How to handle previous resident still using address years later?

Question

So I'm having an issue where a previous resident of one of my rentals (they rented before I was the owner) is still using my properties address as their primary residence. There has been license address change cards sent to the house, gym membership paperwork and even his car title. It wouldn't be a big deal if it were just mail but my tenant tells me that this person has had police stop by with summons and people constantly coming by trying to serve court papers.  Is there anything I can do about this??

Chris K. · Answer

The problem is this person isn't really interested in any mail that gets sent there and appears to be using the address to duck legal issues. I want to handle the mail issue cause it's annoying but ultimately I'm concerned about what weird things he can do having the address on his licence and having recieved mail there for a few years.

Sylvia B. · Answer

Once your address gets into a system it's hard to get it out. Just last week I refused a piece of mail addressed to my dad. It was a jury summons.

He died in 2008....

Account Closed · Answer

Go tell the post office. Problem solved.

Andy Collins · Answer

I had something similar happen at my residence, I bought it from an estate, the niece of the owner lived there for the last few months, wanted to buy the house but couldn't get financing.

I had warrants served for her here, etc etc,,,no problem,,then I started getting weird calls from my car insurance company,,they keep asking me about who else might drive in the family, etc etc,,this happened every few months.  I finally ask for a supervisor, and told him I had a golden retriever, other than that no person lived at the house,,,he ask me if I knew "xxx xxx",,the niece, I said I knew who she was, but had never meet her.

She still used my house as a residence, and her daughter had turned 16,,the insurance company thought I was simply not insuring her,,,we got it resolved, but he said if I hadn't been with them for many years, it could have caused me problems (they could have found a reason to not re-new my policy because they thought I was lying.,,,,so now anytime a bank or insurer ask me a weird question, I want to know why they are asking

Rob K. · Answer

I bet if you ran all of his mail through the paper shredder, and claimed that you "never saw it", he would change the address and the problem would fix itself.

Bill S. · Answer

Most of this can be addressed by using a black marker and marking out the address. You then write on the envelope "No longer at this address". The black marker keeps the machine from reading the address makes them handle the mail by hand which seems to get the system updated sooner then the "right" way of doing it.

Account Closed · Answer

This is a postal employee issue.  Surprise, surprise. If you put a sign/label on your mailbox that specifies the residents who receive mail there, the postal delivery person is not supposed to deposit any other mail there. They are supposed to update the sorting at the post office to automatically return to sender anything addressed to anyone other than what is on the box, and they're not supposed to even bring that mail out on the route.

It helps if your delivery person has had the same route for a long time.  But with so many of the employees being 90-day "temps" (who actually are employed for years, but are fired on the 89th day and rehired on the 91st), the lack of customer service is understandable..

Steve Babiak · Answer

The mail can be stopped by going to the post office that dispatches the mail carrier and telling them the situation. The other stuff with court papers just happens. You can feed the new address to those pursuing this former occupant if you know the new address. It is annoying to say the least.

Jeff B. · Answer

Write on the face:

• RETURN TO SENDER, no such person at this address

and then return it to the mailbox

(black out the current address and barcode)

Kimberly H. · Answer

@Chris K. Soon after tenants moved into a place a year ago, the tenant contacted me saying she got a letter from so-in-so, so-in-so was asking if whoever lived in the house could forward her drivers license to her when it arrived in 3 weeks to her current address in Texas. My tenant wanted to know if I knew the person...I didn't. We had only bought the house the year before.  I told her I didn't think it was a good idea of her to do that, since I didn't know if that person using that address could somehow impact my tenants and recommended they get advice from the police if need be.

Obviously that person who sent the letter didn't want to update her address to the real one in the DMV system, must have had people after her for something.

How to handle previous resident still using address years later?

Most Popular Reply