# So I opened mail that wasn't really addressed to me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255 "2009-10-01T17:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/1 "2009-10-01T17:56:11Z")
I own the house that my grandparents owned and raised a family in. This house has been in our family for over 60 years now. Yes, this is important. Today, I brought in the mail. Several items for my husband (all boring), a few items for me (also boring), and a couple of letters for a woman named Gonzalez. I will call her Jane, because the letters were addressed to one person, but Jane’s not her first name. At any rate, Jane has a bill from Toys’R’Us that is over 3 months overdue, and it appears that she opened the account and then never paid anything on it. Jane has another financial letter, from some sort of credit card security program. I opened both of these letters because although they have her name on them, they have MY address on them. If the letters were addressed to Jane Gonzalez, and didn’t have my address on them, I’d have put them back on the mailbox, with a note that they were misdelivered. If it was just ONE letter, I’d have put it back on the mailbox, with a “No such person at this address” note on it. But clearly Jane has given out my address as her own on at least two occasions. I called Toys’R’Us and let them know that Jane doesn’t live here, and could not possibly have lived here, since I know everyone who’s ever lived here. Frankly, I’m kind of worried that Jane has been going through our mail before we do, catching her bills and other mail, and that’s why I opened the letters. Perhaps I need to have a word with my letter carrier. And perhaps I need to buy a locking mail box. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/2 "2009-10-01T18:49:42Z")
IANAL, but I believe you have broken the law, regardless of your reason/intentions. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/3 "2009-10-01T18:55:08Z")
Or someone at Toys’R’Us made a mistake keying in her info, and then the credit card place bought Toys’R’Us’s mailing list. If this is the only incident, I wouldn’t assume she is using your address consistently. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/4 "2009-10-01T18:55:46Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/5 "2009-10-01T19:03:37Z")
Yup – mark it “addressee unknown” and return to sender. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/6 "2009-10-01T19:11:59Z")
Not basis for a legal opion but I can’t imagine that if the postal service delivers mail to my house I have any obligation to do anything with it. I’ve been in this situation before but I just pitched the unopened mail in the trash. If it were a close neighbor I have delivered it to them but that was my choice not my obligation. I’ve also opened mail in a stack without verifying that it was mine, just in the mindless process of picking up the next one and tearing it open. The “addressee unknown”, etc. are valid options but are you really required to correct the post service’s mistakes? I thought the legal issues were with interferring with the mail delivery in the system and I’d identify mail as still in the system until the box owner removes it whether a roadside unsecured box or a locked box that is tampered with. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/7 "2009-10-01T19:13:03Z")
I hope you used steam to open the envelopes. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/8 "2009-10-01T19:16:02Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > The “addressee unknown”, etc. are valid options but are you really required to correct the post service’s mistakes? In **Lynn** ’s case, the post office didn’t make the mistake. They delivered it to the address on the envelope. I still get a good bit of mail for various people who used to live here (this place used to be a rental), and I always mark it and put it back in the box. I feel it has the same effect as opening it and contacting the sender, but without the risk of being unlawful. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/9 "2009-10-01T19:26:42Z")
Don’t do anything with that batch. You can get in trouble for it. Wait until the next time if it happens again and don’t open it under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/10 "2009-10-01T19:29:37Z")
I live at an address, lets call it 123 Elm St., in a town, lets call it Mapleville. There is a village immediately north of my town called North Mapleville. Both use the same post office and the zip codes are the same. There is another address, lets call it 123 Elm St. N., in North Mapleville. We get their mail ALL.THE.TIME. We even have a label attached by the mail carriers on the inside of our mailbox to only deliver mail to (mylastname and myso’slastname) and we still get their mail. To make matters worse, even though the people who live at the house at 123 Elm St. N., in North Mapleville have a different surname, one of the house’s occupants has the same first name as one of the occupants of my house. I have opened their mail accidentally, but I’d never open it on purpose - most of the time it is because whoever addressed it didn’t think the ‘N’ north description of the streets was important. I’ve also gotten their pizza, flower, and furniture deliveries, and the cable guy even tried to downgrade our DVR and I suspect that was supposed to be the peeps at 123 Elm St. N’s downgrade. I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/11 "2009-10-01T19:33:00Z")
> [@Boscibo](#): > > I’ve also gotten their pizza > > I hate it. Sucks that Boscibo in N Mapleville likes anchovies. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/12 "2009-10-01T19:38:55Z")
I occasionally open mail addressed to the previous tenants in this apartment, but that’s because they told me I could in order to see if it was actually important and if it is, I then voluntarily mail it to them myself. I have kept the letter giving me this permission in my files. There have only been 2-3 important items in the past 3 years, and it was always places that had been overlooked in their address changes - they’d do the change and we’d never receive anything from that sender again. Most of the time it’s just stuff that is clearly spam, which gets tossed in the garbage unopened (as we do with our own spam!), and we return personal mail (like Christmas cards) to the sender with “Moved - 123 Street Name Mtl” on it, to be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/13 "2009-10-01T19:55:11Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Not basis for a legal opion but I can’t imagine that if the postal service delivers mail to my house I have any obligation to do anything with it. I’ve been in this situation before but I just pitched the unopened mail in the trash. If it were a close neighbor I have delivered it to them but that was my choice not my obligation. I’ve also opened mail in a stack without verifying that it was mine, just in the mindless process of picking up the next one and tearing it open. > > The “addressee unknown”, etc. are valid options but are you really required to correct the post service’s mistakes? > > I thought the legal issues were with interferring with the mail delivery in the system and I’d identify mail as still in the system until the box owner removes it whether a roadside unsecured box or a locked box that is tampered with. From the USPS website: > [@](#): > > For other misdelivered mail items (such as letters): > > o If the mailpiece is delivered to the wrong location: > > § Don’t erase or mark over the information, or write any type of endorsement on the mailpiece. > > § Place the item back in the mailbox or hand the item back to your mailperson. > > o If the mailpiece is delivered to the correct location but the recipient on the mailpiece does not reside at the address: > > § Write " Not at this address" on mailpiece. > > § Don’t erase or mark over the address. > > § Provide the mailpiece to your mailperson or drop into a Collection Box receptacle. > Destroying mail that was not intended for you may be prohibited by US laws. > > o Willfully destroying mail is an act that may be punishable by the Federal Government. > > o If you have any questions about the legality of doing this, please contact your local law enforcement. So it sounds like they think throwing out the mail that’s not intended for you is a crime. No idea if opening it is a crime - certainly the “I just open everything that’s in my mailbox” defense is perfectly reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/14 "2009-10-01T19:59:01Z")
When I was in college, I stayed at a house rented by friends without being on the lease. This was a long and common practice in a revolving circle of friends coming, going, and graduating, leaving town forever. So much so that only one of the four of us paying the rent had his name on the lease, and ALL of the bills were in the names of previous tenants so far removed down the friend chain, that I’d never heard of them. We paid our bills on time, but we always joked about how badly we could screw with Katlyn Stanley’s credit. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/15 "2009-10-01T20:11:35Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > From the USPS website: > > So it sounds like they think throwing out the mail that’s not intended for you is a crime. No idea if opening it is a crime - certainly the “I just open everything that’s in my mailbox” defense is perfectly reasonable. I would be very suprised if the Treasury prosecuted someone for accidentally opening someone else’s mail. Maybe the OP should delete this thread and go that route. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/16 "2009-10-01T20:18:43Z")
It’s not a bad idea to keep an eye out for any other unusual activity around your mailbox - a friend of ours, years back, had trouble with a neighbor (in their apartment building) opening fraudulent accounts with the friend’s address. I don’t recall whether the neighbor opened them in his own, or our friend’s name. And check everything of your own online, if possible - if someone is raiding your mailbox, they might swipe or accidentally remove some real mail intended for you. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/17 "2009-10-01T20:33:02Z")
Heh. We just bought a house, and not surprisingly still get some mail addressed to the previous owner. Yesterday we got such a letter; I picked it up and made a mental note to write “not at this address” on it (intending to stick it back in the mailbox), but started chatting with my wife and a few minutes later realized I was absentmindedly starting to open the damn thing. :smack: I just taped it back shut, wrote my message on it, and stuck it in the mailbox today. I’m not exactly quaking in fear that the postal gestapo will be kicking in my door any time soon, but if they do at least I’ll know why. > [@](#): > > § Don’t erase or mark over the address. I’ve started putting a white sticky label over the address because when I don’t the piece often just gets redelivered to us a couple days later, regardless of what I’ve scrawled on the letter myself about the addressee not being at this address. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/18 "2009-10-01T21:13:07Z")
A month or so ago I got something that looked a bit like a bill with my address but a completely different name on it. I’ve lived here over a year, and the place had been vacant for a while before I bought it it. I know the name of the previous owner, and this wasn’t it. So I wrote “not at this address” on it and left it in the mailbox. A few weeks ago I got what was obviously the first issue of a magazine subscription (it was in a clear plastic wrapper along with an envelope marked “welcome” and presumably containing an invoice/bill) addressed to the same person. I wrote “return to sender, not at this address” on it and left it in the mailbox. Now I’m waiting to see if I get another issue this month. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/19 "2009-10-01T23:47:15Z")
Mods would you please close this thread and report the user to the authorities? They have committed mail fraud which is a Federal Offense. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255/20 "2009-10-01T23:52:42Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > I’ve started putting a white sticky label over the address because when I don’t the piece often just gets redelivered to us a couple days later, regardless of what I’ve scrawled on the letter myself about the addressee not being at this address. I did the “not at this address, addressee unknown” thing on some mail at my previous location, and a couple of days later got the mail back in my box with a snarky note written on it saying “DO NOT WRITE ON MAIL THAT IS NOT YOURS!” No idea what that was about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-opened-mail-that-wasnt-really-addressed-to-me/512255.md?page=2)