Postal inquiry

[vvvexation]

Question: If you get a piece of mail addressed to someone who no longer lives at your address, and it looks like it's important, and you don't know their forwarding address, are you actually allowed to do something along the lines of writing "Return to Sender" and an explanation on the envelope and putting it back in the mailbox? I've never tried anything like that and it seems iffy, but I've got a letter from the San Francisco traffic court here addressed to some guy I've never heard of and I'd like them to know he never got it so he doesn't get in trouble for missing a court date or something.

Comments

[bk2w.livejournal.com]

I simply write on the envelope that the addressee no longer lives there and put it with the outgoing mail. "Return to sender" implies the addressee got the letter but wishes to reject it.

And sadly, he'll still get in trouble if he misses his court date, even if he never receives his letter. The legal system is kinda nasty that way.

[mckenzee.livejournal.com]

Just mark it "No Longer At This Address" and the Post Office will try to track them down. If there is no forwarding address on record, they will return it to the sender.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

When I asked about that at the post office in Ventura, they told me to put MLNA, or "Moved Left No Address" on the envelope.

That's what I do.

[fyfer.livejournal.com]

It also helps to cross out the barcode with a thick black marker, so it doesn't make its way back to you.

Mail

[moon-orchid.livejournal.com]

Ditto to everyone else's comments. My only addition is that I think throwing away or not forwarding personal mail is considered mail tampering. I used to work in apartment managment, and we would have to forward everything with a 'no longer at this address' if the person didn't live there. Yuck.

:)

[deyo.livejournal.com]

The above suggestions are good, if you know that the addressee is a former resident. If you don't know that he lived at that address, it might be safer for both you and the addressee to put "Not at this address" instead.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

I put "Please Forward" if the person lived there recently enough that a forwarding order should be on file (about one year), and "Not Known" if I don't know that the addressee lived there in the recent past.