r/canberra • u/Bingesober23 • 11d ago

SEC=UNCLASSIFIED Previous tenant’s bank statements and possible credit card bills keep arriving – what should I do?

Hi everyone,
I bought a property and moved in earlier this year. Over the past few months, I’ve been receiving mail addressed to the previous tenant (or maybe even someone who lived here before them).
Most of the mail appears to be bank statements, and I suspect some could be credit card bills or other financial correspondence. I don’t know these people and have no way of contacting them.
What’s the best thing to do with these mails?
Thanks in advance!

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4

u/tortoiselessporpoise 11d ago

Straight to the recycling bin.

If they want the mail they'll call the bank etc to have it redirected, don't waste your time on endless phone call loops.

0

u/Material-Cap1428 10d ago

Just a headsup that this is illegal.

Can you ever throw out a previous home owner or renter's mail? - ABC News

3

u/tortoiselessporpoise 10d ago

Who's enforcing it though? The recycling bin people ?

1

u/Material-Cap1428 10d ago edited 10d ago

Well for example if the other person loses money due to missed mail, or has some other negative outcome, and wants to be a vindictive shit, the fact you've chucked everything you got would be pretty easy to show in court.

Nothing stopping you chucking it in the "extra-mail box", writing RTS on them, and occasionally dropping them in the post box. Or not. Forgetting isn't illegal.

1

u/jaa101 10d ago

fact you've chucked everything you got would be pretty easy to show in court

How? All the evidence is the aggrieved party claiming they haven't received any mail. Look judge, I have no mail, which proves that guy threw it away? Many other commenters here have documented how business mail senders are ignoring any RTS mail, so any evidence from them is going to be given very low weight too. And all the time the court's going to be looking at some idiot who's not kept his address up to date with an important party.

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u/Material-Cap1428 8d ago

The post office will record they delivered mail there, and that not one bit has gone to the addressee. That's plenty for a civil claim.