Learned About Mail Law...Am I Going To Jail?

So I have been living in this 1 bedroom apartment for 4 months now and get mail for the previous tenants. I usually just throw it away.

Right before my winter break from college, I got a piece of mail from the local court intended for one of the previous tenants. I left it unopened in my mail pile on the kitchen counter and tried to contact the recipient. I have forgotten all about until now, and I have been on break for almost a month...I'm going back tomorrow.

What should I do with it? I am really, really, really afraid that if I put in my mailbox with "return to sender" written on it, that I could be charged with mail fraud or something considering I had it in my house for about a month and it is not mine.

I figure it is not my responsibility considering the court should have known where this person currently lived and that person should have contacted the court considering they had a run in with the police apparently. I'm also worried that if I send it back, the postal service will realize that I haven't been sending back the other mail which I thought was unimportant, giving me a double whammy.

WHAT SHOULD I DO? I don't want to go to jail or to court over this. Has anyone ever done this or something similar? I'm freaking out.

reply to post by SubPop79


i wouldn't think that you have broken any law, simply say you sent it back with return to send attached to it. Beyond that you have no idea what or who has it.

On the front of it write.

NSP
RTS

no such person
return to sender.

Stick it back in the mail box

I would throw it away but if it bothers you that much then take it to the post office and explain you are getting mail for previous tenant and for them to stop delivering it to you.

But isn't this technically tampering with someone's mail? I'm pretty sure it is first class mail.

Just put return to sender.

Not your problem.

That's what I do with all my x's mail. Sometimes, I get so busy, I forget to drop it in the mailbox and it eventually goes back to them.

As long as it's not open, you should be fine.


I tell them, heck, if I can use google to find his address, then you should have no problem. I told them, next time, I'll be asking for their job, if I find the address before them.

I mean after 10 years, they should of found his address by now. I know he didn't fall off the face of the earth yet. Heck, he's still on facebook.

Just send him a message for crying out loud.

You in the US? Not sure of the laws there but I was a mail man (postman) in the UK.

Best idea, just write on the front RTS no longer at this address and mail it, it will go to what is known as a "dead mail" centre where they will try and find where to send it, it then becomes property of the mail system.

No, you shouldnt be freaking out, I assure you. As long as you arent that person (whom the courts obviously seek), and you have I.D. and proof of residence there is nothing they can hold you responsible for.

Originally posted by SubPop79
But isn't this technically tampering with someone's mail? I'm pretty sure it is first class mail.

edit on 6-1-2012 by SubPop79 because: (no reason given)

No, only OPENING someone else's mail is a crime.

Originally posted by Mister_Bit
You in the US? Not sure of the laws there but I was a mail man (postman) in the UK.

Best idea, just write on the front RTS no longer at this address and mail it, it will go to what is known as a "dead mail" centre where they will try and find where to send it, it then becomes property of the mail system.

Yes I am in the US. I thought mail men / post men took this stuff very seriously, as it is a federal matter.

reply to post by SubPop79


Go down to your closest Post Office....hand in the current mail you have for that person....and let the clerk at the P.O. know ...that person no longer lives at your current address....and put in a request to stop getting their mail.

As for throwing the mail away...I don't think that is a good idea...there may be some information that is important to that person...that they need to get.

Just be honest....you won't go to jail.

Originally posted by SubPop79
So I have been living in this 1 bedroom apartment for 4 months now and get mail for the previous tenants. I usually just throw it away.

Right before my winter break from college, I got a piece of mail from the local court intended for one of the previous tenants. I left it unopened in my mail pile on the kitchen counter and tried to contact the recipient. I have forgotten all about until now, and I have been on break for almost a month...I'm going back tomorrow.

What should I do with it? I am really, really, really afraid that if I put in my mailbox with "return to sender" written on it, that I could be charged with mail fraud or something considering I had it in my house for about a month and it is not mine.

You take a black marker - - black out the zip code - - so it doesn't circle back to you.

Then you write on it "no longer at this address" - - - then give it back to your mailman or stick it in an outgoing mail slot.

If it's in the postal service hands it's their problem so to speak, it's their property until it lands on your mat.

If you put "RTS no longer at this address" on the front and repost it, it's no longer your responsibility, not that you're obliged to do anything with it. The postal service have completed their obligation to deliver it to the address on the front of the letter.
It would be up to the previous tenant to forward a new address.

All the postal service will do, is like I said is send it to a "dead letter" centre where it will either go back to the sender (if it has a return address) or they will open it and try and trace either the sender or the reciever.

Either way, get it back in the postal system and it's not your problem if you're worried about it

Originally posted by 1ReySon
Are any of you familiar with Nostradamus and the predictions that he prophesied regarding the “web” that would blanket the world? Modern thinkers portrayed this to mean the current world wide web, right? What if...

What if, the “web” in his prophecies is not the internet but actually the current uprising of global consciousness?

RTS No longer at this address

As you can see you have done nothing to worry about, simply do your duty and you will be on your merry way. Relax, no crime has been committed

Originally posted by 1ReySon
Are any of you familiar with Nostradamus and the predictions that he prophesied regarding the “web” that would blanket the world? Modern thinkers portrayed this to mean the current world wide web, right? What if...

What if, the “web” in his prophecies is not the internet but actually the current uprising of global consciousness?

You are completely (off topic) and I noticed that you posted this exact same post...in the (3 word story)....please quite being a troll...it is annoying.

Originally posted by 1ReySon
Are any of you familiar with Nostradamus and the predictions that he prophesied regarding the “web” that would blanket the world? Modern thinkers portrayed this to mean the current world wide web, right? What if...

What if, the “web” in his prophecies is not the internet but actually the current uprising of global consciousness?

Yes i am familiar so how about you open a thread and we can go from there rather than posting all over the place with information that is obviously irrelevant to the OP.