You moved in. Their mail didn’t move out. Tossing it won’t make it stop, but this will.
The quick answer
- Personal mail (bills, letters): write “Not at this address” without covering the address, and put it back in the mailbox.
- Catalogs and offers: ask the company to remove that name from your address. Copy the request below.
- “Current Resident” mail: ask the company to stop mailing your address altogether.
Copy-paste request
Subject: Please remove a former resident from this address
[Former resident’s name] does not live at [your street address, city, state, ZIP]. Please remove this name from your mailing lists for this address. I’m the current resident, and I’m only asking that you stop sending mail for this name to my home.
Thank you,
[Your name]
Send it by email or the company’s web form. Expect 6–12 weeks; mail already printed will still arrive.
Good to know
Why their mail keeps coming
Mailers update addresses from Postal Service change-of-address records. If a former resident never filed a permanent change, their name can stay tied to your address on lists that are rented and resold for years. Former rentals have the longest tail.
What doesn’t work
- Throwing it away. It keeps coming, and destroying someone else’s personal mail may be illegal.
- National opt-out lists. DMAchoice and OptOutPrescreen cover your own name, not former residents’. (DMAchoice’s free deceased list applies only if the person has died.)
- Returning ad mail. It’s usually discarded, and the sender never hears.
When returning ad mail does work
If “Return Service Requested,” “Address Service Requested” or “Change Service Requested” is printed near the return address, the sender asked to be told. Mark it “Not at this address” and put it back.
Packages and redelivery notices
Check “Other,” write “Refused,” and leave it for your carrier.
More help: Bought a former rental? → · What to do with each kind of mail →
Or let us do it: Move-in Reset
Forward us your free USPS Informed Delivery preview. We spot former residents’ names, ask each mailer to drop them, and follow up until the mail stops. Mail from companies you use is never touched without your yes.
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Mailbox Zero is independent and not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service.
