AIBU to do nothing after receiving a letter for the previous owner

[Onemoret1me]

I came home tonight to find a handwritten envelope that had been posted through Royal Mail, signed for delivery.
we hadn’t signed for it, it was just through the letterbox and had my address but no name in

opened the letter and it’s a letter addressed to the previous owner, a male who must be at least early 60’s ( not lived in the house for approx 7 years)
the letter is from a potential child of theirs saying they’ve been informed previous owner may be their biological dad and asking if he would get in touch

The letter is signed with first and last name but no contact number or address

would I be unreasonable to do nothing? I feel if I start trying to see if I have previous owners forwarding address still then I’m sticking my nose in something that doesn’t involve me.
equally, I feel if I do nothing then this person will assume previous owner has received the letter and chosen not to reach out.

what would you do, if anything?

Thanks for the advice!

Given they haven’t included their contact details, I’d bin it.

I wouldn’t have the foggiest on how to reach the people who lived in my house before me (also moved out 7 years ago). I never had forwarding information for the man (it was a divorce) and the woman moved to private rental temporarily and I’m pretty sure has moved since - and there has probably been rotating tenants at that property since she moved out and all hope of a forwarding address lost to time.

I would have contacted the sender to let him know, but they didn’t have the foresight to include contact details (so how would the previous owner get in touch anyway?!).

When I moved into this house I was renting it and a situation arose where debt collectors came looking for the previous tenant. Again I just told them to get in touch with the agent and gave them the name/location. I'm not a detective agency and would not wish to become personally involved with previous occupiers.

In this case I would forward it to the estate agent who arranged the sale with a covering note and then forget about it. I am not a detective agency.

Just wondering if the writer may turn up at your door one day since they have included no contact details.

Give it to the estate agent who sold the house. He/she may have an address or the address of the solicitor the seller used.

A signature may not have been collected, depending on the service used. Only special delivery actually specifies a signature on delivery and if there is no one home to sign for at the address, it won’t be delivered. For all other ‘signed for’ services the postman can scan items as delivered if they fit through the letterbox or can be safely left at the address - they don’t need an actual physical signature, and log a generic name or code on their device.

If they haven’t left and contact details then I’d bin it. It’s very odd and what can you actually do?!

Why are you being so weird about seeing if you have the previous owners address? Or seeing if the EA can forward it on? You are not getting involved in anything by sending a letter on if you can. What an odd way to think about a letter that isn't intended for you.

I would in this instance. I would do nothing for letters from bank etc.

You're not supposed to open other people's mail.

If you don't want to bin it you could pop it back in the post box with "not at this address" on the envelope but with no return address there's nothing anyone can do.

Please be decent and try to find somewhere to forward this on to. For the person writing this letter is is probably a very hug deal and may change the course of their life.

If there's no name on it how do you know it's for the previous owner and not your dh/partner?

Solicitors deal with these kinds of queries (missing persons etc|) all the time. If you still have the name/address of the ones who handled your sale for the house you could forward it to them. Then wash you hands of it, knowing you have done your best to solve a riddle. You are not a detective agency and have no obligation t get more deeply involved. If people do not leave contact details then they cannot expect a response.

It doesn't matter what the letter says, you should forward it if you have an address and put it back in the postbox" not known at this address" if you don't- you shouldn't have read the letter in the first place, so making judgements about it's contents is not a thing.

Didn't happen. If it did you'd be breaking your neck to find the addressee, not posting on Mumsnet. Lol.

Exactly. Who would write to someone asking them to contact them and not leave any contact details? The threads on here get more and more far fetched every day.

Cross out your address, write on the addressee's name, stick it in a post box and let Royal mail deal with it.

OP said there was no name on the envelope, but the letter was addressed to the previous owner.

There is no legal duty to do this.

@Onemoret1me if the sender really was searching for a potential parent, surely they’d have out the person’s name on the envelope for starters. If the writer wanted contact, they’d have included their name, address and /or phone number.
Personally, I’d stick it in the nearest post box with ‘not known at this address’ on it and leave it at that.

given the contents you really need to try to ensure the letter reaches the person it is meant for. It is life changing. Trace them by contacting either the estate agent or your solicitor who acted for you on the house. Also search for the sender on social media (worth a try!). I could not just "chuck the letter in the bin" as someone on here suggested!

I can think of a reason they didn’t include any contact information. It might be because he already knows them as the child of an old friend or acquaintance. He might already know who they are and where they live.

Or the legitimate sender is already known to the recipient (e.g. a family member/ family friend/ other association)

Is there nothing on the delivery sticker? You usually have to put at least a surname, postcode and house number.

If the letter-writer didn't leave any contact details in the letter, WTF can they expect? The sheer stupidity with the lack of details would annoy me so much I'd just chuck it. Why should you have to do a bunch of legwork?

Circular file.

The most I'd do is an attempt at a return to sender and it's on them to provide an address. I don't offer free detective work myself.