Mail from old tenants

Yorkie1

I see the old myth about it being illegal to open post not addressed to you has reared its perennial head on this thread.

As another poster says, it is ONLY illegal if, at the time you open it, you intend to do something to the detriment of the original addressee.

V_Chic_Chick

I live in a 7-bed HMO, and the tenants changed every 12 months. There's been a lot of junk mail and stuff for tenants who have long since left. I have no forwarding address for any of them, but I have been RTS (~50 items in the first batch!) and this appears to be reducing the amount of junk mail coming through.

propertyman

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I see the old myth about it being illegal to open post not addressed to you has reared its perennial head on this thread.

As another poster says, it is ONLY illegal if, at the time you open it, you intend to do something to the detriment of the original addressee.

Booo..... Yorkie 1

That's taken all the fun and mystery out of covertly steaming letters open...:rotfl:

If you helpfully tell a debt collector that they no longer live there, is that to the debtors benefit or detriment?

Before handing over the address, I'd think about an evening visit by the former tenant, his friend "Spikey" the nail encrusted baseball bat and his "not fed for three days" Rottweiler.:eek:

Anything not junk mail, send it to the landlord or agent- their problem.

SleeplessinScandinavia

@ Propertyman :rotfl:

The official advice from Royal Mail used to be for recipients to write "Not Known At This Address" and re-post it.

Can be tiresome admittedly to keep 'trooping' out to the post box...

propertyman

SleeplessinScandinavia wrote: »

@ Propertyman :rotfl:

The official advice from Royal Mail used to be for recipients to write "Not Known At This Address" and re-post it.

Thank you:cool:

There is related thread with MSE keyboardist lawyers where a person is a former tenant and "wants their mail-grrr".

I'd therefore take the stance that unless the former tenant is known quantity, returning it or giving a new address leads to a doorstep confrontation " why do that - now they're after me and it's your fault" ( conveniently forgeting that it's their debt they haven't paid...)
so its easier to say you were told to hand it to the landlord/agent.

MrWillyWonka

Annoyingly, still got the sofa in the garden and I believe it it going to rain tomorrow. The catalogue company have said they will send a courier to pick it up but the sofa is still here, I'll give it until the end of Monday.

However they really are muppets to not have checked the delivery address when ordering!

To be safe, I am not opening any of their mail (although I accidently opened one of them to find that the old tenants owe the taxman). I've gone with propertyman's advice of printing stickers of "RTS - not known at this address".