Other people's letters

mystra

Hi,

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread...it seems the most appropriate as it is In My Home! So correct me and move it elsewhere if i'm wrong

How long is long enough to keep sending back the previous tenants mail to sender? I've been doing it for 2 months now and it seems ridiculous as it never lets up!

One name has had a few letters from the DVLA (I don't open them obv but it says on the outside) and I also received a letter to "The Occupant" which i of course opened and was threatening to send bailiffs round to prove this person didn't live there!!! Which sent me nuts, luckily the estate agents we rent through have sorted it. Evidently this man owes money and he gets the most mail of all. The estate agents say he hasn't lived at the property for at least 3 years as there was never anyone of this name since they have been managing it.

Another name arrived the other day from a credit card company - the address panel read "confirmation for" then the name and MY address. I've never seen this name before in all the mail i've been sending back to sender and if a letter with a credit card inside it arrives I'll scream because it doesn't take over 2 months for someone to get a new credit card meaning someones using my address for their own credit applications.

So when can i start simply binning the stuff instead of helping these people who blatently can't be bothered to update their addresses? I don't want to break to law but my good nature only lasts so long!

Swan_2

I'd be binning them now tbh, it's really not your problem if the previous occupants don't update their addresses (for whatever reason)

I was getting masses of mail for people who'd lived here before me & like you I did the return-to-sender/decent thing for a couple of months, then started binning them

it is a bit alarming though when you get what look like debt collection letters, I had that sort of thing going on at first when I moved in here, but thankfully it's all stopped now


btw, in the UK it's not illegal to open someone else's mail, provided that there's no intent to commit fraud

sueeve

I have tended to use judgement, but then it has always been to people from whom we have bought, not short term lets. Mostly the bin, but I had some which seemed to be from a bank that was changing status (i.e.bankrupt) and I forwarde those.

daveyjp

We had a similar situation - wrong address as our street has addresses with letters as well as numbers. We had never heard of the guy and sent back every letter which came for him.

After 6 of these we opened one as we were getting ticked off. It was form his bank and he had defaulted on a mortgage. We called the 'help'line who couldn't be less helpful, they admitted they had received the returned letters, but 'computer says no'

I did a quick letter to the Chief Exec advising them that any further letters would be classed as harrassment. We received a grovelling apology and never received another letter.

mystra

thanks for the help all of you

think it's time these letters saw the bin, will give it one more week then that's it! As it's not illegal i will open and check the credit card one, to make sure no-one is applying fraudulently with my address

mystra

phew... was just junk mail from a credit card company!

Swan_2

mystra wrote: »

thanks for the help all of you

think it's time these letters saw the bin, will give it one more week then that's it! As it's not illegal i will open and check the credit card one, to make sure no-one is applying fraudulently with my address

I was going to say that, but edited it out of my post in case I got jumped on, coward that I am

truth now ... if I got a letter with a card in, I'd definitely open it to see what was going on

Swan_2

mystra wrote: »

phew... was just junk mail from a credit card company!

that's a relief!

Doozergirl

If it's junk mail,then register all the names at your address with the mailing preference service. http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

It will stop any unsolicited junk mail- it will takea while but it does work. If the people had agreed to be on a mailing list for certain companies then the mps will not be able to stop those. You will have to continue returning to sender, making sure you mark it 'not at this address'

If it looks like it might be bailiffs then open it. It is not an offense to open other people's mail unless you intend to do something illegal with it. I would telephone any bailiffs directly. It's what I've done in the past- the letters keep coming until you tell them personally to stop it...