USPS’s answer isn’t a form. You tell the Postal Service someone doesn’t live there by returning each piece addressed to them, marked “Not at this address.”
The quick answer
- Write “Not at this address” on each piece addressed to them. Don’t erase or mark over the address.
- Hand it to your carrier or drop it in a collection box.
- Got a redelivery notice for them? Check “Other,” write “Refused,” and leave it for your carrier.
- Don’t open, keep or throw away their mail.
Why you can’t file a change of address for them
USPS doesn’t let you file a change of address for someone else. Only the person, or their executor, guardian or authorized agent with documents, can. USPS says false filings can bring federal penalties.
If it keeps coming
- Keep returning it. If they filed a change of address, USPS forwards their mail for up to 12 months, depending on the class of mail, then sends it back to the sender with the new address through month 18.
- Catalogs and ads are different. Unless the mailer asked to hear back, returned ad mail is thrown away, so the sender never learns. To stop those, ask each company to remove the name from your address. Here’s how.
- For anything else, USPS has a general online contact form.
Good to know
- Every kind of mail has its own move: what to write on mail for someone who doesn’t live here.
- Mail for someone who never lived there, or a previous owner who died? Never lived here · Previous owner who died.
- Some people leave a short note for their carrier listing who lives there. USPS doesn’t publish guidance on it, so results vary.
Sources
- USPS, How is undeliverable and misdelivered mail handled?: write “Not at this address,” don’t erase or mark over the address, give it to your carrier or a collection box; redelivery notices: check “Other” and write “Refused.”
- USPS, Change of Address – The Basics: who can file, forwarding up to 12 months, months 13–18.
- USPS, Domestic Mail Manual 507: no change of address for someone else without authorization; unendorsed Marketing Mail is disposed of. Last checked November 4, 2026.
Making it stop for good: How to stop mail for previous residents →
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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