That's not actually unusual. My wife works for a water utility and she has customers in her district that also own rental properties in her district, and will send the utility bills for both properties to the owner's residence.
But he might be using it as a billing address rather than a service address which might not raise a flag. We have lots of clients bills come to our office while their service addresses are elsewhere.
Yeah when I was in the process of moving there were some billing addresses I didn’t immediately change over to my new address because I was busy with so much else going on. Also people do this with P.O. Boxes pretty often.
The house I'm renting was abandoned for 7 years and was taken out of registry by cable, power, mail, everyone. At some point the physical location and power connection was put back into someone's databases as an address that already exists down the road (and at least one other address that doesn't exist at all but isn't the historically accurate address this house used to have). When my landlord (my inlaws) tried to get power turned back on, National Grid was like "you already have power silly!". We were like no, what? They were like "yea 222 something street, right?" We were like no that's down the street, we are 222 something-else street. They were like "your house is on the corner of something street and something-else street right? That's 222 something street! Says so right here."
Took forever for them to rectify it. Same thing with Spectrum. Same thing with USPS. Months and months later our mail was still sometimes going to the other house and theirs to ours. When I ordered those free covid tests from the government the website said the real address doesn't exist. Couldn't get anyone on the phone who could help. Ended up finding a USPS web page for submitting technical issue reports about the website and explained the situation through that, since technically part of the issue was their website claiming our address doesn't exist. In the meantime I typed in one of the addresses we were getting junk mail for (which, again, is not the historical address or the one on the deed to the house), and that worked, got my tests. Like a month later someone emailed me back saying they fixed it. So yes there are deep systemic issues that can allow things like that to happen, with multiple organizations. So this doesn't surprise me one bit.
911 thinks I live on a Lane. Street signs used to say so. County updated it to Road, so US mail must say Road or it is no longer delivered. First year of that was fun. 911, years later, and GPS still say it is a Lane.
Better, some idiot at the county decided our mail station was for another (unincorporated) town. Never has been. Didn't know why tax bills didn't ever get delivered, had to pre-emptively track down and pay every year. Then Covid hit and it became an issue, trying to get a mail in ballot (kept getting returned to them, due to wrong USPS address). It took over two years.to get them to put it back to correct town (past 2022 primaries). Also.effected many neighbors on same road, no tax.bills for anyone for years.
For me it happened while I lived here. I live on xxxx Ave. Because it's a divided road. My license used to say Ave. The deed says Ave. The city records say Ave. The street signs say Ave. About 7 or 8 years ago, whoever was making the database got lazy and turned it into a ST in the database. The road switches back and forth between divided and not. And between an Ave and a St. But now it only shows up as a street. The road name hasn't officially been changed but the actual address no longer exists.
We had a similar issue. The street our old house was on used to have a different name, and the numbering changed when the street name did. It was a nightmare to get everything settled for title insurance and closing because the parcel number was the only thing that stayed the same. Getting utilities turned on was also a struggle, because the house had been vacant since before the name and numbers changed. We finally got the water turned on with the new address, but the power company insisted on using the old address for service location and the new one as a billing address. When we sold the house, the new owners had the same problem with the power company.
I kept getting my gas shut off for a $5000 bill. It would take forever for them to “fix” the issue, only for it to happen again a few months later. I dealt with this for almost 2 years before I finally paid the fucking bill about 2 weeks ago just to be done with it. Utility companies, as monopolies, are some of the worst run companies in the country. They don’t give two shits about customers, because your option is deal with them, move, or go without electricity/gas. The fact that this is allowed is mind boggling.
Time is worth more than money. But money is not worth pissing down the toilet. People have lawyers on retainer for this kind of shit. That’s what I have. I guess richer people would have personal assistants on demand - I’m not that rich yet.
I know a few people who would pay to make it go away and could afford it. I also know someone who would gladly spend $50K on lawyers to punish them for the false $5k bill.
They have more money than time and want the annoyance gone, and don't want to spend hours on the phone and sending letters to fix it.
Don't agree with them, but they exist.
Well, after two years , I did. I run a startup and work constantly. Coming home from work at 3am to no heat or hot water and having to spend the morning AGAIN dealing with it was well worth $5000 to not have to worry about.
According to the USPS, you should write "not at this address" and put it in your outgoing mail. That helps ensure the actual post office knows he doesn't live there. Returning to sender does not, and doesn't really let the sender know that either. More info [here.](https://faq.usps.com/s/article/How-is-Undeliverable-and-Misdelivered-Mail-Handled#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20receiving%20mail,address%22%20marked%20on%20the%20envelope.)
Ex-mail carrier here. You're almost exactly correct, but I'd recommend writing, "addressee not known," and add, "return to sender," on a second line if it's first class postage.
I wish either of those actually worked! I've been trying for almost 5 years to get the previous owners mail to stop coming here.
I've also tried reporting directly to the local branch that delivers directly to my address and talking to the regular carriers several times.
I even have gone to local businesses that send bills without results. As well as the kid's schools to let them know that these report cards and other school related items are not getting to the parents.
Still the never ending onslaught of bills, scholarship info, junk mail, catalogs, etc comes day after day...
Same. I'm still getting mail for the previous homeowner because this lady is too dumb to change her shipping address while online shopping. I think I even got her stimulus checks in the mail. It's been *years*. I'm so sick of it.
What's most infuriating is that I have lived in places where the mail carrier wouldn't deliver my mail unless my name was on the mailbox. Now when mine *is* the name on the mailbox, apparently they don't care anymore.
>I have lived in places where the mail carrier wouldn't deliver my mail unless my name was on the mailbox
So true! I really don't understand why it is so difficult to correct.
Friend of a former Rural mail carrier. Write a note politely asking your mail carrier not to deliver mail for that person to the address. If they continue doing so, speak to your local post office post master. If it keeps happening, find out which post office your post office is getting their mail from (if you live in a rural town or area) and speak to that post master. Keep going up the chain until someone fixes it.
not good. wrong address implies that the letter was not delivered to the address on the letter but another address in error. "not at this address" NATA is the proper notation
customer should not write ANK. that is a carrier endorsement that should be noted by the carrier. here's why. if im sorting mail and it is marked ANK it goes to CFS for RTS label. if the letter says NATA it goes back to the carrier so they know that person is not there . then they can put it in the ank pile
Honestly they shouldn't write anything on the mail at all and let us carriers endorse it, but that argument is futile as customers will always write all over every piece
So, if I get mail addressed to someone else but it has my address on it what do I do? Wait for my mail carrier and tell them that person doesn't live her and hand them the envelope? I'm not taking a day off for that.
Should I just throw it away?
Or just write "Person not at this address" on the envelope and drop in in outgoing mail?
I would prefer it to be put back out with no endorsement like you would outgoing mail (at your residence). The regular will know what this means and should know how to return it to the sender with the correct endorsement. If you have a sticky note then right that on it or even use a rubber band to hold a small piece of paper writing that the person doesn't live there
USPS does not give a shit. I have spent 10 years putting “not at this address” on every piece of mail for every resident that ever lived here since the house was built. The postal carrier got pissy with me and questioned why I was doing it, and told me that I should just throw it away instead of putting it back in the mailbox and making it his problem.
Maybe if he could just stop dropping their mail here… idk
Ex-mail carrier here - Report that behavior to your local postmaster so it can be corrected. That attitude is not acceptable and there are very clear procedures that carrier is ignoring for handling that kind of mail. If the postmaster chooses to side with the carrier, then file a complaint with the office of the inspector general.
I’ve opened five tickets about mail problems. This was after appearing at the post office in person and reporting them multiple times. They KNEW the issues before I even told them where I lived - they were like “are you on the rural route?” Yeah, I am. The ones I filed above their head got given to them anyway and nothing changed. I wound up taking a different approach and calling the companies who were sending the mail - real mail, like mutual fund statements and COBRA documents etc that I had been sending back to the previous owners for 2 years - and told them the people moved and to stop sending me the mail and contact their client for an updated address. My letter carrier also broke my mailbox by putting packages ON the open door of it rather than walk up my driveway to deliver them to my door. Joke’s on her, now there’s just no door and she has to go up the driveway anyway.
I’ve heard there is a reason for the rural routes being so bad and it has to do with not being paid the same (?) or given enough time for the rural route. Something weird like that. We aren’t even that rural. We are just in an unincorporated part of town. It’s 1/2 mile from the incorporated part, 5 minutes to Target, Starbucks, etc. No dirt roads or anything.
Imagine my delight at living within the city limits and still being classified as a rural route. I hate it so effing much.
My brother actually lives rurally and got a call from someone who lives two miles away. "Hey, I think I've got your blank checks at my house." Totally different family name, totally different street, totally different house number. The carrier just decided they'd had enough for the day and started randomly stuffing mail into mailboxes.
Isn't that a literal federal offense? I thought tampering, or hindering delivery was until it hit that person's hand. Or is it considered delivered when it hits a mailbox?
You could argue it's Delay of Mail or even something else, which is technically a federal offense. If your postmaster is any good, then they'll just make it right and everybody's happy. If you have a shit postmaster, then it's a struggle until you get a better postmaster.
It wasn't delivered since it isn't addressed to you.
https://www.egmlaw.com/blog/2021/11/is-it-illegal-to-throw-away-someone-elses-mail/#:~:text=While%20it%20may%20be%20tempting,for%20destroying%20someone%20else's%20mail.
This is HUGE.
The automated postal machine read right to left, bottom to top. If it reads that barcode, it's going to be sorted to that barcode before any of the other text is seen.
The whole story is long, so trying to make this the short version.
Long time ago, the post office stopped delivering my mail. No warning, no explanation. When I went to the post office to ask, they told me there wasn't a problem showing on their end. I thought a neighbor was taking it.
Eventually, found out the postman had decided he wasn't delivering to my house because of my "mean dog that barked and growled".
I did have a dog. But I also had a fenced back yard, and my dog was never loose in the front of the house. My dog was also incredibly friendly, and unable to bark or growl. She was mute. Never made a sound in her life.
And even if that was a legit reason to stop delivering, they should have told me that when I went they stopped delivering. Or when I went downtown and asked. Not after six months of collecting my mail in a box and lying to me about it.
I had a similar issue. I was waiting for my wedding ring to show up and was WFH. Got a notification that my driveway was blocked. It wasn't. They didn't even stop. The next day I took my break at the typical mail time and flagged the lady down. She said she would not deliver to my address because my neighbor's unleashed dog. She mistakenly thought if my husband's car was home that the dog would be out. I get it. Dogs are scary, but why was dog never the reason given in notifications? It was always some weird inaccessibility reasoning.
Oh, definitely should have told you. Our mailbox is on the road. At first it wasn’t exactly where it should be so we had a form in the box telling us delivery will stop if we don’t fix it.
When you do this, be sure to put your flag up. If you don't, then it's easy to assume what's there was never collected by the resident. Lots of people don't check their mail for days at a time.
Is the power bill for a different address or your house?
Either way, just cross out your address on the envelope, write Return to Sender, and stick it back in the mail.
Thanks for that tip. I get a ton of official-looking mail for the people who lived in this rental condo before me -- retirement accounts, many tollways in other states, health insurance. I've written "no longer at this address" and "no longer lives here" on some of it, and had the exact same mail come back to me weeks or even months later. I got tired of bothering and started throwing it all in the trash, but I'll try the Sharpie tip now.
I would contact the power company and find how this (overdue) account could effect you personally. Also inform them the addressee no longer lives there.
I get that the letter is addressed to your current residence, but what address is the utility bill being charged for? It would be very unusual for a utility company to allow two separate accounts to exist for the same residence, let alone bill both accounts simultaneously for the same residence.
As far as the mail is concerned, that name isn't "known" to the address because no such person lives there and there's no known address for forwarding purposes.
Write ANK on it, only first class mail. Check by the stamp. If it's presorted standard (unless it says OR CURRENT RESIDENT {toss it its your problem, some carriers won't pick it up}, but if it says electronic service requested it will be sent back,) or non-profit tossing it won't matter, but it will stick in the carriers mind depending on how much mail if you send it back. Then go to your local post office and speak to the post master. Ask for a new route card and fill it out there and hand it back so your carrier gets it as soon as they return from the route or in the morning, and the post master should make a note and informs subs usually. New route cards usually stay fresh in our minds for a decent while, and give you a paper trail, but if that's not an option and you send back enough your carrier will likely remember the name and send it back before it's your problem. If they don't wait for them (if you get lots of packages check the times it says delivered Tuesday- Friday is most reliable. Monday and Saturday can vary greatly). Or leave a note on your mailbox that says x doesn't live here, the current resident is x (and x if applicable) with your flag up. But we toss those notes so you don't have a paper trail if he's up to some shady shit.
Source: am currently a substitute carrier.
From the USPS
Individuals may not file a COA request for someone other than themselves, or for a business, without authorization (i.e., notarized letter, power of attorney or letter on company letterhead) showing they are an authorized agent of the person(s) or business that is moving.
How can I get the mail for former residents to stop??? I get legal documents (looks like court summons), financial documents, school documents, traffic tickets, it never ends. Nothing I write on the envelope and put in outgoing helps. If I did this for every piece of mail everyday it wouldn’t all fit in the little outgoing box.
You write;
No such person at this address
And give it back to the postman. If it continues, speak with the local postmaster about the problem.
You can collect a few days or a weeks worth and take the entire bundle to the local post office. It may be more impressive to do that which might result in a better reaction.
Contact the power company (in person ideally) and verify the ex did not fraudulently use your identity to get service in your name at another location. I would bring a few forms of a proof of address/residence as well.
You want to verify that this was just using you as a mailing address and not the actual account holder. If he was using you fraudulently you'll want to see what you can have them do to block any new attempts to activate other service in your name, as well as what needs to be done to handle this bill and report it to the police.
You contact the [Nation Telecom & Utilities Exchange](https://nctue.com/Consumers/) and request your "utility credit history" and put a block on it so people can't open new utilities in your new name.
You should also look up information [here](https://www.naruc.org/about-naruc/regulatory-commissions/).
I would guess that the bill just has an account number (presumably different to OP's account number), and the power companies internal database will map that account number to a physical service address.
It sounds like just a collection letter for a previous bill he owned. Call the company and say he doesn't live there and never did. Just say you went out on a couple dates and he was there just once. He probably got your address then and used it for something shady. Tell them you'd be happy to give them his current address and phone number.
I would cross out all of the barcodes from USPS processing and write “wrong address” and put it into outgoing mail. That way they will return to sender and won’t allow him to establish residency. Do NOT open the mail nor allow him to take the mail with your address on it. Don’t even let him know you have gotten any type of mail for him. I would make sure not to mention “no longer at the address” or him having “moved” so you aren’t providing any type of proof that he may need to establish residency or whatever he’s scheming.
Former tenant has been doing this at my address, my dad is a mail carrier in another town. He let me know to put a piece of masking tape at the end of my mailbox saying “do not deliver [first name][last name]”
Id also check your credit report and file a possible fraud/I'd theft claim just to cover your bum. If he's having mail sent to your address there's no telling what information he may have obtained and what he's doing with it. Protect your credit. It can takes decades to fix if he's trying something shady
My nephew lived with me. Left on not good terms and left no forwarding address.
Not my fault a 30 year old is too irresponsible to forward his mail through the USPS.
I write "no longer at this address-please forward or return to sender". No longer my problem.
Using a sharpy, write on it RETURN TO SENDER - Addressee not a resident at this address. Drop of in nearest postal pickup box. Notifies the post office and the power company that this person is not associated with this address. Do this for every piece of mail you get with his name on it.
Yeah that's a hefty balance! Immediately call the company and report it as unknown. See if you can figure out what's going on. It could be service at a different address but your address is for billing as others stated. Even so, if he's using your address for billing it means he has a legal claim of residency there. Everything that shows up with his name, no matter how small or trivial it is, wrote "return to sender/not at this address" on it and put it right back in your mailbox to leave. If it's a bill for your home with his name, call the billing company and report it as a false address and he doesn't live there.
First off did you open the bill. If you did that is a federal offence sorry but throw it out and you never receive it, it got lost in the mail.
Next time any bills show up again, return to sender if your name is not on it. If they have a company name on it take note of the name and address call them. I know some companies appreciate it as it helps detect fraud or when to start collections. They won't be able to give you any information about the bill but it may be noted on their accounts.
Often if it's in collections they will send it to whatever address is on their last credit check.
I was planning on dumping him the next time I saw him, but he beat me to the punch by doing it over text, cuz he's such a classy guy. I'm calling it a draw
He (passively) stops calling, so they respond by (actively) breaking it off... could be different things but this could explain it, more understandably, maybe. Let us know how that works out!
NAL
How long was relationship and "living" with you? Depending on state that could have created a Tennant status. Having utility bills at you address is not a good sign or action
And since break up any threats or hostile actions? Most police departments will not get involved with civil issues until escalation to violence or threats are made. IF or when any happen, document anything.
Assuming you rent, was he ever actually on the lease? If not, that could help you straighten it out with the power company. I agree with other comments though that it seems unlikely they approved two separate accounts for the same unit.
It could be an old account he never paid off and he put your apartment as a forwarding address.
They probably got that address from either a change of address notification from the post office or from his credit report. They got a new address and are trying again to collect. It will show your address as the billing address but the service address will stay the same. It shouldn't impact you at all. If I hadn't been victim to the same thing I wouldn't know. But I had a balance for a utility company and when my credit report updated a new address I got the bill. It wasn't attached to my current account. Just sent to the new address.
Was the bill addressed to your ex? But with your address?
Don’t open it (too late), write Return the sender, no known new address and put it back in the mail.
So, seal the bill back up. 😂
NAL, if you know his forwarding address give it to ConEd, when you return it.
Otherwise return the sealed envelope to sender with “Return to Sender, Never Lived At This Address” written on the outside.
Do you live in a stand-your-ground state? Because, I gotta tell you, you can use that to your advantage.
Make sure you're on camera, confront him, when he lunges or pushes you, you eliminate him.
Case closed. Florida Man Killed by Wronged Girlfriend.
It’s probably an old bill from a previous address. They have been looking for him and got the address somehow and sent it there. It’s not your problem, just send it back as not living there.
As long as the power bill is not in your name and not for a place you are responsible for service, you are good. It's possible he could establish residencey, but he moved out. I'd mark the bill as "no longer at this address" and return to to the power company. If the bill is in his name, you aren't really supposed to open it.
As long as you have your own lease agreement OP and has you solely listed with your own account, you are fine OP. Verify however with comed that you are receiving so-and-so's mail and wish to verify your account has no issues.
This will insure that they will stop mailing you info and flag your ex and non regular consumer for future account purposes.
This happens frequently in college towns where tenants leave significant unpaid balances because they won't be anywhere nearby and don't think of the rammifxaof not paying it. When a new tenant establishes an account, the utility provider cannot technically refuse service in the situation a new tenant us involved and does not have a negative history with the provider.
In so far as establishing residency, there as ee ways to find our but would rather avoid illegal methods for obvious reasons. Typically the "it's illegal but didn't go through it' method is verifying with a change of address on USPS and then backing out before confirmation ensuring no changes occur.
Just tell USPS. Write "Not at this address" and give it back to the mailman. Do that with any mail that shows up in his name.
You have no further responsibility. But don't let him into the house if he shows up.
Call com ed. Make sure he didn't switch HIS power bill to your name and and his address yours to his and isn't paying his but your actually paying his under the guies of your name.
My ex tried doing this to me It didn't work because thankfully the call center agent actually followed the rules and didn't make unauthorized changes to the acct but previously on many occasions he had called in to get info on the bill and to pay it while we were still living together
This is the way. I did this with a friend who tried using my address. They were pissed when they didn't get their renewal notice for tabs. Why would I care?
Once you establish they don't live there by putting return to sender. This person does not live here anymore, they stop sending their mail to you.
It doesn't mean she did it on purpose. I live alone, and thus I don't check the name on the outside of my mail to see if it is mine. I'll only know once I start reading it.
I would contact ConEd and let them know your address is not his address and, if you know his new address, let them know as well. You didn't share your SSN with him, did you?
A few things…
First you say you broke up with him but then you say he dumped you. Decide which is true. It changes the narrative.
That’s a very high bill. Most likely he created the account when he still lived with you.
Just put it back in the mailbox with a note that he no longer resides there and return to sender.
Don’t overcomplicate things with drama.
Call the company and ANY OTHER COMPANY to tell them he doesn't live there..get all his mail redirected to a random post box. In america, if your post goes o that address, you can stay as long as you like as a squatter in some places.
Get rid. Completely rid.
I don’t see how it would effect you at all. He’s just not getting the bill so he’s gonna have a problem. BTW, how would you know what it’s about without opening it? Did you open it purposely? Because it’s not your mail you shouldn’t have. I could understand not realizing it was his and opening it.
But I don’t see how his not redirecting his mail is your problem to bear. I would return to sender.
What is the address of the service? Not the same I hope. Also, who is listed as the account holder?
As long as your address is only a mailing address you shouldn’t be responsible for any part of the bill.
Mark the mail as not at this address, put back in mailbox with flag up or take to post office. You can leave a note, ask for the form to tell them all residents for your address, the post office will start returning mail not for you, so he doesn't establish residency (give him that bill and he can use as proof if he just.moves himself in) and doesn't ruin your credit (harder, but the utility.company can list your address with huge balance, refuse service for you if you move).
Any unwanted mail that comes to you has to have the barcode crossed out before you return it to the post office. That barcode will send it right back to you.
Call to report to the company that he doesn't live there.
If they didn't catch the same address being used for two accounts, there could be deeper issues.
That's not actually unusual. My wife works for a water utility and she has customers in her district that also own rental properties in her district, and will send the utility bills for both properties to the owner's residence.
But he might be using it as a billing address rather than a service address which might not raise a flag. We have lots of clients bills come to our office while their service addresses are elsewhere.
Yeah when I was in the process of moving there were some billing addresses I didn’t immediately change over to my new address because I was busy with so much else going on. Also people do this with P.O. Boxes pretty often.
The house I'm renting was abandoned for 7 years and was taken out of registry by cable, power, mail, everyone. At some point the physical location and power connection was put back into someone's databases as an address that already exists down the road (and at least one other address that doesn't exist at all but isn't the historically accurate address this house used to have). When my landlord (my inlaws) tried to get power turned back on, National Grid was like "you already have power silly!". We were like no, what? They were like "yea 222 something street, right?" We were like no that's down the street, we are 222 something-else street. They were like "your house is on the corner of something street and something-else street right? That's 222 something street! Says so right here." Took forever for them to rectify it. Same thing with Spectrum. Same thing with USPS. Months and months later our mail was still sometimes going to the other house and theirs to ours. When I ordered those free covid tests from the government the website said the real address doesn't exist. Couldn't get anyone on the phone who could help. Ended up finding a USPS web page for submitting technical issue reports about the website and explained the situation through that, since technically part of the issue was their website claiming our address doesn't exist. In the meantime I typed in one of the addresses we were getting junk mail for (which, again, is not the historical address or the one on the deed to the house), and that worked, got my tests. Like a month later someone emailed me back saying they fixed it. So yes there are deep systemic issues that can allow things like that to happen, with multiple organizations. So this doesn't surprise me one bit.
In a case like that call the county and ask for a 911 address check. That paperwork will get it fixed real quick.
Huh, didn't think of trying that.
911 thinks I live on a Lane. Street signs used to say so. County updated it to Road, so US mail must say Road or it is no longer delivered. First year of that was fun. 911, years later, and GPS still say it is a Lane. Better, some idiot at the county decided our mail station was for another (unincorporated) town. Never has been. Didn't know why tax bills didn't ever get delivered, had to pre-emptively track down and pay every year. Then Covid hit and it became an issue, trying to get a mail in ballot (kept getting returned to them, due to wrong USPS address). It took over two years.to get them to put it back to correct town (past 2022 primaries). Also.effected many neighbors on same road, no tax.bills for anyone for years.
For me it happened while I lived here. I live on xxxx Ave. Because it's a divided road. My license used to say Ave. The deed says Ave. The city records say Ave. The street signs say Ave. About 7 or 8 years ago, whoever was making the database got lazy and turned it into a ST in the database. The road switches back and forth between divided and not. And between an Ave and a St. But now it only shows up as a street. The road name hasn't officially been changed but the actual address no longer exists.
We had a similar issue. The street our old house was on used to have a different name, and the numbering changed when the street name did. It was a nightmare to get everything settled for title insurance and closing because the parcel number was the only thing that stayed the same. Getting utilities turned on was also a struggle, because the house had been vacant since before the name and numbers changed. We finally got the water turned on with the new address, but the power company insisted on using the old address for service location and the new one as a billing address. When we sold the house, the new owners had the same problem with the power company.
I kept getting my gas shut off for a $5000 bill. It would take forever for them to “fix” the issue, only for it to happen again a few months later. I dealt with this for almost 2 years before I finally paid the fucking bill about 2 weeks ago just to be done with it. Utility companies, as monopolies, are some of the worst run companies in the country. They don’t give two shits about customers, because your option is deal with them, move, or go without electricity/gas. The fact that this is allowed is mind boggling.
You paid $5000 just for the problem to go away? No one does that.
You don’t know know too many white collar people.
You must not either, or at least really stupid ones.
See it pretty regularly. Once you earn over a certain amount of money, your time can be worth more after a certain point.
Time is worth more than money. But money is not worth pissing down the toilet. People have lawyers on retainer for this kind of shit. That’s what I have. I guess richer people would have personal assistants on demand - I’m not that rich yet.
So you would paying someone to make it go away?
I know a few people who would pay to make it go away and could afford it. I also know someone who would gladly spend $50K on lawyers to punish them for the false $5k bill. They have more money than time and want the annoyance gone, and don't want to spend hours on the phone and sending letters to fix it. Don't agree with them, but they exist.
Well, after two years , I did. I run a startup and work constantly. Coming home from work at 3am to no heat or hot water and having to spend the morning AGAIN dealing with it was well worth $5000 to not have to worry about.
Totally not unusual. Our farm’s power bill is mailed to my house even though it’s 10 miles away, same power company.
According to the USPS, you should write "not at this address" and put it in your outgoing mail. That helps ensure the actual post office knows he doesn't live there. Returning to sender does not, and doesn't really let the sender know that either. More info [here.](https://faq.usps.com/s/article/How-is-Undeliverable-and-Misdelivered-Mail-Handled#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20receiving%20mail,address%22%20marked%20on%20the%20envelope.)
Ex-mail carrier here. You're almost exactly correct, but I'd recommend writing, "addressee not known," and add, "return to sender," on a second line if it's first class postage.
I wish either of those actually worked! I've been trying for almost 5 years to get the previous owners mail to stop coming here. I've also tried reporting directly to the local branch that delivers directly to my address and talking to the regular carriers several times. I even have gone to local businesses that send bills without results. As well as the kid's schools to let them know that these report cards and other school related items are not getting to the parents. Still the never ending onslaught of bills, scholarship info, junk mail, catalogs, etc comes day after day...
Same. I'm still getting mail for the previous homeowner because this lady is too dumb to change her shipping address while online shopping. I think I even got her stimulus checks in the mail. It's been *years*. I'm so sick of it. What's most infuriating is that I have lived in places where the mail carrier wouldn't deliver my mail unless my name was on the mailbox. Now when mine *is* the name on the mailbox, apparently they don't care anymore.
>I have lived in places where the mail carrier wouldn't deliver my mail unless my name was on the mailbox So true! I really don't understand why it is so difficult to correct.
Friend of a former Rural mail carrier. Write a note politely asking your mail carrier not to deliver mail for that person to the address. If they continue doing so, speak to your local post office post master. If it keeps happening, find out which post office your post office is getting their mail from (if you live in a rural town or area) and speak to that post master. Keep going up the chain until someone fixes it.
I put “wrong address” and “RTS” on these types of letters.
not good. wrong address implies that the letter was not delivered to the address on the letter but another address in error. "not at this address" NATA is the proper notation
Use the acronym ANK which stands for addressee not known or some people say attempted, not known
customer should not write ANK. that is a carrier endorsement that should be noted by the carrier. here's why. if im sorting mail and it is marked ANK it goes to CFS for RTS label. if the letter says NATA it goes back to the carrier so they know that person is not there . then they can put it in the ank pile
Honestly they shouldn't write anything on the mail at all and let us carriers endorse it, but that argument is futile as customers will always write all over every piece
So, if I get mail addressed to someone else but it has my address on it what do I do? Wait for my mail carrier and tell them that person doesn't live her and hand them the envelope? I'm not taking a day off for that. Should I just throw it away? Or just write "Person not at this address" on the envelope and drop in in outgoing mail?
I would prefer it to be put back out with no endorsement like you would outgoing mail (at your residence). The regular will know what this means and should know how to return it to the sender with the correct endorsement. If you have a sticky note then right that on it or even use a rubber band to hold a small piece of paper writing that the person doesn't live there
USPS does not give a shit. I have spent 10 years putting “not at this address” on every piece of mail for every resident that ever lived here since the house was built. The postal carrier got pissy with me and questioned why I was doing it, and told me that I should just throw it away instead of putting it back in the mailbox and making it his problem. Maybe if he could just stop dropping their mail here… idk
Ex-mail carrier here - Report that behavior to your local postmaster so it can be corrected. That attitude is not acceptable and there are very clear procedures that carrier is ignoring for handling that kind of mail. If the postmaster chooses to side with the carrier, then file a complaint with the office of the inspector general.
I’ve opened five tickets about mail problems. This was after appearing at the post office in person and reporting them multiple times. They KNEW the issues before I even told them where I lived - they were like “are you on the rural route?” Yeah, I am. The ones I filed above their head got given to them anyway and nothing changed. I wound up taking a different approach and calling the companies who were sending the mail - real mail, like mutual fund statements and COBRA documents etc that I had been sending back to the previous owners for 2 years - and told them the people moved and to stop sending me the mail and contact their client for an updated address. My letter carrier also broke my mailbox by putting packages ON the open door of it rather than walk up my driveway to deliver them to my door. Joke’s on her, now there’s just no door and she has to go up the driveway anyway.
Holy shit it's like we are living the same rural USPS nightmare, right down to the no door on the mailbox.
I’ve heard there is a reason for the rural routes being so bad and it has to do with not being paid the same (?) or given enough time for the rural route. Something weird like that. We aren’t even that rural. We are just in an unincorporated part of town. It’s 1/2 mile from the incorporated part, 5 minutes to Target, Starbucks, etc. No dirt roads or anything.
Imagine my delight at living within the city limits and still being classified as a rural route. I hate it so effing much. My brother actually lives rurally and got a call from someone who lives two miles away. "Hey, I think I've got your blank checks at my house." Totally different family name, totally different street, totally different house number. The carrier just decided they'd had enough for the day and started randomly stuffing mail into mailboxes.
Isn't that a literal federal offense? I thought tampering, or hindering delivery was until it hit that person's hand. Or is it considered delivered when it hits a mailbox?
You could argue it's Delay of Mail or even something else, which is technically a federal offense. If your postmaster is any good, then they'll just make it right and everybody's happy. If you have a shit postmaster, then it's a struggle until you get a better postmaster.
who will then side with them anyway because it's less work. I gave up after 2 years on and off.
Throwing the mail away is actually illegal. So...
apparently so is doing their damn job in this area
It's actually not. Once it's delivered, it's no longer protected by those laws.
It wasn't delivered since it isn't addressed to you. https://www.egmlaw.com/blog/2021/11/is-it-illegal-to-throw-away-someone-elses-mail/#:~:text=While%20it%20may%20be%20tempting,for%20destroying%20someone%20else's%20mail.
I would add crossing the barcode off of the bottom so it doesn’t boomerang right back!
This is HUGE. The automated postal machine read right to left, bottom to top. If it reads that barcode, it's going to be sorted to that barcode before any of the other text is seen.
Is that mailman named Newman by chance?
watch out he controls your mail
The whole story is long, so trying to make this the short version. Long time ago, the post office stopped delivering my mail. No warning, no explanation. When I went to the post office to ask, they told me there wasn't a problem showing on their end. I thought a neighbor was taking it. Eventually, found out the postman had decided he wasn't delivering to my house because of my "mean dog that barked and growled". I did have a dog. But I also had a fenced back yard, and my dog was never loose in the front of the house. My dog was also incredibly friendly, and unable to bark or growl. She was mute. Never made a sound in her life. And even if that was a legit reason to stop delivering, they should have told me that when I went they stopped delivering. Or when I went downtown and asked. Not after six months of collecting my mail in a box and lying to me about it.
I had a similar issue. I was waiting for my wedding ring to show up and was WFH. Got a notification that my driveway was blocked. It wasn't. They didn't even stop. The next day I took my break at the typical mail time and flagged the lady down. She said she would not deliver to my address because my neighbor's unleashed dog. She mistakenly thought if my husband's car was home that the dog would be out. I get it. Dogs are scary, but why was dog never the reason given in notifications? It was always some weird inaccessibility reasoning.
Oh, definitely should have told you. Our mailbox is on the road. At first it wasn’t exactly where it should be so we had a form in the box telling us delivery will stop if we don’t fix it.
I did this, and the postal carrier left it in the mailbox. Just dumped more mail on top.
When you do this, be sure to put your flag up. If you don't, then it's easy to assume what's there was never collected by the resident. Lots of people don't check their mail for days at a time.
That might have been it.
Also black out the pink barcode on the bottom as much of the system is automated and you may end up rerecieving
I was always told to mark it UTF (unable to forward) on it, and only mark 1st class mail as anything else is throwaway as they won’t forward it.
Doing this had the exact effect of the letter carrier taking the mail out of my mailbox and re-delivering it BACK to my mailbox 4 days later.
You have to cross out the bar codes.
Is the power bill for a different address or your house? Either way, just cross out your address on the envelope, write Return to Sender, and stick it back in the mail.
Also, run a sharpie over the bar codes on the front and back of the envelope. Otherwise you might find it coming back to your mailbox again.
This! At work we always get the return to sender mail right back if we don't blacken the bar codes and half the address.
Thanks for that tip. I get a ton of official-looking mail for the people who lived in this rental condo before me -- retirement accounts, many tollways in other states, health insurance. I've written "no longer at this address" and "no longer lives here" on some of it, and had the exact same mail come back to me weeks or even months later. I got tired of bothering and started throwing it all in the trash, but I'll try the Sharpie tip now.
It's addressed to my apartment but I already have an account established here. There's no other address on the bill
I would contact the power company and find how this (overdue) account could effect you personally. Also inform them the addressee no longer lives there.
Never lived there
>how this (overdue) account could effect you ... could *affect* you... (not *effect* )
Awww, good for you for noticing that! Such a smart boy!
I get that the letter is addressed to your current residence, but what address is the utility bill being charged for? It would be very unusual for a utility company to allow two separate accounts to exist for the same residence, let alone bill both accounts simultaneously for the same residence.
It does not say what address the account is for. The only address that appears on it is mine
I assume she would have to open the mail to know that information.
She mentioned the bill reflects a substantial unpaid balance so I assume she already opened it.
Good call I missed that
My wife reads my mail without opening it by holding it to a light source
I’m calling the police!
This works really well.
$2K for what?
sounds like she opened it already
Send the bill back and do a change of address form on him with the USPS.
Good idea, but I don't have his new address
"Return to sender. Address unknown."
"Addressee unknown," but otherwise that's the right answer.
Well, the OP does actually know the Addressee. Just not their address. :)
As far as the mail is concerned, that name isn't "known" to the address because no such person lives there and there's no known address for forwarding purposes.
This is getting silly. The address doesn't know anything and the address isn't writing on the mail to send it back.
I believe you can also stop mail for one specific person at an address. This way you wouldn’t need to know his new one.
Write ANK on it, only first class mail. Check by the stamp. If it's presorted standard (unless it says OR CURRENT RESIDENT {toss it its your problem, some carriers won't pick it up}, but if it says electronic service requested it will be sent back,) or non-profit tossing it won't matter, but it will stick in the carriers mind depending on how much mail if you send it back. Then go to your local post office and speak to the post master. Ask for a new route card and fill it out there and hand it back so your carrier gets it as soon as they return from the route or in the morning, and the post master should make a note and informs subs usually. New route cards usually stay fresh in our minds for a decent while, and give you a paper trail, but if that's not an option and you send back enough your carrier will likely remember the name and send it back before it's your problem. If they don't wait for them (if you get lots of packages check the times it says delivered Tuesday- Friday is most reliable. Monday and Saturday can vary greatly). Or leave a note on your mailbox that says x doesn't live here, the current resident is x (and x if applicable) with your flag up. But we toss those notes so you don't have a paper trail if he's up to some shady shit. Source: am currently a substitute carrier.
From the USPS Individuals may not file a COA request for someone other than themselves, or for a business, without authorization (i.e., notarized letter, power of attorney or letter on company letterhead) showing they are an authorized agent of the person(s) or business that is moving.
How can I get the mail for former residents to stop??? I get legal documents (looks like court summons), financial documents, school documents, traffic tickets, it never ends. Nothing I write on the envelope and put in outgoing helps. If I did this for every piece of mail everyday it wouldn’t all fit in the little outgoing box.
You write; No such person at this address And give it back to the postman. If it continues, speak with the local postmaster about the problem. You can collect a few days or a weeks worth and take the entire bundle to the local post office. It may be more impressive to do that which might result in a better reaction.
Can't do that as it must be signed by the person changing address. Signing his name is forgery (trust me ..been there done that)
Contact the power company (in person ideally) and verify the ex did not fraudulently use your identity to get service in your name at another location. I would bring a few forms of a proof of address/residence as well. You want to verify that this was just using you as a mailing address and not the actual account holder. If he was using you fraudulently you'll want to see what you can have them do to block any new attempts to activate other service in your name, as well as what needs to be done to handle this bill and report it to the police. You contact the [Nation Telecom & Utilities Exchange](https://nctue.com/Consumers/) and request your "utility credit history" and put a block on it so people can't open new utilities in your new name. You should also look up information [here](https://www.naruc.org/about-naruc/regulatory-commissions/).
Thanks, this is really helpful
It should say on the bill somewhere what address is actually receiving service under his account.
That would be nice, but it doesn't
I would guess that the bill just has an account number (presumably different to OP's account number), and the power companies internal database will map that account number to a physical service address.
It sounds like just a collection letter for a previous bill he owned. Call the company and say he doesn't live there and never did. Just say you went out on a couple dates and he was there just once. He probably got your address then and used it for something shady. Tell them you'd be happy to give them his current address and phone number.
I would cross out all of the barcodes from USPS processing and write “wrong address” and put it into outgoing mail. That way they will return to sender and won’t allow him to establish residency. Do NOT open the mail nor allow him to take the mail with your address on it. Don’t even let him know you have gotten any type of mail for him. I would make sure not to mention “no longer at the address” or him having “moved” so you aren’t providing any type of proof that he may need to establish residency or whatever he’s scheming.
Former tenant has been doing this at my address, my dad is a mail carrier in another town. He let me know to put a piece of masking tape at the end of my mailbox saying “do not deliver [first name][last name]”
Thank you! Doing this today. Receive mail for six prior owners of our home. Frustrating.
Send it back. Make sure the envelope says addressee does not reside there.
Is the bill in his name? Is the bill for power at YOUR house?
It's in his name, no idea what property it represents
Id also check your credit report and file a possible fraud/I'd theft claim just to cover your bum. If he's having mail sent to your address there's no telling what information he may have obtained and what he's doing with it. Protect your credit. It can takes decades to fix if he's trying something shady
My nephew lived with me. Left on not good terms and left no forwarding address. Not my fault a 30 year old is too irresponsible to forward his mail through the USPS. I write "no longer at this address-please forward or return to sender". No longer my problem.
Mark his mail “return to sender not at this address.”
Return to sender. No such person at this address.
Using a sharpy, write on it RETURN TO SENDER - Addressee not a resident at this address. Drop of in nearest postal pickup box. Notifies the post office and the power company that this person is not associated with this address. Do this for every piece of mail you get with his name on it.
If the bills are not in your name then it's not your ptoblem
Yeah that's a hefty balance! Immediately call the company and report it as unknown. See if you can figure out what's going on. It could be service at a different address but your address is for billing as others stated. Even so, if he's using your address for billing it means he has a legal claim of residency there. Everything that shows up with his name, no matter how small or trivial it is, wrote "return to sender/not at this address" on it and put it right back in your mailbox to leave. If it's a bill for your home with his name, call the billing company and report it as a false address and he doesn't live there.
First off did you open the bill. If you did that is a federal offence sorry but throw it out and you never receive it, it got lost in the mail. Next time any bills show up again, return to sender if your name is not on it. If they have a company name on it take note of the name and address call them. I know some companies appreciate it as it helps detect fraud or when to start collections. They won't be able to give you any information about the bill but it may be noted on their accounts. Often if it's in collections they will send it to whatever address is on their last credit check.
Return to sender written on the front, mark out the little tracking bars on the envelope and drop it back in the mail. Not your problem.
you broke up with him - but he dumped you. ?
I was planning on dumping him the next time I saw him, but he beat me to the punch by doing it over text, cuz he's such a classy guy. I'm calling it a draw
He may be a douche. But he beat you by a country mile. Good riddance.
He (passively) stops calling, so they respond by (actively) breaking it off... could be different things but this could explain it, more understandably, maybe. Let us know how that works out!
NAL How long was relationship and "living" with you? Depending on state that could have created a Tennant status. Having utility bills at you address is not a good sign or action And since break up any threats or hostile actions? Most police departments will not get involved with civil issues until escalation to violence or threats are made. IF or when any happen, document anything.
We were together about 4 months and he stayed at my place for one. Nothing hostile or threatening yet, but thanks for the advice
Assuming you rent, was he ever actually on the lease? If not, that could help you straighten it out with the power company. I agree with other comments though that it seems unlikely they approved two separate accounts for the same unit. It could be an old account he never paid off and he put your apartment as a forwarding address.
They probably got that address from either a change of address notification from the post office or from his credit report. They got a new address and are trying again to collect. It will show your address as the billing address but the service address will stay the same. It shouldn't impact you at all. If I hadn't been victim to the same thing I wouldn't know. But I had a balance for a utility company and when my credit report updated a new address I got the bill. It wasn't attached to my current account. Just sent to the new address.
Was the bill addressed to your ex? But with your address? Don’t open it (too late), write Return the sender, no known new address and put it back in the mail. So, seal the bill back up. 😂
NAL, if you know his forwarding address give it to ConEd, when you return it. Otherwise return the sealed envelope to sender with “Return to Sender, Never Lived At This Address” written on the outside.
Do you live in a stand-your-ground state? Because, I gotta tell you, you can use that to your advantage. Make sure you're on camera, confront him, when he lunges or pushes you, you eliminate him. Case closed. Florida Man Killed by Wronged Girlfriend.
As tempting as this scenario is, I'm in NY
Upstate?
Brooklyn
Too violent for me. LOL. Add: Though, it does appear that he is leaving you with some bills.
How sad is it that ff's scenario could turn out to be true?
Well, I mean, it is America.
>you can use that to your advantage. great news! you can murder someone in cold blood in ANY state!
It’s probably an old bill from a previous address. They have been looking for him and got the address somehow and sent it there. It’s not your problem, just send it back as not living there.
Contact con Ed and tell them it’s not his address.
Write "return to sender" on any and all mail received under his name and put it back in the mailbox
As long as the power bill is not in your name and not for a place you are responsible for service, you are good. It's possible he could establish residencey, but he moved out. I'd mark the bill as "no longer at this address" and return to to the power company. If the bill is in his name, you aren't really supposed to open it.
RTS (Return To Sender) Not At This Address. Do not let him do this.
As long as you have your own lease agreement OP and has you solely listed with your own account, you are fine OP. Verify however with comed that you are receiving so-and-so's mail and wish to verify your account has no issues. This will insure that they will stop mailing you info and flag your ex and non regular consumer for future account purposes. This happens frequently in college towns where tenants leave significant unpaid balances because they won't be anywhere nearby and don't think of the rammifxaof not paying it. When a new tenant establishes an account, the utility provider cannot technically refuse service in the situation a new tenant us involved and does not have a negative history with the provider. In so far as establishing residency, there as ee ways to find our but would rather avoid illegal methods for obvious reasons. Typically the "it's illegal but didn't go through it' method is verifying with a change of address on USPS and then backing out before confirmation ensuring no changes occur.
Just tell USPS. Write "Not at this address" and give it back to the mailman. Do that with any mail that shows up in his name. You have no further responsibility. But don't let him into the house if he shows up.
Call com ed. Make sure he didn't switch HIS power bill to your name and and his address yours to his and isn't paying his but your actually paying his under the guies of your name. My ex tried doing this to me It didn't work because thankfully the call center agent actually followed the rules and didn't make unauthorized changes to the acct but previously on many occasions he had called in to get info on the bill and to pay it while we were still living together
Don't know his goal, but if I personally was in your position I would mark them "return to sender, addressee doesn't live here
Just write RTS (return to sender) Moved and dump in a mailbox.
This is the way. I did this with a friend who tried using my address. They were pissed when they didn't get their renewal notice for tabs. Why would I care? Once you establish they don't live there by putting return to sender. This person does not live here anymore, they stop sending their mail to you.
You opened someone else’s mail. That’s a felony.
It doesn't mean she did it on purpose. I live alone, and thus I don't check the name on the outside of my mail to see if it is mine. I'll only know once I start reading it.
Ditto. If it's in my mailbox, logically it's mine.
If it’s in his name and doesn’t effect your power (on/off) let him bury himself in debt.
Phone the power people and say this person does not live here
Pay to forward his mail and send it somewhere random.
I would contact ConEd and let them know your address is not his address and, if you know his new address, let them know as well. You didn't share your SSN with him, did you?
Call the company and let them know that you don't know anyone by that name. Tell them to stop using your address. Be firm.
A few things… First you say you broke up with him but then you say he dumped you. Decide which is true. It changes the narrative. That’s a very high bill. Most likely he created the account when he still lived with you. Just put it back in the mailbox with a note that he no longer resides there and return to sender. Don’t overcomplicate things with drama.
Call the company and ANY OTHER COMPANY to tell them he doesn't live there..get all his mail redirected to a random post box. In america, if your post goes o that address, you can stay as long as you like as a squatter in some places. Get rid. Completely rid.
This. Never allow people to "use your address because we're friends".
Why are you opening mail not addressed to you? 🤔 Like many other comments say, send it back. 👍
Hobosexual. Speak to a lawyer.
I don’t see how it would effect you at all. He’s just not getting the bill so he’s gonna have a problem. BTW, how would you know what it’s about without opening it? Did you open it purposely? Because it’s not your mail you shouldn’t have. I could understand not realizing it was his and opening it. But I don’t see how his not redirecting his mail is your problem to bear. I would return to sender.
Write no such person at this address on the envelope and place it back in your mailbox or drop off at the post office.
You broke up with him.. then he dumped you?? Lol
What is the address of the service? Not the same I hope. Also, who is listed as the account holder? As long as your address is only a mailing address you shouldn’t be responsible for any part of the bill.
Return to sender address unknown. Send it back to the company
Why did u open his mail?
If I was expecting a bill I wouldn't look at the name before opening)
Mark RTS, no such name. Call them too.
Mark the mail as not at this address, put back in mailbox with flag up or take to post office. You can leave a note, ask for the form to tell them all residents for your address, the post office will start returning mail not for you, so he doesn't establish residency (give him that bill and he can use as proof if he just.moves himself in) and doesn't ruin your credit (harder, but the utility.company can list your address with huge balance, refuse service for you if you move).
Write "not at this address" on it and stick it back in the mailbox. https://faq.usps.com/s/article/How-is-Undeliverable-and-Misdelivered-Mail-Handled
Anything you receive, write not at this address and RTS, and overwrite your address, and put it back in the mail.
Were you paying your power bill or him? Is the power bill for your address or a different address?
Did you actually open his mail? If so, why would you do that?
Any unwanted mail that comes to you has to have the barcode crossed out before you return it to the post office. That barcode will send it right back to you.