Forwarding mail on?
Question from Celeste updated on 16th October 2012:
I was under the impression that all my mail would be forwarded to another address when I moved out of my property. A year later the property manager found some old mail (including from Bay Corp) when my tenants move out. I wasn't aware of a parking ticket that was unpaid. There were additional fines also because the parking ticket went to court. I am aware that it is my responsibility to change my forwarding address but at the same time, is there a law against not sending mail back to the sender if it's not yours?
Our expert Juliet Robinson responded:
Once a letter has been delivered to a correct address it is no longer “in the post”. There is no obligation on a person at that address to contact you. If they are collecting the mail and holding it safely for you, it may well be inconvenient for you, but they are not committing an offence. The real onus is on you to ensure that your mail is redirected by the postal service. Also, it would not have been too difficult for you (or your property manager) to contact the tenant occasionally over the past year and enquire as to whether any mail had arrived for you! Some landlords and ex-tenants leave for new tenants a sheet of pre-addressed redirection labels which can be stuck on letters and dropped in the post for forwarding to their new address. If you make the task easy, most people will forward on your mail to you.
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