes the order usable against almost any unwanted advertising from a specific sender.
Why Junk Mail Ignores “Return to Sender”
Writing “Not at this address” on a coupon pack or advertising flyer usually accomplishes nothing. Most bulk mail travels as USPS Marketing Mail, and unless the sender adds a specific return endorsement, the postal service disposes of undeliverable pieces rather than sending them back.5USPS. 507 Mailer Services The advertiser never learns the address is wrong, and the mail keeps coming.
Mail addressed to “Or Current Resident” or “Occupant” is a separate problem. Because it’s technically addressed to whoever lives there now, the postal service is obligated to deliver it, and you are the intended recipient whether you want to be or not.3USPS. Refuse Unwanted Mail and Remove Name From Mailing Lists
To actually reduce this stream, you have to get your address off the marketing lists before the mail is sent.
Pre-Approved Credit and Insurance Offers
Pre-approved credit card and insurance mailers come from lenders pulling prescreened lists from the major credit bureaus. Federal law gives you the right to remove your name. Visit optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688 to opt out for five years instantly. Making it permanent requires signing and returning a Permanent Opt-Out Election form the bureaus send you after you start the process online or by phone.6Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance The opt-out right comes from the Fair Credit Reporting Act.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
Catalogs and General Marketing Mail
For the broader catalog and advertising stream, the Association of National Advertisers runs DMAchoice. Registration costs $8 online and lasts 10 years. Participating companies are supposed to drop your name from their lists. Smaller mailers and local businesses don’t always take part, so this won’t eliminate every piece, but it noticeably reduces the volume.
Mail for a Former Resident Who Has Died
Individual pieces addressed to someone who lived at your address and has passed away can go back the same way as any non-resident’s mail: write “Deceased — Return to Sender” on the envelope and put it back in the mailbox to notify each sender.8USPS. How to Stop or Forward Mail for the Deceased
For a full redirect, the executor or court-appointed administrator of the estate can visit a post office in person and file a change-of-address request for the deceased. A death certificate is not sufficient on its own. The executor must bring documentation of their appointment, such as letters testamentary or a court order naming them as the estate’s representative.8USPS. How to Stop or Forward Mail for the Deceased This cannot be done online; the in-person requirement exists to verify legal authority.9USPS. Change of Address – The Basics
Marketing mail in the deceased person’s name may keep arriving even after forwarding is set up. Registering their name on the Deceased Do Not Contact list at ims-dm.com carries a $6 processing fee and gradually reduces solicitations from participating companies.
When Someone Else’s Mail Suggests Fraud
An occasional misdelivered letter is normal. Bank statements, credit card offers with pre-set account numbers, or collection notices addressed to a stranger at your address are not. That pattern can mean someone is using your address to open accounts or commit fraud.
File an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov. The site generates an official FTC Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan.10Federal Trade Commission. Identity Theft Then report the misuse to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service through the online incident form at mailtheft.uspis.gov, which covers fraudulent address use, unauthorized changes of address, and fraudulent mail holds.11Postal Inspection Service. Incident Report Ignoring the mail can let the fraudulent activity build, and in some cases it draws law enforcement attention to your household.
IRS Letters and Legal Notices Need Extra Care
Most misdelivered mail is low-stakes. Government and legal mail is not. If an IRS letter or tax document arrives for someone else, the IRS instructs you to call the phone number printed on the notice, tell them the mail reached the wrong person, then reseal the envelope, write “Not at this address” and “Return to Sender” on it, and drop it back in the mail. Calling first matters because the IRS needs to document the misdisclosure before you return the document.12Taxpayer Advocate Service. What Should I Do If I Receive Someone Else’s Information From the IRS
Court documents and legal summons require the same speed and more caution. In many jurisdictions, service by mail is complete once the document is deposited to the recipient’s last known address. If a former resident’s lawsuit or court order shows up at your house, returning it doesn’t necessarily stop the legal clock for them. Write “Not at this address” and send it back promptly. Don’t open it, and don’t let it sit for weeks. If legal mail for the same person keeps arriving, mention it when you visit your post office so they can flag the address record.