ByWhy Am I Still Getting Junk Mail From the Person Who Lived Here Before Me?
Each American receives up to 41 pounds of junk mail annually, with 5.6 million tons of it ending up in landfills.
While receiving mail is a good feeling, finding can be an uphill task.
With heaps of junk mail, throwing them away seems like the logical solution. But won't that negatively affect the environment? Keeping them is not an option either. So, how do you get rid of it all?
DoNotPay has a faster, more convenient, automated, and less frustrating solution for you with DoNotMail.
What Counts as Physical Spam or Junk Mail?
Physical junk mail is any unsolicited mail that you receive in your physical mailbox.
Junk mail can come from financial, educational or religious institutions, non-profits, businesses, Internet service providers, political parties, or individuals.
There are nine kinds of physical junk mail you can receive:
- Catalogs
- Business offers, such as insurance and pre-approved credit card forms
- Charity appeals
- Contests
- Coupons and fliers
- Deceased folks' mail
- Former tenants' mail
- Sexual admail
- Advertisement circulars, such as cable T.V. offers and car insurance
Why Are You Getting Junk Mail From the Previous Occupants in the First Place?
You watch the junk mail pile up daily, more than your mailbox can handle. As you ponder wondering , you should also be considering why you are getting the junk mail to begin with:
- The previous occupants haven't updated their new address
- The previous occupants may have opted in a mailing list
- USPS Legal compliance. The law requires USPS to deliver any mail so long as the proper postage is affixed
- The previous occupants are deceased
Can You Opt-Out of Junk Mail on Behalf of Someone Else?
The short answer is no; you cannot. U.S Law Title 18, Chap 63, sec 1341-1351 explains laws regarding mail. It is a federal offense to tamper with someone else's mail in any way, lest you plan to go to jail, be fined, or both.
How to Stop Spam Mail From Previous Tenants on Your Own
Stopping junk mail from previous occupants on your own is an uphill task, especially without knowing where to begin.
If you choose to do it on your own, you can:
| Return the junk mail to the sender. | Write a visible 'Moved,' 'Refused: return to sender,' 'Not at the address,' or 'Deceased: return to sender' on the mail and place it on an outgoing mailbox. You can also cross out the barcodes on the mail and put them in the outgoing mailboxes. |
| Inform your mail carrier. | Stick a visible note on your mailbox explaining the stated addressee doesn't live in that address anymore or talk to them directly. |
| Let the Postmaster know. | File a complaint with the Postmaster at your local post office, and notify them of your issue. |
| Contact the senders directly | Notify them the intended recipient no longer resides in that address. |
| Follow FTC's junk mail stopping tips. | The Federal Trade Commission provides suggestions on how to stop junk mail. |
| Contact Data and Marketing Association (DMA) | Notify them of a change of address by the previous occupants. |
| Employ a mail blockage service | For a fee, they can clear out your mailbox regularly. |
| Use a junk mail stopping app. | DoNotPay has an app that will help stop junk mail from reaching your mailbox. |
As you can see, the process of stopping junk mail from previous tenants is no easy feat. It'll take a lot of your time, energy, and effort before you succeed, that is, if you succeed.
Next Steps for Getting Out of Spam Mail Permanently if You Can't Do It Yourself
The process of stopping junk mail from previous occupants can be long, tedious, and complicated. You cannot afford to take time out of your busy schedule to follow all these processes.
Worse still, you can go through all this hustle and still receive junk mail from the previous occupants.
The best and most convenient way is to use DoNotPay and follow these easy steps:
- Search for DoNotMail on DoNotPay.
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Snap a photo or upload an image of the physical spam mail you received.
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Enter the name of the company that sent you the spam.
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Sit back and relax. DoNotPay will automatically file a complaint to the company on your behalf and make sure you never receive spam mail from them again.
Why Use DoNotPay to Stop Getting Junk Mail From Person Who Lived Here Before You?
You want a breezy process of stopping junk mail. Since doing it yourself is such a hassle, and you cannot destroy the mail, you can use DoNotPay because:
- Easy as 1, 2, 3 since we are doing the heavy lifting of contacting the senders for you
- Super-fast, since all you need is to get in touch, take photos of the mail, and send it in
- Secure since will never expose or sell your information to marketers
- You can rest assured of our success at the end of the day, as all that junk mail from previous tenants will stop
What Else Can DoNotPay Do?
The benefits of DoNotPay do not end with helping you stop junk mail from previous tenants. Chances are, any other issue bugging you, we have a super-easy, convenient, and successful solution for it.
You can reach out, and in just a few minutes, you can:
Get Rid of That Junk Mail With DoNotPay
Junk mail is annoying and detrimental to you and the environment. However, getting rid of it should not be a stressful undertaking for you. You should focus on more essential issues in your life and let get rid of all that junk mail for you permanently. It all starts with you, and we will do the rest.