LetterAgent
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Write "not at this address" on the envelope and put it back in the mail stream unopened: in the US, hand it to your carrier or drop it in a collection box; in Canada, return it to a postal outlet or leave it for your carrier. Opening mail addressed to someone else can break the law, so keep it sealed the whole time.
| Situation | What to write | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Addressed to a former resident | "Not at this address" | Returned to the sender, who gets the signal to update their records |
| Addressed to a neighbor (mis-sorted) | "Delivered to wrong address" | Carried back for re-sorting to the right stop on the route |
| Has a forwarding sticker but still wrong | "Not at this address" plus circle the sticker | Clerks see the forwarding already failed and look closer |
Most of it is the sender's stale records, not a postal mistake. Companies, banks, and government offices often mail from lists that were current months ago. A forwarding order only lasts a limited time (about a year in the US, and a paid, time-limited service in Canada), so when it expires, the mail starts landing at the old address again. Writing "not at this address" is what teaches the sender to fix their list: the returned piece is the feedback they need.
True mis-sorts, where the carrier accidentally drops a neighbor's letter in your box, are usually one-offs. If they happen a lot, the carrier route may have a sorting problem worth mentioning at your post office.
Don't. Throwing away someone else's mail is where people get into real trouble. If it looks like a bill, a tax notice, or something from a court, tossing it can cause the intended recipient serious harm, and in the US it's a federal offense to destroy mail not addressed to you. Returning it costs you nothing and takes seconds. When in doubt, send it back.
Handing it to your carrier is the quickest: it goes straight back onto the truck and into that day's processing, usually with the correct routing decision made on the spot. A blue collection box works too, but the piece may sit until the next pickup. If you get a steady stream for a previous tenant, bundling a few pieces with one clear "not at this address" note on top and handing the bundle to the carrier works better than feeding them in one at a time.
One detail that matters: cross out the little barcode printed near the bottom of the envelope before you return it. That barcode encodes the address the machine last read, so an un-marked envelope can loop right back to your mailbox. A thick line through it forces the equipment to read the address fresh.
For a previous tenant or owner, contact your landlord or property manager and ask them to tell the former resident to file a change of address. In the US, you cannot file a change of address for someone else, so the return-to-sender routine is the main tool available to you. In Canada, the same principle applies: return it and let the system work. If the volume is large or you suspect fraud, for instance mail in many different names arriving at your address, report it to your postal inspector rather than handling it yourself.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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