What to do with mail being delivered for prior tenant?

[Mindy Jensen]

This showed up in my facebook feed and I started wondering what responsibility the landlord or new tenant has for previous tenants mail? I'd write Return to Sender a few times, but then I'd get fed up. I would probably start tossing things in the trash, but it's a federal offense to tamper with the mail.

Who are my postal experts? Any mail carriers/postmen here?

My last real estate purchase I have a conundrum on. It has a been done for a while. Whole shebangy. 

New person has been living in it for 4 months now.... and they are still receiving previous tenants mail. Like lots, and lots, on the daily. All marked return to sender. Some taken in handfulls to the post office and explained to a manager. Just like the packages given back to the carrier. Just like the handfull I was there for and personally ran down the street to the carrier, explaining again and damn near begging for resolve over. Sounds petty I know but we’re both kinda like - “really??? come on man”. 

Now, the christmas packages have started arriving. New guy has kept up the “return to sender” routine but... apparently the rent was late cuz we got a shop-a-holic. They just 😳 keep 😳 coming 😳. Its hard not to feel somehow responsible for these items but I can see how this unpaid part time job is starting to wear thin and I totally get it. 

The bonus sad part here is that I know for a fact this woman still does and always has worked for the post office!!! She is a USPS carrier!! 🤦♀️ The update of the day I just recieved is: she showed up on the doorstep today asking for her “items that were delivered earlier”. Hearing the story, I’m already thinking - you mean shes been tracking a package to the point of knowing its going to her old address and is just cool with that? Sit back and watch it get delivered there, and ?

I digress.... my tenant is kind and says she was apologetic but I’m still under the impression this is not something she cares to resolve. I have a number for her and I suppose I could call? Let her know that her old house and its new occupant aren’t a ups store here to accept and keep her packages safe and sound til shes ready for an unannounced pick up but... the source and solution here.. is the post office which I would think she has some pull at?? though nobody there seems to be able to get it done.

Maybe I'm just not asking the right questions? Lol. Maybe I should copy, paste, print into a word doc? And 🤦♀️ mail it? 🤣 to the post office?? This is too stupid to spend time on - exactly why I need to fix it. Ideas?
I’m was gonna leave a note, ON the mailbox saying: mail for ____________ only. No other occupants here. Eh? To the carriers who don’t care?

[Jason Grimm]

I am a USPS carrier, and I run into this on the daily. There are several variations of this solution, but it ultimately comes down to the former tenant needs to put in a change of address form. If they're a postal worker, they should've done it (it takes literally less than 5 minutes). They may be trying to dodge debtors, as mentioned earlier. I would definitelt put a sticker on the box saying "(new tenant's name) only," because chances are there are carriers who rotate that route daily, and it's hard to keep up with all the forwards, especially on multi-family addresses. Another thing that will help is instead of writing "return to sender" on the mail, smply write "FWD." This will force the mail back into the system, and if there is a forwarding address on file, will send it on to where it should go (assuming it's first or second class mail). If there is a forwarding address on file, it will expire after 1 year, at which point you may have to start the proccess again. Another tip, which you may or may not want to bother with: if the mail says "first-class" or any version of "service requested" ie change service, it can be forwarded. If it simply says "standard," it cannot be forwarded, and most likely will end up in the recycling bin. But the safest bet is to rubber-band the whole bundle, mark it FWD, and leave it for the carrier. As for going to the post office to rectify the situation, I would request to speak to the actual Postmaster or a Supervisor, as they will have the most accurate information, as well as the most influence over the situation.

I know this is probably an overly long explanation, but I hope it helps.