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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to get annoyed about post for previous owners coming to my house?

117 replies

izchaz · 13/08/2013 12:36

We moved in nearly two months ago and are still receiving 8-10 letters a day (many of which are clearly sucker-list "win big money" scams, not that this is relevant, but I sort of look at this as junk mail) for the previous owners of our house.
They have family nearby who pop round once or twice a week to pick up the letters (and numerous parcels) and apologise for the hassle. The family members have always been very apologetic and polite about inconveniencing us with more mail per day than I receive in a month, but I have had one very grumpy conversation from the previous occupant who (I felt) was accusing me of holding on to a parcel of his because of its value (I had never received this parcel, have no idea as to the value of his mail and was a bit affronted by his roundabout accusation).
Today I wasn't quick enough getting to the door when the postman came, and the dog "opened" one of these letters for me - it's a notification for successful finance on a new phone contract. Taken out last week. This means that they're taking credit in their name at our address. I went a little mental, rang the company providing the credit, explained and insisted they contact the relevant people, which they have promised to to.

So, to my AIBU: would it be unreasonable to take an absolutely hardline policy and either open everything that comes through our door for them in case there's more of this credit fraud going on? Or should I return all to sender? Or should I give them more time to get set up at a new address?

Secondarily: was I unreasonable to ring up the credit company?

OP posts:
Treaguez · 13/08/2013 14:36

Treacle soda that does explain A LOT!

LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy · 13/08/2013 14:37

That's depressing, treacle.

TallulahBetty · 13/08/2013 14:39

Treacle that is terrible. In that scenario, of course it is the bank's training, or clearly lack of, that is to blame.

CleverlyConcealed · 13/08/2013 14:50

The posters who say that a credit rating isn't linked to address are right but if the previous owners are still on the electoral roll at that address and using it to obtain credit then that address is where the bailiffs will call if they default.

Give them a couple of weeks notice then return to sender and don't take in any parcels.

MrsHoarder · 13/08/2013 14:59

I return to sender everything for 2-3 months, proper letters for about a year and after that only government-type letters. Everything else gets binned.

But I've only once had someone turn up looking for a letter to their old address: it was a large student house (so 7-8 new residents every year) and I directed them at the great pile of misdirected post and encouraged them to have fun. They left without looking...

PedantMarina · 13/08/2013 15:06

Only read page 1, so apols if this has been suggested before.

We had a similar situation, including it being clear that the two silly girls who'd been before were signing up for new things at our address.

So we got a bit more organised than just "Return to Sender". We made up labels and kept a database (honestly, just a A4 lined sheet) with three columns: would-be recipient, company/postcode of sender and date.

On the label was something to the effect of "Return to Sender - addressee has not lived here since XX month/year" and, sometimes, a second label had to be added: "you have been told XX times already".

It did work eventually, and in the meantime we didn't feel so "powerless".

IrisWildthyme · 13/08/2013 15:06

You should give them 1 week's notice that you are about to do this, and then get a whole bunch of "Return to sender - not known at this address" stickers printed (the work of 60 seconds if you buy a sheet of address labels at a stationers). Every single item gets a sticker and goes back in the post. No exceptions. It will take a couple of weeks for the flow to stop but they are clearly taking the piss and if they are trying to take out credit at their old address it is imperative that the organisations writing to them know that they don't live there any more, so a redirection service won't do the trick.

deebeeandboys · 13/08/2013 15:07

We've got redirect for our last address still running nearly a year later- and intending to renew again for another year (it's about £40). The man who bought the house off our previous landlady is CRAZY- he threatened to hit my dh with a pool cue because he was on crutches and got very abusive- screaming in the street at us- over a parcel that had been mis-delivered to the previous address because of an error on paypal, which we then had to collect. He knowingly took delivery of it, signed for it AND opened it, then kept it all day, then rang us in the evening. It's not illegal to open someone else's post unless you intend to do something malicious or fraudulent with it (or something like that). We only get a couple of leaflets through redirected now, but I daren't risk it, I can't be doing with his nonsense again- I think he's kept our mobile number.

He had his post redirected to the house while we still lived there as well. I was nice and didn't bin it (or do anything to it), didn't want to stoop to his pathetic level (he was a nasty piece of work, was trying to harass us to move out to complete on the sale- couldn't do anything about it because he wasn't ever our landlord).

One house we lived in, we had court papers arrive for the previous tenant. I opened them 'by mistake' and dh took them to the court, who thanked us. The local secondary also used to send detention letters for their child! I emailed them to tell them they'd moved out years before, but they never replied- and then sent another one!

I do return to sender for things we get here. We passed on a pile of stuff when we first moved in, but my house isn't a sorting office.

PedantMarina · 13/08/2013 15:29

Just wanted to add, we'd had a previous landlord (who lived abroad) try to pull the "send on all my stuff" thing. Turns out it wasn't much, mainly things from the bank.

We grew weary of this, so started doing RTS, then caught hell from the estate agency. Never heard for sure, but suspect he had the kind of mortgage that doesn't allow Buy to Let.

Tough noogies. Not only not in our lease that we have to help him perpetuate a fraud. Indeed, the bit about the flat to be used solely for dwelling seems to rule out being somebody's fricking secretarial service.

MousyMouse · 13/08/2013 15:38

silly question maybe: we have some letters (maybe private ones) for previous tennants/owners with no return adress.
so far we have kept them (a year on!) and returned everything else to sender.
wwyd - open? or bin unopened? (one has a private/confidential stamp on it)

shellbot · 13/08/2013 15:51

I've just sent a letter back to Barclays that came for the previous owners of my house. They moved out in March 2011 but have been very lazy about letting people know their new address.

I got fed up after the first year and saved their mail up for about 6 months, put it in a big A4 envelope and sent it to them without any stamps on it. Had less mail after that but still getting some.

The letter I just sent back is a loan statement so I sent it back to Barclays with their new address. I not sure what would happen if they default on the loan as I suppose in theory they could have guaranteed against the house.

BumbleChum · 13/08/2013 16:00

If people don't bother to pay for a mail-redirection service, then they can't expect you to provide one.

I would tell them you will be returning-to-sender from now on. All you do is write 'Return to Sender' or 'Not Known at This Address' and drop it in any post box. Preferably while humming the Elvis song :)

PedantMarina · 13/08/2013 16:03

They couldn't have guaranteed it against the house without putting a charge on the property, which couldn't have been possible after they sold it, or (if prior to the sale) would have been paid off on purchase - the banks are very keen to get their money back before anybody else, let me assure you!

Jan49 · 13/08/2013 17:38

Mousymouse, you should have marked them all return to sender and put them in a post box. If there's no return address, they get sent to a place in Belfast where they all get opened and if there's a return address inside they get returned and if not they are destroyed.

Manchesterhistorygirl · 13/08/2013 17:42

Return to sender doesn't work. We've been here coming up three years no despite many letters returned to sender, still they come.

We have several summons a week though the door for the previous occupant and her tenant, it's ludicrous!

When we move we'll be setting up a year long redirect to cover anything we may have missed, like we did when we moved here. Unless of course it's British telecom, the fucking idiots.

cece · 13/08/2013 17:44

I still get phone calls from the opticians telling the previous owner her glasses are ready. She moved out in 2006 Hmm

Saffyz · 13/08/2013 20:59

cece you could always turn up for her next sight test and really confuse the opticians Grin

cece · 13/08/2013 22:28

LOL. She was 84 when we bought the house in 2006 so not sure I'd pass...

AlyssB · 13/08/2013 23:10

2.5 years. Had a bit of a fit last week and wrote 'THIS PERSON STILL DOES NOT LIKE HERE AND HAS MIT FOR TWO YEARS FOR THE LOCE OF GOD STOP SENDING US HER POST' and put back in the post box. Seriously. DP was so amused he took a picture. We have not received any more of her post from that (bank) company. Although today there was a letter from her work. ARRRGGGHHH!!!!

AlyssB · 13/08/2013 23:18

Obviously without the typos though!!

teacherandguideleader · 13/08/2013 23:21

Send everything back.

I didn't when it happened to me. I had a very scary knock on the door at 3am from the police who were after the previous occupant for a criminal offence (who was still using my address). I will never forget that feeling of running down the stairs after looking out the window and seeing police on my doorstop. My bf at the time worked nights - you can imagine what went through my head. Trying to prove that I wasn't who they thought I should have been was not easy.

I imagine the tenants in my old house still get mail from me - I redirected for a year and changed all my addressed for bills etc but never bothered for junk mail companies. I wouldn't dream of taking out credit on my old address!

Shorty1980 · 13/08/2013 23:23

We had what looked suspiciously like a bank card delivered a few months after moving in to our current house, but the name on the letter wasn't the name of the people we bought the property from. I left it at the front door meaning to return to sender, but before I had chance a man turned up to collect it, saying that he had once lived at this house and he had 'accidentally' ordered a card here. My kind and trusting DH handed it over without question - if I'd have answered the door he wouldn't have got it. Anyway I worked out afterwards that the man in question couldnt have lived here for at least five years. I am convinced there is something dodgy going on so I'm now super vigilant about returning to sender!

ShadowSummer · 13/08/2013 23:25

We still get the occasional bit of post for the previous owners of our house, despite them having moved out several years ago.

It took the previous owners a few weeks to get the redirect set up, but given the amount of stuff that appeared after the redirect expired, they didn't seem to have changed many addresses officially.

A lot of that stopped once we started returning to sender though.

Agree with the advice to get the electoral roll updated with your details. You can fill in registration forms to get this updated at any time of year, you don't have to wait for the annual canvass registration forms.

teacherandguideleader · 13/08/2013 23:26

PS - I opened one letter by accident - just picked up my pile of mail. It was from bailiffs saying that they could gain access to my house to take goods to the value of the debt and that if I left windows open etc they could come in. I was terrified and it took hours on the phone to try and sort it.

iamadoozermum · 13/08/2013 23:30

We still get mail for the previous owners - we've lived here 10.5 years and just send it RTS as we don't have a forwarding address for them. The amount has got less, but it is still annoying. A couple of weeks ago we even got a letter for the owners before the last ones, they've been moved for about 15 years I think!