After a long day at work, you head home to your Texas home. You are getting ready to make dinner, but first, you check your mail. You might as well find out now what bills you have to pay. As you open your mailbox, you discover mail that is not addressed to you.

It happens a lot. It may belong to a previous occupant. You may be getting mail from a former tenant. They might not have had their mail forwarded. Or maybe they did but the timeframe ran out. Maybe the person to whom it is addressed has sadly passed away. Or maybe you just got a neighbor's mail. A simple miscue.

What Should You Do With Mail That Is Not Yours?

I have received my neighbor's mail a few times. It usually happens when we have a mailperson filling in for our regular delivery person. So I sort out mine from the neighbors and I just walk it next door. Easy fix.

If you receive mail addressed to someone else you don't know and it matches your address, there are some things you should do.

Can You Legally Just Throw That Mail Away?

No. Never throw mail away. It is illegal. Messing with someone else's mail is a federal offense. You have probably heard that several times in your life. It's true. You can not open it. You can not throw it away. There are things you can do.

Go and grab a pen because you have some work to do. On every piece of mail you need to let the Post Office know that this person does not live at this address. You can write "not at this address." It's as simple as that.

Then you just place it back in your mailbox. Your mailperson will grab it and take it from there. You are not in trouble. Life is good. I mean I don't think anyone will come after you for throwing out someone's junk mail but is it really worth the risk? The answer is no. Just mark it and send it on its way.

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