I own a house that I was renting to a guy who decided to do some remodeling work without my permission or knowledge. He was planning on buying it from me, but we never came to terms and he vacated the property. Unfortunately when he did so, he left a lot of the remodeling unfinished and I have to pay to complete it or the house will be unlivable. He also refused to pay 3 months of past due rent. There is a lot more to the story, but that’s not what this post is about. I’m here to tell you how to track someone down at a new address.
There is going to be a lawsuit, but in order to send papers to the guy I needed to know where he moved. I did not want to ask directly because he may have given me a wrong address. I also did not want him to know that I was about to sue him. I knew he was having his mail forwarded, so I figured that I could just call the post office and they would tell me. Wrong. According to them, it was illegal for them to tell me the new address even though I said it was for a lawsuit. Thankfully, the post office isn’t that bright, because I just got it from them another way.
After digging through their website, I came across the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual. In Section 507, I found Exhibit 1.5.1 which is titled, “Treatment of Undeliverable First-Class Mail, First-Class Package Service and Priority Mail”. There are a number of options, but if you look at “Return Service Requested”, you will see that you can find out the new address without the addressee ever finding out.
All you have to do is mail an envelope to the person’s old address with “Return Service Requested” printed 1/2 an inch above the delivery address. I enclosed a short letter because I wasn’t sure if this would work, but it was not necessary. After two weeks, I got the original letter back with the person’s new address printed on a yellow label. They have to have a forwarding address, or you will just get the letter back without any information.
That’s all there was to it. They guy has no idea I did this little bit of detective work and he will probably be shocked when he sees a letter from my attorney arrive in his mailbox. It didn’t even cost me anything.
UPDATE 09/10/13: It seems a few people have had problems with addressing their envelopes by hand. As one commenter, Carolyn, has pointed out, you must type/print them out. Basically, look at the picture, then make yours look like that. Keep in mind that if you have issues or questions, it if often helpful to read the comments section of an article because you may find the answers there.
This is the actual letter I sent and received back with the new address on it. You can see from the dates on the postmark and the new label that it took about two weeks.
The Dark Park 
Good information I plan on using this technique I hope it works. Thank you!
I did the same thing and my letter came back with the yellow label that said “RETURN TO SENDER
NOT DELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED
UNABLE TO FORWARD”
bjmixon
It was very likely that the person did not fill out a change of address form with the post office. If they didn’t, there was no record of where they moved to. The post office would then only be able to return anything that was sent to the previous address.
Your story of your rental and the guy who left it sounds EXACTLY like the person I am now looking to find an address for! Your house wouldnt happen to be in Ballard would it?
Nope, I never heard of Ballard. This type of person is everywhere, I’m afraid.
I just wanted to return to this blog, to again share my experience. I am still convinced my prior tenant never filled out a forwarding order. She changed all the mail she gets (the things she knows about) over to her new address. Now and again, a piece of mail still arrives at my rental property. One piece of mail most recently was from a bank that I know she had an account at, and the envelope had “ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED” on it. So unless the Post Office let that fall through the cracks, it should have gone to her, if she had a forwarding order in place with them.
Mail for other family members in her household also still arrives. BUT, and this is my point, when mail slowed down, and I had not gotten any for over a week (this was a few months ago), I tried the RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED method, and a couple weeks later, I received my piece of mail back with a pink sticker and her new address. I knew it was correct, because in the meantime, I had also found out her new address from a different source. She’s a few towns over now, so it is very interesting how the Post Office provided her new address to me without a forwarding order in place.
I don’t know if this has any bearing on my own personal experience, but what I had also done was, at the same time that I mailed my own test RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED envelope, I had divided up all her mail that had accumulated over the course of six weeks. Half the batch I marked “Please Forward,” and the other half I marked “Return to Sender, Address Unknown.” So, at the same time my RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED letter hit that local Post Office, so did all her accumulated mail that I redeposited in several street corner Post Office mail collection bins throughout the neighborhood. One thought that crossed my mind was perhaps a Postal worker at that office, assumed there was an “imminent forwarding order” about to happen, had found her new address in their computers, and went ahead and returned my letter with the new address. Someone at that local Post Office had a big pile of mail for her to deal with. Who knows, it’s just a theory about how this might have worked for me, because according to the rules, it really should not have worked in my situation. None of the mail I marked up, though, ever came back to my rental property.
Anyway, my story above is just my way of giving back, for this wonderful piece of advice shared here on this blog. Thank you all.
My daughter is leaving her home State and moving in with us after a domestic issue. The ex doesn’t know where we live, just the State. We DONT want her to forward her address with the post office because he/someone could find it and bother her.
I may tell her to notify the important people in person and not bother with the post office. Good idea?
Sounds like a good idea to me. The less of a trail she leaves out there, the less likely somebody will find her.
Had it been over a year or less than a year? I want to try this because I am in the same situation. It’s only been a couple of weeks though.
It had only been about three weeks when I did this. It can take the post office a week or two to process the change of address form if the person did it by mail as opposed to online. It might actually be beneficial if some time has passed since you are dealing with the government. When I tried to call them the first time, I actually got a guy who was going to give me the forwarding information but he said the information hadn’t been processed yet and to call back in a week. When I called back, they said the first guy shouldn’t have told me anything and that it was illegal to do so. That’s when I did this trick.
Only works for up to 18 months after they moved, after that USPS purges the change of address data.
Thank you. I need to file a restraining order on a neighbor who just moved. I do not know his new address and he has been coming back to the neighborhood. Many thanks for the post!
That’s creepy. I hope this method works for you and you can get keep that guy away from you. You’re welcome and good luck!
i really hope this works because id like some justice myself for a cheating ex bf!! he moved about and hr away from his old po box in maine….he doesn’t tend to change his info ever..phone is always anonymous…crossing my fingers!!! but does this always have to prority mail??
If he doesn’t change his information, this may not work for you. The post office needs to have a change of address form that was completed by him. I didn’t understand the wording of your last question, so I can’t really answer it. Good luck with the cheating ex.
Thank you for this information.
Thanks for the info.
I’m going to try this.
I always seem to get a hard time when I go to the PO
A friend told me about using this method. But when I went to the PO they told me that the “Return Service Requested” had to be typed on the envelope just as you have done it…it couldn’t be hand written. I have a silly question. How did you print it on the envelope like you did without a type writer? Could I go to Staples (?) and have them print it?
I used Word 2010 to address the letter. If you have access to the program, it is pretty simple. You click on the “mailings” option at the top, then in the address box type “Return Service Requested”, skip a line, then enter the person’s old address. Print the envelope using any printer with envelope capabilities (they use different methods, so I can’t help with that). If you don’t have Word and want a free option, try LibreOffice which is very similar to Microsoft Office.
It seems like Staples, Office Max, FedEx, etc. could handle it for you, but I’m not sure. I’m sure somebody could do it.
I had previously sent several letters handwritten with RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED. One of them actually made it to the house for sure because someone handwrote on it DOES NOT LIVE HERE. So today I sent out 5 postcards, one to each address I wanted to get. I printed out the addresses with the “RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED” and then used a glue stick to glue them to the postcards, for added protection I put a piece of tape at the top but they seemed pretty solid. I really hope this works.
It doesn’t have to be typewritten (no where in the Domestic Mail Manual does it specify). But much more likely to get noticed. The mail is all machine sorted so the first actual person who would handle your letter, and would have to see notation, is the letter carrier, and when they are sorting a lot of mail in a hurry more likely to see printing.
I Did Just Like You Said 4 Weeks Ago, And Have Yet To Receive Anything. What Do You Say, Try It Again?
If it were me, I would try again since it can’t really hurt (aside of the price of a stamp). It may just be that it’s taking longer in your case. The letter has to go through many hands and it needs to be properly processed. Even if the person didn’t file a change of address form, in theory if they are no longer living at that address your letter should come back to you (without the new info). Unfortunately, things don’t always go as they are supposed to when dealing with the US government and their often careless letter carriers. With that in mind–if the person never filled out the form, it’s possible they could still be getting mail delivered to that address even though they moved, which would explain why the letter never came back; they might be picking it up, it could just be getting thrown out, sitting in a pile, etc. There could be many other reasons for the holdup, but I can’t say what they all are. When I did it, I had no idea how long it was supposed to take and had already assumed it didn’t work when I got surprised with the new info in my mailbox. I hope it eventually works out for you.
I KnoW They Put One in Because The Post Office Sent A Letter To Their Old Address Stating The Fact. They No Longer Get Mail Their Either, I Know Because I Still Live There. I Read The Envelope Should Be Typed, Which I Didn’t Do SO If I Don’t Get Something SoOn, I’ll Type One And Send It. Thanks
There’s your problem. You might as well type up a new envelope up and send it now. If you look at the comment right above your first one, you will see that she was told directly by the post office that it must be typed. It might have something to do with the way they scan letters.
This is wonderful news!! I had a babysitter that I prepaid (to the tune of $2310) who told me she would be me back at the end of August. Here is is weeks later, and I am being told that she only send a check for $700 over a week ago. I am tired of waiting, as I am paying out of my own pocket for a new sitter. She is starting to avoid me, if I write “return address requested” in my own writing will that work as well, or do I have to have it printed to get a new address (if she forwarded her mail). This suit can’t come quickly enough.
It must be typed. If you look at the comments above, you will find all the information you need.
IT WORKED, I CANNOT BELIEVED THAT IT WORKED!!
This person was insistent in not being found and the attorney involved would not provide her address. I followed the instructions EXACTLY as noted and received our information back in 5 days. I mailed it from the local post office of where this person was prior to moving which I think expedited the “return service requested” process. Normally, nothing of the USPS for forwarding or returning is that quick!!
BUT, IT WORKS!! This information was quicker and far better than Spokeo, PeopleFinder and any of the other search for people sites.
AWESOME ~ IT WORKED!!!
Hi, I sent out a letter today just the way you instructed on here and I was told at the post office that unless I had an account with them the letter will not come back to me with the new address of the recipient printed on that yellow sticker. They said that the letter would just be forwarded to the receipent’s new address. Is this so?
Keep in mind that most of the employees at the post office don’t know how things really work around there (or anywhere, I suspect). When I was trying to find things out, I got conflicting information from different people at the same post office. I know you don’t need an account with the USPS because I don’t have an account and this technique worked for me, as well as other people. There are different services which are similar. One will just forward, one will forward and give you the new address, and the method I described will not forward but return the envelope to you with the new address. What you type (the whole envelope must be typed) above the delivery address must be worded exactly as you see in the picture. If you follow the instructions, it should work. I didn’t just make this stuff up–I got my information straight from the post office’s manual. If you click the link in the article you can see the rules in Exhibit 1.5.1 which lay it all out pretty clearly. Good luck to you.
Yes, I used Microsoft Word 2010 to print out everything on the envelope and I typed the phrase ” RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED”, in caps, about a half inch above the recipient’s name. When I first had asked the clerk attending me about this she wasn’t sure but then a different clerk told me that I needed an account there in order for me to receive the letter back with the recipients new address. She said that if I sent out a lot of letters on a regular basis that I should open up an account. But, I guess youre right, they probably don’t know about this, like you had said, lol. Hopefully, I get this letter returned to me in a couple days. Ill keep you posted, thanks
quick question. When you say that you sent the letter to their “previous address”, did you send the letter to the house your renter was renting from you and left, or the address he lived at before he rented from you?
I sent it to my house that he was renting.
Do you know if something similar to this would work in Canada?
Thanks in Advance
I have no idea. I imagine there is something similar, but I can’t say for sure. If you find something out, feel free to post it here. I could even incorporate it into the main article.
Thanks for the information. What would we do without the internet? I have been pout of the country for a little over a year and my ex remained with our son. Well she changed apartments and cut me off. I intent to find where she is as soon as possible to set things straight.
Do you know if you type both the Return Service Requested and the mailing address on a label and affixed it to the letter if that would work? I am assuming so but wondering if anyone else has done this yet.
THIS ABSOLUTELY WORKS!
THANK YOU! I stumbled across this blog after quite a bit of online searching about how to obtain someone’s address after they’ve moved and are no longer responding to you. Someone owes me money, and I needed this information to send them legal documentation. This is legit, no joke. I printed their old address on the label with “Return Service Requested” 1/2″ or 1 space above the old address. The new address had arrived back at my home within ONE day. Thanks USPS and Chris!
You’re welcome!
That is interesting. I have tried this method of tracking a former tenant three times, and I have yet to have my envelope returned by the post office with the forwarding address. The envelopes were typed and the “Return Service Requested” was clearly labeled on the envelope per USPS instructions. I caught my mail carrier yesterday, and he told me that the USPS will not return the envelope with the forwarding address to an individual. But, I never put my name in the return address – just my address. It has been a couple of months since she moved, and it has been weeks since I mailed the envelopes.
Your mail carrier is wrong. As you can see from the comments above, other people have had had success with this in addition to me. It is clearly stated in their manual that it will be returned if you do everything properly; there is nothing about excluding “individuals”. Your problem may be that the person you are looking for did not leave a forwarding address. As for it being weeks since you mailed the envelopes, it took mine two weeks and it wouldn’t surprise me if it took much longer than that for other people. The post office is a mess.
Thank you sooooooo much!!! I have a person who is purposely not complying to a court order, but I can’t send the police to their house without a current address. I know for a fact they filled out a change of address form with the usps. Doing this TODAY! Thank you so much!
What I want to know if this is legal what the post office is doing? I am a victim of domestic violence and my ex husband was sent to prison and he sent a letter to my old address and they sent back the envelope with my forwarding address. He then wrote to my new address and I’m terrified now. I want to sue the post office for doing this as my ex husband will be released soon and almost killed me the last time I seen him.
I can’t speak to the legality of anything since I’m not a lawyer or a policy maker. That said, I don’t think you will get far suing the post office if you voluntarily filled out a change of address form. If you move again, I would suggest not leaving a forwarding address and contacting important parties directly and informing them of your new information. If you are worried about him coming after you, you should contact the police and follow their suggestions; I have no professional experience or license in such matters. I wish you well and hope things get resolved for you.
Hey, does this work with just a regular envelope placed in the standard mail drop? The link posted seems to say this is for only priority mail. Did you pay for priority mail or just drop it in the regular mail?
The table I reference in the article is titled “Exhibit 1.5.1 Treatment of Undeliverable First-Class Mail, First-Class Package Service and Priority Mail”. I don’t know where you got that it could only be done with Priority Mail, it doesn’t say that anywhere. As you can clearly see in the picture, I did not use Priority, I used First Class (it even says so on the stamp). Look at the picture. Make yours look like that.
Im trying to find someone, and have a few addresses for him. But im not sure if any of them are a current address, so I put “return service requested” on each of the letters to each different address. If one happens to be his current address, will it still go to that address even tho it has “return service requested” on it, or will it confuse the post office?
If you send something to his current address, he will get it. The return service is for undeliverable-as-addressed mail.
Well I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m going to try this today. The last known physical address was three years ago. Do you think that will still work? The last address I have for them is where they received their mail which was at a postal store. I can’t serve them legal documents there.
I don’t think this will work for you because it has been so long. I think the post office drops you from the forwarding system after 18 months (forward for 12, then return to sender with new address for 6 after that). You will probably get your letter back marked as undeliverable or the people at that address may just throw it away if they get it. I think you probably have to try something else.
Can you serve someone at their PO Box?
I came across this posted site and sent two envelopes with the specific instructions, they both came back processed by the PO (evidenced by electronic bar code where the sticker should be) but no new forwarding, like one said he knows the forwarding was submitted because the confirmation arrived saying change of address “from” and the old address. Is it because the return address is the same as the mailing? Ex roommate situation. I need that address to process a refund. Both came back very quickly. But no info.
I read this question a few times and I can’t make sense of it. My girlfriend also can’t understand what you have written here. If you submit the question again in a more clear form, I will try to answer it.
If I read Melissa’s question correctly it sounds as if she sent the letter to her own address to find the person. She did say it was an ex-roommate situation. If I’m wrong I am so sorry for butting in. I truly just want to help.
I think I understood that part, but the rest of the comment was murky. Thanks for your input.
I believe Melissa is saying that she had a roomate that moved out but she was still living there, she mailed a letter to herself asking for RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED, the letter came to her processed from the Post Office because it had the yellow stick bar code added to it, but no new address, though the letter was returned to the same address. (SHE USED THE SAME ADDRESS TO BOTH SEND AND SENDER). I think the answer is that her roommate must not have filled out a change of address form with the Post Office, otherwise it would have given her a new address.
I wanted to say, I sent several postcards and letters with Return Service Requested and RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED, either typed or handwritten, and after 3-4 weeks all but one returned back to me. I noticed that on some of them it was written CFS by the postal delivery person, for computerized forwarding system. I think it took so long because some of the recipients had a HOLD on their mail forwarding so it didn’t get returned right away. I think writing CFS next to the delivery address might help prevent it from attempting to be delivered to the old address.
How does a hold on forwarding work? I have sent out several RSR letters to a tenant i evicted. The letters eventually come back to me as undeliverable. This is pI am assuming my ex tenant is holding her mail. Any thoughts.
Awesome info. I will try tomorrow and keep you posted!
It worked!!! I used MS Word to create the #10 envelope. Typed RETURN SERVCE REQUESTED two lines above the address and about a week later I received my letter back with a yellow address label showing the new address. Thanks so much. This really does work if the person you are tailing has submitted a forwarding address to the post office.
Thanks Christopher for your response.
Do you know whether this will this work if the mailing address and the return address are the same? I am trying to reach the people who lived in the house we recently purchased and need to get their new address (due to a law suit we want to file)? So I will be mailing it to my current address (their prior address) and using that same address as the return address, too.
Just going by the post office’s rules and procedures, I think it would work if the forwarding address is on file. In theory the letter would go to their old address (yours), not be deliverable as addressed due to the name, then returned to the original mailing address (also yours) with the forwarding information. I’m only guessing here, but you will probably have success with this. If you have time, let me know if it works.
If i send an empty envelope with the old address do they will forward to their current address or it will come back to me for sure
Perhaps you should re-read the article. The answer you seek is there.
Do you know if this letter ever goes to their house? What if you don’t want them to know you are doing it and they see it? Or does it only go to the post office and come back to you?
It goes to the post office and then comes back to you.
Is first class mail different than a letter with just a regular stamp affixed to it?
Regular stamps are for first class mail. Just put a stamp on your envelope and mail it.
I found that the person is at their house and I sent a certified return receipt letter but I have not received anything back yet. it was about three weeks ago. Shouldn’t the post office either gotten a signature by now or sent it back to me? We live in the same county.
I don’t know what you have going on there. I didn’t do anything certified mail (not part of the instructions), so I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. I can say that it took a while for mine to come back. Also, if you found the person is at their house, why would you need to do anything? You would already know where they are.
Part of the protocol is to send a demand letter. Once I determined that they still get their mail there and write checks from that address. I sent the demand letter Certified Return Receipt.
Great stuff. I have a question. I am looking for a old friend. I can’t seem to track him down. I only knew her by first name. I know where she used to live but it was in 2009. It was a apartment building. I was going to try to call there and ask them if they could give me her last name and I could locate her via facebook or internet. What do you recommend? Thanks Aj
If you care that much, maybe hire a private investigator.
I meant her down. I knew where she worked and the place closed down. Her number changed and I never heard from her again. I don’t even know if she is alive. Your help would be really great!
You can track your certified letter via the USPS website if you have the tracking number. https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input
The post office will make a couple of attempts to have a person over age 13 at the address sign for the letter. If someone signs the letter your return receipt gets mailed back to you.
If the delivery attempts fail the post office will hold the letter at the local post office and leave notices at the address asking the addressee to pick up the letter. The local post office is supposed hold the letter for pick up 15 days, after which the letter is to be returned to the sender. However, the letter usually lingers at the local post office until someone gets around to returning it. If it has been more than 15 days you can call the local post office holding the letter and ask to have it returned. Do not call the national1-800 number. Call the post office for the zip code to which you sent the letter or better yet, go in person.
I had to do call the local post office and do a lot of pleading to get the person who answered the phone to go look for the certified letter. The unclaimed certified letter had lingered for over a month at the post office.
Thank you so much for this trick! I have two former tenants who I needed to send follow up information after I obtained judgements on them. I sent them both these mailers last week and they came back yesterday. Also, that link to the USPS site is very informative, the “Address Service Requested” can be used to forward mail to the former tenant, if you don’t want them to know that you know where they live…
could you please tell me how you obtained judgements on them? I am just now starting this process–they’ve moved and owe me a LOT of $$ and a LOT more for damages. I can’t afford an attorney and was wondering how you went about it and what state you’re in? thanks
I can’t comment on the personal details of my situation, or anything legal. I will suggest you call a lawyer. You may find someone willing to work something out. You might be able to find a lawyer that will ask for a percentage of the judgement against your old tenants. You can get free consultations to see what the odds are of you winning, and whether or not it’s worth it to even pursue the people.
I sent several envelopes about a month ago and haven’t rec’d anything back yet. Did exactly as your sample showed. Any thoughts from anyone?
Mine took a month or so to get through the system. Then they all came back at once. Prob just have to wait a bit longer.
Thanks for your reply. So i’m hoping this means i may get some info from them. Just thought it was taking a long time, but then it is holiday mail along with it.
I wonder if this would work on myself? I just found out today, someone filed a change of address on me. I haven’t been getting any mail for about a month. And of course, the post office says they can’t track where it was forwarded to.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work if there’s a change of address filed. I didn’t know you could do it to someone else. It’s awful that the post office won’t help you. The information is right there in their computers.
Did you have to type the address as well or was that handwritten?
In the update at the end I specifically wrote that it must be typed.
The neighbors in my NYC apartment upon leaving stole my new $40.00 door mat…I’m gonna find them and get my mat back.
I find this kind of funny. It makes me think of the newspaper kid in ‘Better Off Dead’ looking for his $2.
I followed the referenced directions mentioned above and the letter came back to my address. The forwarding address is the same as the return address. I typed return service requested on a label and it came back to me in like 1day without the new address. Please ad vise
If you made your envelope look exactly like the picture, I don’t know what to tell you. It worked for me and a lot of other people. Maybe try again?
You can write on a separate envelope. This may work too.
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Do you know where I can go and get the address typed up on the envelope?
I imagine Kinko’s or a FedEx store would do it, or you could make friends with someone who has a printer.
Hi Chris,
Your article and responses to everyone’s questions are super helpful and spot on.
I did some other research on other websites and did note the endorsement “ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED” as commented above by Jehan Mir. seems to do the same thing. However, I’d like to be very careful and choose the one that’s most appropriate for my situation. Do you know the difference between the 2 endorsements – “ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED” and ““RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED”? I tried reading up on both definition on the USPS page but can’t seem to clearly define the differences? Your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am far from and expert, but thanks for the compliment. Also, thanks for asking a coherently written question; it’s uncommon around here. I just re-read section on the USPS site and here’s what I make of it: It looks to me like “ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED” will forward the letter you send, then you will get a separate notice telling you the forwarding address. “RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED” will NOT forward your letter, but send it back to you with the new address on it. Using RSR will keep things a secret, since the letter comes right back. ACR will not be secret since the letter gets forwarded.
TL;DR– If you want to be sneaky use RSR.
Thanks so much Chris, Stealthy is a better word that sneaky. Sneaks are the people who we are trying to locate.
I did this, but I did not know the “return service requested” needed to be typed out. Instead I wrote it in bright red highlighter ink. It was addressed to my ex-tenant at her old address (my rental). Will it just be forwarded to her now? I don’t want her to get an empty envelope from me and wonder what i’m trying to do. On the otherhand, she’s not that bright, so she probably won’t care.
If she has a forwarding address on file, I think the envelope will probably wind up in her hands. If there’s nothing on file, it will come back without any information on it. Since it’s the USPS, you can never be sure.
Thank you Christopher. This totally worked. I read the post and followed your instructions (yes, I printed the envelope) I was a little unsure because I didn’t use all CAPS. Even with mixed case letters I received the returned letter in 4 days with the information I required. (mailed 10/2, received 10/6). Best life hack I’ve ever used. Thanks again!!!!
You’re welcome! It’s good to hear that it worked for you. I don’t know why so many people have trouble following instructions. Thanks for letting people know it works if you just do what I wrote in the article.
Im a private investigator and Im actually trying this little trick today! If it works, I will forever be grateful and always remember this forum lol! Ill keep you posted!
Wow…I feel like a pro now!
I just wanted to say thank you. I did this, and in a day I got the forwarding address for my tenants who just packed up and left my home they were in contract with. Now they will be getting a formal letter of termination and then be served by the sheriff for court. Thanks again
You’re quite welcome. Good to hear it worked. I wrote this article to help people just like you.
Chris–i’m trying this today. Will let you know how it works. My tenants THINK they’re smarter than I am–but really, if they were, I’d never have had to evict them. I live 1000 miles away from my rental home, so i’m not even there to try to manage it right now. All so very very costly. I’d heard about this trick from a friend, but the PO guy wanted me to do this big certified mail thing–he’s obviously clueless–i don’t want them to know i’m trying–not yet. Thanks so much for your info AND your infinite patience with these posts. 🙂 I’ll let you know what works. Marlyn
Thank you, thank you, Christopher, for providing information on how to find someone’s forwarding mail address. I followed your instructions precisely two weeks ago, making my ‘typed’ envelopes in MS Word, and now have the new address of my absconded tenants. Thank you again for helping me to find them!
Glad to hear it worked. I wish more people could just follow simple instructions, as you clearly have.
There is a form available from the Post Office called the “freedom of information act”. All you need to do is go to your local post office and fill out the form. Give the old address of the person and request their forwarding address. I did this and the postal employee looked it up on their computer and gave me the new address in the spot.
This sounds like a good way to do things as well. I would rather do it anonymously without the form, but if you don’t care, it seems pretty easy. Thanks for the information. I asked the post office if something like what you mentioned could be done, and I was told no. Since nobody knows what’s going on in the post office, it does not surprise me that this worked.
I too ask the post office if such a form exists and they said no. I am trying another post office tomorrow.
So my ex with whom I have a restraining order on could type a envelope with my name an old address and find out my new one without me even knowing…. Scary
If you filed a change of address form, then yes. Even if doing it through the post office were not possible, there are many ways to find a person.
anyone who might be in a danger situation go to post office, fedex ups or independent mail store rent po box.for forwarding mail then in your new location only give your bank, and bills and people you trust your direct address then when all the people you deem need your new address and forwarded mail slows to junk close the box and leave no forwarded address at that location
If I were in a situation where my personal safety required me to keep my new address from being freely given out to just anyone, I would not do a change of address to my new street address. I would have things forward to a relative if possible. If not, then forward to a post office box at a different post office than where you moved from. All your mail would be forwarded to the PO Box and the most RSR requests would give the sender would be your PO Box, not your physical address. It is less convenient for you this way but offers less opportunity for a dangerous individual to show up at your new home courtesy of USPS.
I’m trying to find out where my ex whom I have lived with for 2 1/2 years and he just left last month in a lease we both signed. I don’t want him to know I’m sending the letter just in case it does get forwarded to him. If I followed the directions, do I have to put a return address on the envelope? I would be the same address. Can I just type return service requested and no return address in case it does get forwarded to him. Because his mail isn’t coming here anymore.
If you don’t put a return address, the post office won’t know where to return the letter with the forwarding information.
Thanks for the great info! If people are looking for specifics on wording and text positioning on the letter, you can check this site:
http://pe.usps.com/text/qsg300/Q507.htm.
This is an awesome idea! I can’t wait to try it out on a home seller who won’t release my deposit and a realtor who refuses to give up his address. I need to serve them legal papers.
I’ll come back and post about the success (or lack thereof) of my attempt.
Good luck!
I am going through the same thing now. Had a tenant who I wanted to evict for non payment of rent. He consistently was late every month with rent. He would always tell me one thing and lie~ He pleaded with me to not take him to court. He agreed to be out by a certain day if I didn’t take him to court and he fixed everything in the house. I didn’t take him and wish I did. You know the end of the story~ I got screwed! My house is damaged, It sucks being the good person sometime 😦 Now I have to contact a lawyer and send him papers. Don’t know where he moved. Thanks for the info.
Are we related? Your story is nearly exactly as mine–18 months the rent was on time only once and when they moved, I gave them every opportunity to pay me the past due rents w/o any late fees—several times–now the amount is almost $3000 that i’ll sue for but will most likely never see a dime. No good deed goes unpunished? My kindnesses were responded to in the end with nasty comments and rude replies. Lesson well learned. I’ve tried the envelope trick but none of my envelopes ever came back. However, I have found out that in some states, having certain utility accounts are “pubic record”. In WV where my property is located, i can’t get any info from the water dept, but I was able to get an address that i hope/think is good from another utility. For your particular state, go online or call the utilities and find out who is public and how you can get the info. In FL where i iive, i’m told by a family member who is a cop, that if you have a water account, it’s public access and anyone can find it out. I hope this info helps someone of you.
Hello all. So, I’ve read a couple recent posts about people being ripped off by absconding, deadbeat tenants. I have been in the same boat unfortunately. I have been landlording for about 9 years and had a few very bad tenants. the last 2, I should have kicked out as soon as their rent became late, but I was working out of state and it was hard to stay on top of it.
Just wanted to let landlords know what I did in retaliation. one tenant stupidly moved a few houses down the road from my rental without telling me. I tracked him down and, tho it took me some time to serve the lawsuit, I won a monetary judgement against him. really, it was not completely about the money…. I just wanted to hurt his credit even more.
What I also did was write a free webpage, so that if anyone google’s his name (any smart landlord would do this)…. then my webpage comes up first.
please try this and google the name “layne griggs” and you’ll see the webpages I wrote. these pages will be up for the rest of his life and for as long as the internet exists.
hope this inspires others to do the same. it’s time to fight back against horrid, deadbeat, tenants.
This is pretty awesome. I think I’ve found my guys so I can sue them. And no, it’s not about the money at all. In fact, whatever i recover after my initial expenses, i intend to donate to the nearby church. For me, it’s all about getting their attention to say, you screwed around with the wrong woman & their credit already sucks–i let it all go on wayyyy too long. Even when you’re right there in the same town, it’s difficult sometimes to stay on top of it. And many tenants are simply mean, spiteful, vindictive slimes who take their lot in life (usually b/c of serious laziness) out on others. And of course, it’s always OUR faults, not theirs.
I feel your pain. I had a guy exactly the same as you, I’ll promise next week and next week never comes. Then at the peak of his lies he just up and moves out. Those are the worst kind of tenants, those that string you along. But any landlord needs to set their own boundaries, for me I don’t let a tenant go more than 10 days without a plan to pay or more than 20 days without payment, and I only let them go in the hole so far. I can feel your passion on this particularly tenant and that comes through on your website. If I could suggest a little more compassion towards this tenant. And removal of the name “worst tenant”. I’d look at your webpages again after you’ve had a chance to cool down and rewrite them as more factual then passionate. Just the facts maam. Personally as a landlord, I find if I don’t get the money on time, I probably will never get it, right. Collections hardly ever work. My same worst tenant would actually leave jobs onces collections started in.
I was a landlord for Layne H. Griggs who signed a year lease to rent one of my houses in [CITY, STATE]. He had/has bad credit, was regularly late on rent for an extended period of time. He would string me along promising rent but always had a convenient excuse to not pay on the future agreed upon date, I finally kicked him out after he was [time he was behind]. He seemed to know how to avoid the legal system until I tracked him down and he has told me he will not pay the judgement voluntarily.
good to hear that you found them to sue them. I hope you are successful. I’m still having trouble finding my OTHER filthy, dishonest deadbeat tenant. she and her family were in my 2nd house for about 1.5 years. as I had said, I lived/worked out of state long term, so it was difficult to keep tabs on them. I hired a property management company for both of my rental houses, so it is much less burden (even tho I have to pay about 9 percent of my rent to the property management).
anyways, she was worse than that other tenant, so I wrote a page about her too.
if you google the name “julianna Diehl”, you should see the page I wrote about her somewhere in the first few search results.
Regarding the landlord of Julianna Diehl, I’m a landlord as well, I have nothing to do with this tenant. But I would like to request more compassion on this lady, by your own words you said you let her get away with not paying rent, or late pays, even staying past lease expiration for month to month. She seemed to have helped you in not leaving as it would have been hard to find another tenant. We are not all good, and we are not all bad. I’m suggesting you remove this site completely, or boil it down more to the basic facts of the case. Julianna Diehl was not timely on her rent, lost the ability to communicate often, and she did not leave the unit in the condition received.
Landlord/tenant is a business deal for a service. IF you don’t pay your lawn guy, garbage pickup, utilities, hairdresser, insurance, etc., they terminate your agreement. Landlords have more flexibility and can be compassionate. But how many times do i turn my cheek? If you steal from Walmart, and they are compassionate and let you go once, is that ok then to continue to steal? In these cases, Bobby & I are being punished for being compassionate. And also for being stupid and allowing the lies to perpetuate. In my case, i had a long term connection to the 85 year old man who lived there with his wife and son–but the wife died suddenly. When son took over the lease agreement, it started with lies on top of lies. I put up with it to be sure his Dad (with dementia) was safe. I found out a lot of things way after the fact, and it became a business decision that i had to put the house up for sale–and move them out. They had illegally stolen utilities–which came back to me to pay via a convoluted law, had a dog (against the lease), another adult living there (not on lease b/c was lied to)…..i could go on and on. I probably won go to Bobby’s lengths, but i applaud his efforts. If you are a landlord and read any of this, would you rent to any of these people? I’ve learned that if i do my research for the right tenant, it may cost me a month’s rent waiting to find the right person, but in the long run, saves me much more. Property management companies don’t always investigate enough. And that doesn’t always help–I had a professional handle one of my last tenants who seemed great at first–paid the whole deposits, etc in cash–and he defaulted after 6 weeks. Go figure. I know all of this has strayed from the intent of this website and exchange, and I hope the moderator is OK with it. I think discussions of these ideas helps all the landlords. It has made me more savvy.
I once had the thought, Jesus was a carpenter which is a business, and wouldn’t that business need to be somewhat profitable? When you are a landlord you need to understand the risks about getting bad tenant, and you need to have well thought out “programmed” decisions. Nothing personal, it’s just business. You need to have a business model that is successful. So now when you get a bad tenant you should have expected that every tenant has that potential and you have planned for every contingency. It’s an element of risk that if you are not comfortable taking, then you should get out of the business. I rented from one landlord before I became one, she totally freaked out over leaving a small piece of clothing “UNDER NEATH” the bathroom sink and kept my deposit, otherwise the house was just as I received it. Even if your tenant completely checks out, they could experience job loss, or have a party with friends that gets out of control. When they bring in a dog against the lease rules there is a remedy, in my state it’s a 7 day notice, if they don’t cure it they are out by eviction if necessary. It’s nothing personal. If you can’t handle the risk, if you don’t make good planned decisions, if you are an absent landlord and live in a different state, then perhaps you should sell your assets and invest in other investments, or buckle your seat belt and know what you are getting into. I don’t think it’s right to slam any particular tenant, we are not all good, and we are not all evil. I think of everyone as family to some extent. How many times should you forgive? 70×7. For in the measure you forgive, it will be forgiven you. Forgive us our trespass, as we forgive those that trespass against us.
Does this actually work? I’m trying to serve my ex with custody and child support papers and he’s moved, and his family wont tell me where he is.
Did you see the picture? Of course it works, but you have to read and understand what the article says.
What is the font?
I used Times New Roman.
Hi quick question, how do you that that the post office wouldn’t just send it to the new address rather then sending back to you! Does that Return……. Assure you that it will come back to you?
I know because I did it. If you look at Exhibit 1.5.1 of the “Section 507” link, you will see the different kinds of forwarding options.
Hi! Thank you for posting this! I am trying to serve my ex with papers to terminate his parental rights. He had agreed he would send me his address, but now for whatever reason changed his mind. I know our former address from 3+ years ago but I’m pretty sure he has moved once within the state and just recently out of state. If I send it to old address exactly as above will it forward the last address he lived at? Then I can do it again to get his new out of state address? He just moved a couple weeks ago out of state so I doubt that he has changed his address as of right now. Thanks in advance!
I think you are out of luck since the last address you have is over three years old. If he filed a change of address form way back then, it is out of date by now. I guess it’s worth a shot, but you will probably be disappointed with the results.
Hi, can I drop the envelope in a mail drop box or do I have to give it to a clerk in the PO?
Drop it in the mail. It’s just a letter.
It worked :). I mailed out two letters. They were both returned, but only one had the yellow sticker. One was left with the clerk inside the post office and the other at another location outside in the mailbox and I believe that was the one that had the yellow sticker with the address on it. Thank you !!!
Sometimes it takes several weeks to get you letters back. You can save some money by sending postcards instead of letters, they sell postage paid postcards and envelopes at the post office.
Well it worked and I received the letters back in 9 days.
I was told by a postal clerk to use the phrase, “Address Change Requested” instead.
I think a change request will forward your letter to the addressee in addition to giving you the new address. If you don’t want the person to know you are trying to find their address, you don’t want the letter forwarded. The way I did things, the letter came back to me with the new information on it. The addressee never knew I was tracking him down. Follow the links in the article and you will see the difference between services in the postal manual. Clerks don’t know what’s going on half the time.
Wow Chris, you are certainly a patient and very helpful person. I enjoyed reading all your responses and how nice and patient you were. Thanks for being such a kind, helpful and caring person. As I read down the replies and comments seeing each year go by, you keep replying and helping each new person. Thank you! I am going to give this a try. they just moved out a few days ago, but I guess if it is in my house’s (the one they rented and destroyed) mailbox in a few days I will know they didn’t submit one just yet.
Thank you for the kind words and good luck!
Christopher,
I’ve just come across this thread of helpful info. I won’t go into details other than asking what you think of this scenario. I know the person moved to another address, but what if they are still accepting mail at the “former” address to which I’m mailing the RSR envelope? It seems clear that the person whom we are trying obtain a new address for will get the empty envelope with my return address on it as it will not be sent to the return address by the post office. Do you agree with my line of thinking? Thank you in advance!
If they are still getting mail at the “former” address, they haven’t filled out a change of address request and it’s still the current mailing address. Yes, I agree with your line of thinking.
OK, my situation sounds like Liza’s, but I would like to clarify and make sure I understand your response. The person I need to locate had to sell their home via short sale which has not been finalized, but they have moved. I don’t know if they are still picking up the mail there or having it forwarded. So if I request return service and there is no forwarding address, you believe they will deliver the envelope to the person instead of returning it to me with no forwarding address??
Here is the USPS link for the treatment of mail.
507 Mailer Services
http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/507.htm
USPS TREATMENT OF UAA PIECES
“Return Service Requested”
In all cases:
Piece returned with new address or reason for nondelivery attached (in either case, no charge).
Glenn, thanks for this link. I believe I found my answer. Based on how I read it, even if the person is still picking up the mail at their previous address, they should never receive the envelope. It should be returned to the sender regardless of whether they have filed a forwarding address.
Return Service
Requested”
Option 1
In all cases (regardless of whether a change-of-address order is on file):
Piece returned with new address or reason for nondelivery attached (in either case, no charge).
More info: Return Service Requested
– Including 4 placement options on the envelope
http://www.modernpostcard.com/knowledge/preparing-materials/updating-your-mailing-list
Here’s a good summary of the address correction options from USPS.
Click to access Q507.pdf
This is probably a silly question but don’t you have to put your return address? Then if something goes wrong and the person gets the envelop forwarded to them rather than you getting it returned with a yellow sticker won’t they know you are looking for them?
You are correct in thinking that if something went wrong the person could see it was you from the return address (yes, it’s necessary to get the envelope back). That had me a little concerned when I first did this, so I made sure I did everything correctly according to the post office manual. It’s a risk you take, although I think the risk is probably low.
I just put mu envelope in the mail, now I sit back and wait….thanks for the info!
I’m wondering, not sure if you know or not but how long after a person moves away, how long does the PO keep forwarding their mail? Or provide the new one like everyone here seems to want to do? Someone I know moved away less than a year ago but more than six months ago. Would the PO still give their “new” forwarding address? I myself never put in a forwarding address at my old residence three years ago yet somehow some old collection agencies found me here at my new address. I just wonder how they were able to do that with no forwarding address.
That information is available on the Post Office’s website.
My “ex” and I have filed for divorce , waiting on judge to sign off, we live in diff address’ & I have a restraining order on him .. He put in a change of address on my mail, I know this has to be illegal , from the restraining order to change of address , one has to be illegal right ? .. I know messing with someone’s mail is a felony.!!!
You need to contact a lawyer, not some guy with a blog.
interfering with your mail is a federal offense…you need to file a police report if you can indeed determine that he put in a change of address on you. Talk to your PO first, then proceed. He could really go to jail for this.
From USPS website
https://store.usps.com/pse/common/includes/tooltips/tool-tip-pse-ancillary.jsp
What does each ancillary service mean?
Return Service Requested – Undeliverable mail is returned to you with the recipient’s new address or the reason for nondelivery; no charge.
Temp-Return Service Requested – If the recipient files a temporary change of address, the mail is forwarded at no charge. You won’t be notified.
Address Service Requested – In the first year after the recipient moves, the mail is forwarded. You’ll be given their new address and charged an address correction fee. In months 13-18, the mailpiece is returned to you with the recipient’s new address, at no charge. After 18 months, the mail is returned with the reason it couldn’t be delivered, for no charge.
Change Service Requested – You’ll be notified of the recipient’s new address or the reason the item couldn’t be delivered, and charged an address correction fee. The mailpiece is discarded or recycled.
Forwarding Service Requested – If the recipient has a change of address on file, mail will be forwarded for a year. In months 13-18, the mailpiece is returned to you with the recipient’s new address. After 18 months, mail is returned to you with the reason it couldn’t be delivered. All for no charge.
I used to work for an envelope printing company so I already knew about this trick. The catch is you have to follow USPS specification in the size, typeface, & position of the RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED & it has to be First Class Mail. If there is no forwarding address then you’re out of luck.
I have even moved & left no forwarding address when getting away from a stalker for this very reason. Good information to know, thanks for sharing.
I just am trying this today, so I will post back in a few weeks if it was successful.
Good luck!
This worked like a charm, trying to find a tenant who I had to evict that owes me two and a half month’s rent. The tenant never did a forwarding address, because all the mail still comes to the rental address, and yet somehow the Post Office gave me the new address when I did this… just amazing, and now to file the court case for a money judgment.
I forgot to add that I found out the new address from an alternate source, so when I got my envelope back with the sticker from the Post Office it said “Return to Sender” and then it had the tenant’s name and new address. Yet, I know the tenant hasn’t given the PO a forwarding address order, and still this worked. All I can say is “computers.” The tenant will surely be surprised when they find out I tracked them down.
I came across this to see if I could find the address of an ex who keeps bouncing around with my husband’s son and is currently in contempt for the 5th time. I am so thankful for your post! Going to do this today and hope it comes back soon.
Thanks a million.
Every one on this blog is completely sleazy, sneaky, & vindictive . If Someone doesn’t wish to Be found , you need to leave them alone .For those of you who find this method didn’t work for you I’m glad it failed you. For those who did, I hope you get awarded Nothing.
If someone doesn’t want to be found, they might start with not telling people exactly where they can be found by filling out a change of address form. You can tell your new address to everyone you want to receive mail from individually. It is not sneaky, sleazy, or vindictive for a person to seek amends when wronged.
The reason people don’t want to be found is because they owe other people money, like tenants who skip out on back rent due after you’ve evicted them. They know the next step is you are going to sue them for money damages.
Wow! Even when a father is trying to connect with his son and the ex won’t let him?
wonder if this would work in Canada?
I’m sure it would not be the same, but Canada might have a similar system. If you give it a try let us know how it works out.
Thanks, I will give it a try, and call post Canada as well and see if I can get more info.
I just got off the phone with Post Canada and they said they don’t have anything like that as it would defeat the privacy act; yet I explain the USPS does have the same privacy act and do have this option RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED.
I will try it anyway and see, somethings the person on the phone don’t know about this service?! I am sure calling USPS some people may get the same answer!!
Will comment again once I send the letter next week with typed address
I had to get the information from the USPS manual. When I talked to two different US post office employees, they both gave me the same answer you got from Post Canada. Maybe check if there is a Post Canada manual?
That is what I thought too, where did you get that manual? online or in person at the PO? Wouldn’t be surprised it is the same, I will send a letter and see, the best way. Will follow the instruction above to be safe 🙂 Thanks!
I found the manual online. There’s a link in the article I wrote that will take you there. Let us know how it all works out.
I just wanted to return to this blog, to again share my experience. I am still convinced my prior tenant never filled out a forwarding order. She changed all the mail she gets (the things she knows about) over to her new address. Now and again, a piece of mail still arrives at my rental property. One piece of mail most recently was from a bank that I know she had an account at, and the envelope had “ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED” on it. So unless the Post Office let that fall through the cracks, it should have gone to her, if she had a forwarding order in place with them.
Mail for other family members in her household also still arrives. BUT, and this is my point, when mail slowed down, and I had not gotten any for over a week (this was a few months ago), I tried the RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED method, and a couple weeks later, I received my piece of mail back with a pink sticker and her new address. I knew it was correct, because in the meantime, I had also found out her new address from a different source. She’s a few towns over now, so it is very interesting how the Post Office provided her new address to me without a forwarding order in place.
I don’t know if this has any bearing on my own personal experience, but what I had also done was, at the same time that I mailed my own test RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED envelope, I had divided up all her mail that had accumulated over the course of six weeks. Half the batch I marked “Please Forward,” and the other half I marked “Return to Sender, Address Unknown.” So, at the same time my RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED letter hit that local Post Office, so did all her accumulated mail that I redeposited in several street corner Post Office mail collection bins throughout the neighborhood.
One thought that crossed my mind was perhaps a Postal worker at that office, assumed there was an “imminent forwarding order” about to happen, had found her new address in their computers, and went ahead and returned my letter with the new address. Someone at that local Post Office had a big pile of mail for her to deal with. Who knows, it’s just a theory about how this might have worked for me, because according to the rules, it really should not have worked in my situation. None of the mail I marked up, though, ever came back to my rental property.
Anyway, my story above is just my way of giving back, for this wonderful piece of advice shared here on this blog. Thank you all. My apologies for posting this twice, somehow it first got posted in the year 2013 comments, and I want this to be recent for April 2016.
I tried this trick first upon hearing about it and sent several out. The letters were hand addressed. The only ones that came back were the ones that were marked, by the current occupants, return to sender. I assumed the others were forwarded. then I came across your blog and followed the instructions – the envelopes even looked like the one in the post awhile back – Out of about 20, one came back due to occupant returning it to sender, 3 came back unable to forward, one came back like it was supposed to, the rest I assume was forwarded. I sent these envelopes out over 6 weeks ago. I guess our local post office people haven’t read the manual or the computers were down. Any suggestions?
I saw a comment above stating that there is nothing in the Manual saying the endorsement needs to be typed. Actually, it does say that indirectly. Section 202.4.4 (Physical Standards for Endorsement) says the endorsement must be in at least 8 point type.
Thanks for the info. My husband is trying to get in touch with his son. His ex moved and had his son’s phone number changed. She is making it impossible for my husband to have a relationship with his son. I hope this works.
Hey Melody I’m going thru the same thing as ur husband my ex is doing the same to me with my son I just sent envelope a few min ago hope it does work since I live in Florida and my son lives in new somewhere tell ur husband I feels pain and that to keep looking for his son never give up on his son it feels good to know that there steal fathers out there like me that want to be a part of his kid life unlike some fathers out there that don’t care about there kid tell him I’m praying for him and his son to reunite son and to pray us too thank u again u guys have given me hope
I will definitely pray for you and your son. Prayer is very powerful because of God. I mailed my envelope yesterday and gave my husband’s phone number. I pray that his son gets the envelope and calls or texts my husband. If not I pray we get his address so my husband can send him a letter. I pray that his ex does not interfere with my husband trying to make a connection with his son.
It works I just got my envelope back with my son address thank you thank you so much
This is bullshit. Did exactly what you sai. And the letter went straight to them and they new who was trying to find the address. In this case my own son. THIS DOES NOT WORK!!!!!
Of course it works. Did you see the picture? Have you read how it worked for other people? Either you did something wrong, or your post office made a mistake.
You’re right, it doesn’t work. Maybe this author Chris. M. had it work where he is, but as he said himself in his post replies earlier, it may depend on post office employees. Apparently in my case I have vigilant enough employees that it doesn’t work in zip 85629… It has failed three times in a row. I don’t think it’s possible to use this method here.
This absolutely does work. I work at a financial institution and we send out over 7000 statements each month as well as other pieces of mail. Every piece of mail we send out has “RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED” on it.
One of my tasks at my work is to be responsible for ALL returned mail. In any given month; I have, on average, about 100 statements returned. Here are some of the examples of how they come back:
TEMPORARILY AWAY: This usually means they are a snow bird and have their mail forwarded while they are soaking up the sun and I’m shoveling snow. I call them and explain that we need their winter address on their account or their winter statements will get returned to us.
MOVED LEFT NO ADDRESS: This is the example that won’t work, as Chris said. It means they did not set up a forward. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
RETURN TO SENDER – UNCLAIMED: This one I haven’t figured out. Maybe the mail carrier thinks they haven’t moved, but just not taking their mail out of their box?
The majority (90% or more) come back WITH an address on it. When I have the new address I can then call them and verify the new address from the yellow forwarding sticker. If the returned mail does not have a new address on it, they have to fill out an address change form at one of our branches.
I will add… occasionally, I do not get a statement back for someone I have been unable to reach to verify. So sometimes, the statement gets forwarded even though it should have been returned.
Also, I have received as many as four statements back at once. Statements we mailed out each month that all came back at the same time with a recent date on the yellow sticker. This doesn’t happen often, but
So Terry Vancleef and SHenry; I’m sorry to say, you must have done something wrong.
Also, auditors recommend this to banks & credit unions to prevent confidential information from being delivered to the wrong person. You will notice most confidential mail you receive, has RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED on it.
I have been doing this for over eight years, and have handled nearly 10,000 pieces of returned mail this way.
Hello… I Made my envelope look just like yours. I found out where my daughter thought she ran out on us from the duplex we were renting to her .OF COURSE she owes us lots of money. Lol… Slipped out in the middle of night No We will never see the money. But she will be shocked that I found her
. THANK YOU FOR your help .. we WERE worried about her..
If you make it look like it does in the picture on this website, it works wonderfully, I got mine back in 5 days! It MUST be typewritten!
I sent mine on a Friday, got the return letter in today. Worked perfectly!
I can say this didn’t work from my end in Sahuarita, Arizona. They simply forward the mail and you get no confirmation… Ever. I attempted three times, always the same result. I know they get the mail because they respond, but I still have no way of learning the new address.
– Sahuarita, Arizona
Thanks so much! You’d think the USPS would make this information a little more available. How are you and not them the first helpful link on this subject? No matter – I got the info and am thankful to you for your help.
I am going to try this and hope for the best!
Where do I get envolopes for this? ?
I hope you’re kidding.
I tried this and got my letter back with a yellow label. The label says
Return to Sender
Insufficient Address
Unable to Forward
Not sure what happened. I double checked the name and address and they are correct. The person owed rent but moved out a few weeks ago. Will try again with the wife’s name.
They might not have filed a forwarding address form.
If they didn’t file a change of address, wouldn’t the letter be mailed instead of being returned to me?
I own the property and check the mailbox of that address from time to time. There is almost always no mail. I also never got back the 2nd letter I sent with the wife’s name. It also didn’t end up in that mailbox of the property address. Weird.
There is a form at the post office that you can use if you are going to sue someone. Get the small claims form from the district or housing court and fill it out like you are going to sue
Then take that and the uspo form 5b and you should get forwarding address.
They may say they can only give it to lawyer or constable if so call a local constable see if they will do it.
If you had to file a court action against the tenant or are going to use form USPS exhibit 5-2b to request the address if you can certify that you are using the new address to serve legal papers you can get the forwarding address
I owe you a big thank you for figuring this out. it did work like a charm.
thanks
I sent a letter out over month ago just as you had above but it was not typed and got nothing back and that was over 5 weeks ago. I may try again. He moved about 6 months ago. Not sure what to do now. Trying to locate a son from my first marriage.
If you read the instructions you will see that it must be typed. Following instructions is important in not only this, but many aspects of life.
IT WORKED!! I sent it to a PO box and got it back quickly. I followed your instructions exactly. Had to find a First Class stamp but It was so easy.
I mean I sent it to the last known address and got their PO Box number
Wont they know the address from which it came?
They don’t see it. The letter never gets to them.
Came back saying no forwarding address
It won’t work unless they have given a forwarding address to the post office. Many people don’t, especially people who don’t want to be found.
I just called my local post office in Florida this very second. The lady said there is NO WAY we can do that. The only way is if you are a business and you MUST fill out a specific form and pay a fee for that. She continued on babbling about privacy laws and said just send the letter and ask them in the letter for their address. Maybe she was full of it, but she said NO, a person cannot do it and I even described the exact instructions on here and explained to her there were pictures on the Internet showing the yellow sticker and she still said NOPE, that you MUST be a business and pay a special fee. Just my 2 cents, but I have not tried it yet.
And I just called the main U.S. post office and they said the same thing. It is private information and you CANNOT use that service unless you pay $225 for a sign up business form and $225 yearly. Again, just my two cents, but it sounds like this is all a joke? I would call to confirm or take it into the post office personally first before trusting Internet information.
It’s not a joke. I wouldn’t take the time to make up a hoax about mail, then convince a bunch of other people to post comments that support it. Read the manual for yourself; there’s a link right there in the article. It worked for me and many others. I didn’t pay anything.
It worked for me and many others in the comments section. I have better things to do than whip up an elaborate hoax about mail. Look in the post office’s manual. It’s right there. I provided a link.
I’m a landlord. I have tenants we had to evict. They owe us over $5000. They moved out of state and would not leave their forwarding address. This post saved me! I did exactly what it said. But I used one of the envelopes from my office with our return address so it looked professional. It came to me within two weeks! I filed in court and have a court date!
I can vouch it works. I had a tenant skip out owing me 2+ months rent and leaving a real mess of the place. All her mail continued to come to the condominium unit’s locked exterior mailbox, so the first thing I did was pay to have the local Post Office change the mailbox lock and give me new keys, so then the ex-tenant who never returned any keys couldn’t sneak back and pick up her mail.
I accumulated all her mail for weeks, and then deposited it in batches in numerous Postal mailboxes all around town marked “Please Forward.” The local PO wound up with a big pile of her mail all at once, and in the midst of all that I mailed my envelope, as instructed in this blog.
I lucked out in that even though my tenant DID NOT — I REPEAT DID NOT — request her mail be forwarded to her new address in another town, in another County in NJ, I got my envelope back in a couple weeks with a pink sticker that had her new mailing address on it, and then I filed my lawsuit papers in court against her.
You never know what a Postal employee is going to do in whatever Post Office you have to deal with. I feel I was fortunate with the way I handled my situation, as perhaps the Post Office employee who returned my envelope, with the lovely pink sticker, probably assumed a Forwarding Order must have been in the works and maybe wasn’t entered in their computer system yet. Who knows… I’m just speculating as to why my little trick may have worked as well as it did.
As a side note, my former tenant never filed for a Forwarding Order, as all her mail continued to come for almost a year before it finally withered away. I wasn’t the only one after her for owing money to. Collection agencies were even trying FedEx deliveries for signature at the Unit’s door.
With my lawsuit against her now over and out there for the world to find, she pulls up in Google searches at her new address, so I helped everyone find her.
Thanks Chris, worked like a charm!
Thanks Chris, it worked for me as well. I followed the instructions, typed out my envelope. Placed the Return Service Requested in all caps. I mailed it at the post office with one of their print out postage stickers on Saturday.. It was in my P.O. Box on Tuesday with the yellow sticker stating the New Address!!! Thanks Again!
You probably don’t care at this point, but the little bars at the bottom is a bar code that can easily be decoded: “1..11.11…..11….111.1…1..11.1..11…..11..11..1…1.1.1.1” Belongs to Brookhaven GA 30319 address.
I don’t care about somebody knowing where it came from, especially since I moved. I do find it interesting to know the little bars can be used for something useful. I never knew what they were for. Thanks!
I know this is a bit different to landlord and tenants issues, but does anyone know how to get the forwarding address for a business in the UK pls? We don’t have the same service as you do.
The company is based abroad with only the distribution and returns address in the UK, but I know the UK address still being used was actually vacated two years ago!
Any help greatly appreciated, thanks.
As a postal employee I know this is a viable and legal way to obtain the new address of someone who has moved. It actually is just that simple.
If you regular carrier is one who has been on that route for a while you should have a fast turn around back to you.
A new carrier may stumble it and cause some delay. As general practice we just flip thru and this request is set aside and labels will be attached and sent back to you. There may be a slight delay if the carrier doesn’t have printed address labels ready to affix to your letter.
I’ve worked P.O. before. But I never have thought this method! Thank you. I’m planning to sue someone, but I know he moved out. So I don’t know his current address. I’m wondering how would it affects if his roommates still live in the old house? Is it address based only? Or it includes name based?
Here’s update. I got the bribe by someone who is contacting to the person that I’m trying to find his new address. He mentioned that he got a letter by someone (he was referring me) about writing the agreement letter. I was highly disappointed that the mail didn’t turn around to me; instead, the mail went out into his mailbox, and he knows I did it. I spent $25 JUST for “Return Service Requested” print stamp. Now I’m scared to try again. What is your suggestion?