I’ve been in my house a little over nine months and during that time I have been getting the previous owners’ mail intermingled with mine. When I first bought the house I was very diligent about writing “MOVED” on the envelopes and putting them back in the mailbox so the letter carrier could pick them up the next day, hopefully to get them to their final destination.

After a month or so the mail for the previous owners more or less stopped aside from some junk mail that was addressed to “Current Resident or…” which I just tossed, since I was the current resident, so it was technically addressed to me, but now, all of a sudden I’ve started their mail again. Today it was a per capita tax bill. (I know that because it looked identical to the bill I received today.)

Does writing “MOVED” or “NOT AT THIS ADDRESS” on the envelope and putting it back in the mailbox actually do anything? I know that a change of address filing is only good for a year and apparently less time than that for certain types of mail, but it seems like some of the stuff I’ve been getting is tied to annual cycles and they just didn’t notify their banks, or the city, etc. that they no longer live here. I know that if my mail was going to the wrong place, (and as far as I know it hasn’t, because my previous address is my parents’ house,) I’d want to know about it, but this is kind of a pain in the butt. I don’t know where they moved, nor do I care, but I’d really like to stop getting their mail.

What would you do?

36/90