Getting mail addressed to someone who used to live in your house isn’t unusual. Most homeowners have probably received a letter or package meant for a previous resident at some point. But what happens when those deliveries keep showing up seven years after the former owners moved out?
That’s the frustrating situation one Alabama homeowner recently shared on Reddit. Despite purchasing the property in December 2019, they say the previous owners continue to have mail and packages delivered to the address.
The situation became even more uncomfortable when the homeowner checked their security camera and discovered the former owners had come onto the property at night to retrieve a package from the front porch.
Seven Years Later, the Deliveries Haven’t Stopped
In a Reddit post, the homeowner explained that the former owners still live nearby, yet their mail and packages occasionally arrive at the old address.
For regular mail, the homeowner has been writing “Return to Sender” and indicating that the recipients no longer live there. Packages are more complicated, especially when companies like UPS or FedEx deliver them.
The homeowner doesn’t believe they should have to make special trips to return packages that shouldn’t be arriving in the first place. After seven years, they feel the previous owners have had plenty of time to update their shipping information.
The Former Owners Showed Up at Night to Collect a Package
The incident that finally pushed the homeowner to seek advice happened after another package arrived for the previous residents.
Rather than deal with the delivery immediately, the homeowner left it on the front porch while deciding what to do. By the following morning, the package had disappeared.
After reviewing security camera footage, they discovered that the former owners came onto the property during the night, walked up to the porch, and took the package.
Although the delivery was addressed to them, the homeowner was uncomfortable with people entering their property without permission, especially after dark.
The homeowner explained that they could contact one of the previous owners through the Nextdoor app and wanted to make it clear that future visits were not welcome.
They also asked whether they could legally prohibit the former owners from entering the property again.
Reddit Users Had Plenty of Opinions
The story started a discussion about who should handle deliveries sent to an outdated address.
Several commenters agreed that seven years was an unreasonable amount of time to continue using a former residence for deliveries. Some suggested contacting the previous owners directly and asking them to correct their shipping information before taking further action.
Others recommended contacting USPS, UPS, and FedEx to find out whether future deliveries could be refused or redirected. A few suggested placing a notice near the front door explaining that packages addressed to the former residents should not be left there.
Not everyone thought the nighttime visit was necessarily suspicious. Some commenters pointed out that the former owners may have simply collected a package they knew belonged to them without realizing how uncomfortable that would make the current residents.
Others questioned why the former owners hadn’t contacted the homeowner before coming onto the property.
What Can Homeowners Do About Mail That Isn’t Theirs?
Receiving someone else’s mail can be annoying, but you can address the problem without taking responsibility for every delivery.
According to the United States Postal Service, mail delivered to the correct address but intended for someone who no longer lives there can be marked as moved and returned to USPS.
Packages delivered by private carriers may require a different approach. Homeowners can contact the delivery company to report that the recipient no longer lives at the address and ask about available options for refusing or returning future shipments.
As for the former owners entering the property, whether a particular visit qualifies as trespassing depends on state law and the circumstances. Simply walking up to a front porch to retrieve a package may not automatically constitute criminal trespass, but homeowners can generally communicate that someone is not welcome and seek local guidance if unwanted visits continue.
Don’t assume a misdelivered package is yours to open, keep, or throw away just because it arrived at your home.
When Does an Honest Mistake Become Too Much?
An occasional delivery to an old address is understandable. People forget to update online shopping accounts, and saved shipping information can send packages to the wrong place.
But seven years is a long time for the same problem to continue, especially when the former residents still live in the area.
For this homeowner, the biggest concern is no longer the inconvenience of receiving unwanted deliveries. It’s the possibility that the previous owners might continue showing up at the house whenever another package arrives.
After seven years, is it reasonable to expect the previous owners to finally stop using an address that no longer belongs to them?
