Tenant Turnover - U.S. Mail

[Craig S.]

I have a tenant who recently moved out of my rental unit, and the new tenant has moved in.

The former tenant asked if I could have the new tenant hold any mail that still comes in his name, so he could pick it up. Or he asked if I could pick up the mail from the apartment and hold in my office for him to pick up one day.

I am happy to help tenants, however I do not want to get into the business of holding and collecting mail and wasting my time with that.

My initial thought is to tell him that I am sorry, but we are unable to hold tenant's mail, and that we advise new tenants to write "Wrong Address" on the envelope and return to sender. In addition, I am not sure the mail laws, but I might believe that I cannot pick up or hold someone's mail that isn't mine.

What do you guys do in these cases?

[Craig S.]

@Mike McCarthy I did recommend my tenant to complete a Change of Address request on the USPS website to forward the mail to their new address, however I am deciding what do do with mail that comes through before this Change of Address took effect, or for other things that happen to slip through.