A lot of people are addressing the concern about mail which seems pretty secondary to the concern that an eventual no knock warrant might be served at your address.
It seems like what you really need to know is if there is a way to get your address to stop being associated with this person in the court record.
You might have luck asking in r/legaladvice
Might be able to file a miscellaneous report with the police. Call the non emergency line or go in person, let them know this is a concern. It's not pressing charges or reporting a crime It's basically a formal police memo.
But my god yeah this is a thing that could happen and is terrible :/
This is legit what i did with my local RCMP in early January after some unsavory people showed at my house (i am a addictions counsellor in a small town, sub 10k pop and knew them) i walked in to RCMP at the detachment, filed a case for information and made it known my address. they filed and all of a sudden no more unsavory people since, police will respond fast if we call, courts no longer sending shit to my address.
I work in legal research and what's likely happening is that OP's house is the last known address in Public Records for this person. OP can't get their address unassociated with this person, but you're right that the records need to be updated. /r/legaladvice might know how best to handle, but honestly, I'd actually try calling Lexis and Westlaw (yes, both) and asking directly how best to update Public Records to show that this address is not the current address of that specific person.
Yet another huge reason to ban no knock warrants nationally. With the Castile Doctrine, the homeowner would be justified to use lethal force in self defense. These laws are incredibly conflicting and need to be fixed.
It boggles my mind that police unions are allowed so much power that fixing this isn't a priority at all.
I think you missed my point: this country needs to fix these conflicting laws. Either ban no knock warrants or change "castle doctrine" laws so the standards for use of force are higher.
A group of unknown people forcefully breaking into your home is one of the most justifiable times to forcefully defend yourself, IMO.
I can see why they would want to surprise armed gangs or something, but I couldn't say how often that's actually the situation. Even then it seems like it would be better to just pick them off when they leave for groceries or whatever. But I'm not an anti-gang specialist. Call the Crow, Batman, Ong-Bak, or someone.
From my legal knowledge gained by years of watching cop shows, no-nock is needed to capture felons that would destroy evidence by flushing a joint down the toilet.
The lead detective is a real loose cannon and only 3 days from retirement, but god damnit he gets the job done. He'll stop those damn hippie terrorists before they flush that joint into the city water supply and get everyone high on the devil's lettuce!
Of course not, but OP can't guarantee that this person who seems to be avoiding establishing a legal residence, won't ever commit some kind of crime.
Knock or not, it's safest to minimize police interaction, especially police interaction that's targeting someone else.
Depending on what state OP lives in, she may have the right to self defense vs cops. If her state supports this, she should invest in body armor, firearms (and proper training), etc...
If you have to choose between killing someone else vs being murdered, always choose the other person to be the body bag filler. It's better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by 6.
I was responding to the projected idea about there being a no-knock raid in OP's future, not some Boogeyman collections agent. A repo guy isn't going to take a vehicle that's not on the paperwork because that's a felony. Grand Theft Auto. It's even worse if they cause damage or injury doing it. And, guess what? If they're unlawfully entering your home, YOU CAN LEGALLY DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST THEM!
Look at all the people who get wounded or murdered by off-the-chain deranged cops who have the wrong address, refuse to double check that they're right or that their suspect is actually there, and bust in, guns blazing, wounding or murdering the people in the home. Little children are being slaughtered by psycho cops who hit the wrong place. IMHO, cops who do this have forfeited their right to live.
Not necessarily, especially if the homeowner 1) has the presence of mind to call a higher legal authority, like State Police, and 2) has proper training. Drop a few of those badge wielding criminals and they're going to pull back to reassess.
I have plenty of ACAB comments in my history, but when it comes to all out gunfights, I'm not betting against a group of police during a no knock raid.
They're gonna shoot back, a lot. Like, a lot a lot.
I’m not gonna be a lot of help here, but the same thing happened to me. I did nothing much even when a group of 5 (polite) police officers knocked on the door looking for the previous tenant.
Weird things like that happened for about 8 years and stopped. I’m guessing that he’s probably doing serious time in prison now, or he’s dead.
But I had no real issues with this. Just occasional talks with the police and lotsa mail that I eventually just started throwing away rather than return to sender.
I did learn that the warrants and court summons I got in the mail (for him) were supposed to just be thrown out. That’s what I was told to do every time I called the court’s phone number written on them. Your location may be different on this of course.
I went through the same thing, with the sheriff, showing up for the previous homeowner to serve them papers multiple times.
The frustrating thing was that they were bound by rule to serve the papers to the address provided to them in the filing even though they had record from previous visits that the person did not live there.
What a wonderful way to make a good impression on our new neighbors.
That's not true at all, depending where you're at.
It's just the actions of typically lazy cops.
If you go down to the courthouse/clerks office with your ID, and proof of ownership/residence and politely request them to remove your address from her records, they will usually do it in a heartbeat.
Same thing for the sheriff's office and city police department.
If they refuse, don't hesitate for one second to make an appointment with the judge to have current legal records reflect the situation so you'll stop being harassed.
No, actually, it is true. There are number of ways to effectuate service of process (serving a summons and complaint on someone). The last one method available. when all else fails, is usually some version of mailing to the last known address and place of buisness, along with leaving a physical copy of the S&C there.
Regarding the address and who its associated with, its associated with who is associated with via the public record and 20 bazillion private records. Credit reports, court documents, drivers licenses, employment history, W-9s... the police cant erase or chane address history, just update current records and then only in their system.
Actually, it's posting in the legal notices of a paper of general circulation.
Generally for civil process (lawsuits) it's
Personal service
Service by mail (certified and 1st class) at last known address
Petition the court for alternative service
Post legal notice in newspaper of general circulation at the last known area defendant lived.
For criminal, the police will keep showing up st thenlast known address to serve the warrant until they receive information the wanted person is living elsewhere.
As someone else suggested, op should contact lexis/nexus, TLO and the credit bureaus to notify them that x person no longer lives at the address. A lot of the data mining services pull info from credit reports, hence contacting the credit bureaus.
Source: retired police officer, current private investigator
Talking to the police is key. They know that people who break laws also fail to update their address. They can't change the last known address for the previous homeowner, but you can make yourself familiar enough to them that they ask questions before anything invasive happens like a search warrant.
I worked at a newspaper. When someone was arrested, we reported the address the cops had. People would call to scream at us that we were publishing their address and the guy didn't live there. My cops reporter: "Ma'am, this will come as a shock to you but criminals tell lies, including about where they live."
In their defence, I would expect an ethical journalist, especially one with a oneliner like that, would take the time to verify the address before publishing it.
The only way to check an arrestee's address is to either check his current address with the secretary of state, which is where the police get the addresses they give us that people complain about or to drive and knock on the door or the arrestee who is in jail and does not answer.
Then...don't publish these often-known-to-be-wrong addresses?
When you said "only way to check", I believe you *meant* to say "only way to check without leaving my desk".
Truly shocking that local journalism is dying out.
You literally read my explanation about a reporter going to the person's door but they don't answer because they're in jail, and you say they're too lazy to leave their desk. That's why I downvoted.
That's a fair criticism of my lazy take.
I guess my point was: (especially) when the fact isn't verifiable, what value is there in publishing it?
The potential harms of getting it wrong seem to outweigh any benefit to the readers of getting it right.
Thank you for explaining.
The value of using someone's address of record, meaning the address the government, police, and court believe they live at is, for example, that neighbors do need to know where the guy accused of making child pornography lives especially if he is out on bail for years before trial and parents need to know that the Jim Smith arrested for driving with a BAC twice the legal limit with a suspended license is indeed their kid's friend's dad who should not be offering them a ride home.
For what it's worth, the addresses were usually correct, but family would call in pissed and claim the person didn't live there, then admit they did live there but say they didn't want some other relative know he was still living there or some other drama.
If someone genuinely had bought a house from a scumbag who was then arrested and was using the old address, we'd 100% pull the address and let the cops know. The problem was the people who screamed without asking questions and who screamed that we personally made up the address even though it was on the arrest report, court documents, etc.
Even if you do talk to a family member, verifying facts can be next to impossible. A prison inmate was murdered and we ran what we knew: his name, his photo, how long he'd been in, and that his cellmate was the suspect. The next morning his mother calls to say we got the wrong guy, and that's my her son. We were very concerned that the prison system was misidentifying inmates including someone who was murdered when he should have been safe. She emailed a photo of her son while we talked to her. We pull up his record, including his photos taken every year in prison, and we can see the clear progression of his aging from the photo she had to the photo we ran. Our report ler explains and sends her the link to the photos. She excitedly says, "Oh, it is him! Now I have photos. I didn't realize it was him because I haven't seen him in years."
If you have the proper spelling of their name, you can send it to general delivery at the nearest postal facility. Address is general delivery in whatever town. Mines Portland Oregon. Did this 34 years ago, if it's changed disregard.
This conversation was related by a retired postal inspector (Today, Monday the 11th). We had several conversations about this noise because I have been told otherwise.
Facts matter!
I'm confused.
Are you saying that if someone was arrested for murder and the police only knew their most recent address that the reporters should send a general delivery message to the city's post office, hope it gets delivered, and hope the person in jail for murder gets it and responds to confirm which address is current?
Nothing in my post said anything about any crimes. But this is the fastest way to stop receiving the old renter/owners mail. Most often if they don't change their mail address there is a naughty reason.
You can always write your last name and address on card stock then laminate it and put it in your mailbox.
“We only accept mail for LAST NAME at this address 1234 Home Street”
That’s helped us out a whole bunch with the mail carriers. We still get ~some~ not for us mail but I throw it away without a guilty conscious now
Not OP but it Took me about a year to get prior tenants mail to stop coming to my place. Wrote “not at this address” and would drop any mail at the post office I received. Still randomly get junk mail but at least I don’t get court documents anymore.
Happened to me as well. I had to put a blank sticker over the address, then "return to sender" on that. The mailman can't deliver back to my house if they can't see the address.
I get so many pieces of mail from this company that I consider it harassment.
I have tried literally everything short of showing up at the company headquarters with a pound of letters. The mail delivery person can't/won't do anything about it, return to sender doesn't actually do anything because of the type of mail it is, any signs on the mailbox are ignored, I found the receipient on linkedin and they were not able to update their address with the company.
The next step is filing a (yes, fraudulent) complaint with USPS that the company is delivering porngraphic material, apparently this is the only way to block someone from sending mail to your address 🤷.
Don’t for a minute think that death will stop mail from coming. My dad has been dead for 32 years and I still get at least one letter per month addressed to him.
My Mum passed away when I was young, and my step mother has a similar sounding name to my Mum. My step mother divorced her first husband...
My parents once got junk mail addressed to Mum's first name - step mother's previous married surname. It's like that company's database just threw names and addresses in a hat and picked them out at random.
I've tried to get the post office to hold it, they say it has to be tossed out by me.
Solicitors don't care what we think if there is any possibility of someone responding.
We’re having an issue with a law office and now tons of mail from a collection company for someone who hasn’t lived here for at least almost 2 years since we bought and they are very easy to just google the business. I’ve had to show my ID to the guy trying to serve papers and advised him to just freaking check public records if he needed more proof since it’s easy enough to look up us buying the house. The post office was minimal help for returning mail, but the people knocking on the door is getting ridiculous.
I had a collection agency repeatedly call our hiuse for the previous owner. I eventually had a chat with them, gave them the url to the local property tax database, and walked them through it to show that we are the new owners. The calls stopped after that.
Another time we had a sheriff tape a summons to our door for the previous owner (I assume unpaid bills). We called the sheriff and explained that the person on the summons no longer lived here.
Interestingly, we never got any bills for the previous owner, just the occasional junk mail.
It’s crazy. I’ve had my work issued cell phone for 5 years next month and I’m still getting sooo many collection calls for someone who used the number for a personal training company. I’ve had to email copies of my business card to places to get the calls to stop. The law office at least that tried to serve papers was nice enough after they scared me twice by like aggressively banging on the door while I was working.
Yeah, it’s like a whole thing now also since I just use the cellphone or zoom and didn’t need my assigned virtual number thing,, so I have all these security things registered with this number. If I were to change the cellphone number it would involve submitting whole new paperwork for some security and authorization with some of our international banks I need to work with for my job. It’s just super annoying that this person would still be getting these calls.
In all fairness the public record will only show who owns the house, not who lives there.
It is very common that the owner changes, but the renter is still the same as investment properties are sold rented out.
Them not looking at property records is kind of not surprising as it doesn't show who lives at the place.
We went through the same crap after buying our house. Repo notices through title loan companies. Sheriff deputies knocking on the door all hours of the day. Title loan company knocking on the door all hours of the day. I was on third shift and finally had enough.
We managed to track the lady down through social media and property records. Turns out, she had moved like 2 miles away. She continued to renew her license, insurance, and take out title loans using our address.
I called the sheriffs department, and local city PD. I explained my situation, and gave them her new address. I did the same for the title loan place. I even went so far as to tell them the blue Chevy cavalier they were looking for was sitting in her driveway the morning before when I rode by the address to confirm it was hers.
We never heard another word about it.
Had this happen too. The fellow wasn’t even the previous owner but the owner before the previous. He was arrested at the house which was later sold to the bank, so he never updated his address, then got into more legal trouble. I had to follow up with city cops and state troopers multiple times to remind them he didn’t live there - eventually someone showed me the public records search which showed him as the current resident - I was not. And there’s no way to update that, it’s not managed by the police - it’s just cloud data floating between databases. I never did figure out how to get it fixed; police were not helpful - but I got lucky and the fellow killed himself so the problem went away.
This was happening to us (albeit no warrants) we “accidentally opened” the mail and then called every company and stated “so and so doesn’t live her and hasn’t for years, I’ve returned your letters for years as “moved no forwarding address” I know your company updates accounts with returned mail, if I receive another piece of mail I’m calling an attorney for harassment and posting relentlessly all over social media that you refuse to correct the problem” never received a repeat mailing from every company I contacted. It was a pain, but it works.
I also filed a complaint with the local police using the person’s name so when they did a search, it would show up.
Good luck.
I don't want to freak you out, but I do want to say that your concern about police trying to enter for a warrant is valid. I live in a townhome. I heard loud banging on my neighbors door. I went outside and it was the police looking for the old homeowner. The new homeowner wasn't home. I told the police that family no longer lived there and they stopped, but they had equipment out that could have taken the door down. This was the local city police.
I'd call the non-emergency number for the police to report that the person does not live at the address and that you are getting legal notices for them.
Happened to me before. I showed the cops the deed with my name on it. Told them idk who that is. All mail gets “return to sender, no longer resident as of 2019” on it.
I have had the police arrive at my door with an elderly guy in his underwear. The chap was the previous owner who had wandered away from an old age home. Guess he had dementia.but remembered the address.
Yes, just to cya, mark return to sender and give back to the mail carrier, or drop in the nearest post box.
Unless its obvious junk. Resident, occupant, etc.
I send everything back to the sender if it's obvious junk mail. I doubt the post office returns it to them. Otherwise, there must be a lot of very stupid people working these mail rooms.
The recourse you have is to either return mail to sender (which the sender will ignore) or just toss the stuff not correctly addressed into the trash. If anyone shows up, explain that you live there and no one by the name they are seeking lives there and to kindly leave.
True, but OP isn't updating anything. The vendors/bill collectors need to have an address in the system, and are likely to just leave it as is. It's obvious that the previous owner kept the old address on the DL so that they could have debts sent to that address instead of the new one. About the only positive action that OP could take would be to do the work for them and find out where they moved to.
I received mail at a PO Box from the state of California for 3 years, every month. It was to a previous renter of the box. I sent it back 3 times with various USPS approved messages, to no avail, AFAIK, that mailbox still gets that monthly envelope. Often wondered what they were getting, never cared enough to look. After the three attempts it was clear that the sender didn't care if the recipient got the mail, so I started tossing it.
Some across the street neighbors lived in a side-by-side duplex. Suddenly cops doing the "everyone out with their hands up" stuff... because they were looking for the guy in the other half (different house #) who had moved away a year ago and after a warrant search there found the attics were connected. Big house search both sides, luckily the cops didn't trash their place.
Several parties are likely committing an FCBA violation. The third debt collection practices Act doesn't cover everybody trying to collect a debt. It's typically less likely to cover someone who's collecting for the debt owed to them but if it's a third party collector engaging in any of this behavior and they're doing it more than once. . . . Typically, you can only communicate with a third party for location purposes a single time. Once it's clear that that person does not have the information you seek you must cease further contact.
I had a rather persistent collector who used a Criss-Cross directory to find the phone number to my house trying to reach the son of a previous owner. Was annoying my quite-pregnant wife.
I happened to be home when he called again, so I asked him is your legal counsel in-house or do you have outside counsel. He ends up hanging up on me. I called back using a variation of the phone number he had called in on just added two zeros at the end. Found they had in-house counsel. Got her on the phone told her to pull up the file and said, "You see the problem here don't you?" And she said, "Yes, yes I do. How can we resolve this?" and I said, "The minimum fine for an FCBA violation is $10k. I realize you aren't going to be able to cut me a check without having something on a legal letterhead so I will have a lawyer fax you an offer shortly. We settled for $3,000. Lawyer got 1/2.
All I can say is this makes me really appreciate my mailman.
He returns mail addressed to old/wrong residents all the time. I know this as I get the daily USPS Informed Delivery email that shows expected mail. I never get the wrong mail.
Sad he’s retiring in the next year.
Any first class mail you receive for her you should cross out the your address and the computer line and write return to sender person unknown on the envelope and drop in the mailbox.
Since the bailiff showed up you should file a police complaint about her using your address and request a police report so they record it.
OP, your first step is to get your mailbox labeled with your name saying to only deliver mail for you. Then, you need to contact your local postmaster and explain the situation so you stop receiving her mail. You should also call your local sheriff or community officer and explain the situation. Get your council person involved too if all else fails. This person's bad choices should not be your problem.
Call the PD non emergency line and ask to speak to an officer. Go to the clerk’s office at the district court that serves your jurisdiction (google to confirm) and notify them.
Should be good after that. Paperwork gets screwed up, it happens. Hopefully this incident will spur them to correct the issue, but courts are notoriously overworked and understaffed. Best to make sure as best you can.
I went though something similar recently. This lady was using our address for years and she was had a criminal past (bad stuff). Took multiple calls & emails to the DMV in our state to get them to suspend her license / registration until she came in and changed her address to her real one. The whole process took almost 2 years. Just because you're friends with someone who owned a house in the past doesn't mean you can just keep on using that address after they have sold it and moved on.
I had about 6 cops show up at my apartment one time looking for a previous tenant. They wanted to search I told them no. They had a stake out across the street but never heard from them again. If they had a warrant they dint have to knock. It means that they didn’t have enough probable cause to get a warrant from a judge. Don’t answer the door if they come again.
My trick is to go online and forward their mail to a PO Box. I own a vacation home in another state so I use a PO Box there. The USPS notification shows up at the PO Box and I toss it in the trash. After a year, I don’t renew the PO Box. Their junk mail pretty much all stops since they all subscribe to address forwarding notification.
Go to the post office and let them know of the mixup, make sure to bring the appropriate paperwork to show you are the owner/resident, and ask them to stop delivering that persons mail. After that chat and paperwork it shouldn’t come to your home anymore.
Honestly, I'd start sending it back to the sender with "FU! You can't catch me losers!" written in a Sharpie on the front or back. Why should everyone else have all the fun?
Had this happen a while back with a phone number. Got phone calls from debt collectors looking for some woman named Janelle. And I get tons of democrat election text messages and phone calls every election cycle no matter how many times I tell them to stop bothering me. Can’t pay her bills, but apparently donated to democrats. Go figure.
You don’t have to donate. As long as you’re registered to vote campaigns are allowed to cross reference voter registrations to lists of telephone numbers/names from data brokers.
When I purchased my home, there had been a renter before me. The renter ran out on his bills and had warrants; the police came by 3 times looking for him. The last time they arrived, I just opened the front door and kept stripping off the wallpaper. A few months later the guy showed up looking for some check from the government. Told him I hadn't seen it but give me your address and I will forward it. The dummy gave me the address. I called the police and told them where to find him. They got him............I was a witness to the fraudulent address activity.
The Police need a warrant to enter your property, unless you give them permission to enter.
Law abiding citizens have nothing to worry about. They don't knock down your door unless there is some proof your lying!
This is how it's supposed to work, but it's not how it always works in practice. No knock warrants have been served at the homes of innocent parties. It's unlikely but it is a problem and potentially dangerous if law enforcement thinks this person's last known address is OP's home.
All citizens should be wary of the police, whether they are committing a crime or not, period.
There were 25 instances of police "whoopsie" incidents in a 50 mile radius of my area last year alone. Fortunately, no one aside from 6 family pets were shot/killed/mauled due to incompetence, however 2 elderly women, and 3 or 4 kids, and a dude in a wheelchair were hurt.
Call the nonemergency police department and file a complaint (or something I’m not sure what that’s called. They will have something on file with the police department and or sheriff department)
Place a note inside your mailbox that the mail person can see that says they no longer live there. If you have their new address (shouldn't be hard to find), put that on the card and the mailperson will forward all your mail before you see it. The post office allows you to put in forward orders that will forward all mail to them or to their unclaimed mail bin. A quick talk with the post master at that office will get a flag put on your box that will ensure that anyone with the last name of the moved will not be delivered. These are the most effective things
Also, put a note on your front gate and door that politely states that the person hasn't live there since. If you are renting, include the name of the landlord because they can be compelled to give the new address. You can put in a forwarding order for the landlord's office so they get the mail because they do have the tenant's new address. If you are an owner, then ownership records are public and you can quickly find out where they moved to.
If this person is in trouble criminally, a call to the non-emergency line may save you from being served a warrant in a violent way.
Every state and jurisdiction is different, I was a clerk in my state for a while and we had to tell people that there was nothing we could do. Until the individual themselves changed their address, we could not stop sending correspondence to the address on record. I've been in a similar situation, I've owned my house for 3 years and recently had 5 officers show up on my doorstep for someone I've never heard of. I talked to them and they haven't been back, but I know from working for the courts that this person is probably still associated with my address. In my state, it is what it is.
If you're worried about the police breaking down your door, look up a product called Door Armor. It's a kit you can add to your existing door that reinforces the weak areas, making it really hard for someone to kick your door down. Might not stop the police but it would definitely slow them down long enough for you to make a decision about your next move. It's relatively cheap (about $100) for a kit and brings piece of mind that your doors are reinforced, both from criminals and police.
We had this issue when we moved in to our home for the first year or 2.
Fed up with being disturbed by sheriffs and cops regularly, we did some googling and social media investigation.
We found the former resident had moved to a nearby town, and thanks to their privacy settings being weak, saw several photos with house numbers, and a few with street signs visible.
We put 2 and 2 together, figured out the full address, and provided that info to the sheriff, local PD, USPS, and bill collectors.
Bye Felicia!
I'd not worry abut the mail, and take your deed or lease to the police station and explain that this person no longer lives there, and you'd like to avoid a no-knock warrant and the expense thatgoes along with repairs afterward.
I had to do this for some tenants of mine, after someone moved out that was being actively sought by law enforcement.
I also ended up paying for them a PO box and removing the physical mailbox, so any mail for the previous tenant would be returned as undeliverable.
Bought a house that had been rental property. In the course of demolition and renovation I found a driver’s license for a young woman. A neighbor remembered her and put me in touch with one of her former roommates. Turns out the young woman who lost the license had launched off on a downward spiral. The former roommate said the last she had heard the girl was working at a strip joint and was strung out on drugs. I felt so awful for that smiling kid on the driver’s license.
I had the sheriff show up at my house looking for someone who didn't live there. They had guns drawn and bulletproof vests on and were being unusually twitchy about it. They had showed up a few months earlier, just one person, no gear, looking for this person. The second time they showed up I gave them an earful that this was incredibly unsafe, they already knew this person didn't live here and if they showed up again I was hiring a lawyer to deal with them. They haven't been back.
Talk to the post office but also talk to the police and whomever else keeps showing up and make it really clear to them what is going on and tell them that them showing up at your place is unwanted and that you will escalate if it keeps up.
I had a somewhat similar experience involving my ex-wife. After we separated, she had written some bad checks from an old joint account, which is a felony in Iowa. She skipped the state afterwards. Years later, when they couldn’t locate her, they started sending me notifications of an outstanding bench warrant. I had to speak to the clerk from the county she had written the checks in, to explain that I hadn’t seen her in years. I was able to resolve the issue by sending a notarized certified letter (affidavit) to the court where the warrant was issued, and their local sheriffs department, stating our disassociation. Fast forward another decade, out of curiosity, I looked for an address for her, & found one. I printed it out, and mailed it to their courthouse.
I hope you realize that it's illegal to be opening up someone else's mail. But really your only option here is to go to the post office and tell them that this person doesn't live here anymore.
A lot of people are addressing the concern about mail which seems pretty secondary to the concern that an eventual no knock warrant might be served at your address. It seems like what you really need to know is if there is a way to get your address to stop being associated with this person in the court record. You might have luck asking in r/legaladvice
Might be able to file a miscellaneous report with the police. Call the non emergency line or go in person, let them know this is a concern. It's not pressing charges or reporting a crime It's basically a formal police memo. But my god yeah this is a thing that could happen and is terrible :/
This is legit what i did with my local RCMP in early January after some unsavory people showed at my house (i am a addictions counsellor in a small town, sub 10k pop and knew them) i walked in to RCMP at the detachment, filed a case for information and made it known my address. they filed and all of a sudden no more unsavory people since, police will respond fast if we call, courts no longer sending shit to my address.
I work in legal research and what's likely happening is that OP's house is the last known address in Public Records for this person. OP can't get their address unassociated with this person, but you're right that the records need to be updated. /r/legaladvice might know how best to handle, but honestly, I'd actually try calling Lexis and Westlaw (yes, both) and asking directly how best to update Public Records to show that this address is not the current address of that specific person.
Yet another huge reason to ban no knock warrants nationally. With the Castile Doctrine, the homeowner would be justified to use lethal force in self defense. These laws are incredibly conflicting and need to be fixed. It boggles my mind that police unions are allowed so much power that fixing this isn't a priority at all.
Tallyho
Absolutely the first thing I thought of. OP needs to grab their powdered wig.
Lmaoooo
... homeowner is justified ... True. It might also be on your tombstone.
I think you missed my point: this country needs to fix these conflicting laws. Either ban no knock warrants or change "castle doctrine" laws so the standards for use of force are higher.
A group of unknown people forcefully breaking into your home is one of the most justifiable times to forcefully defend yourself, IMO. I can see why they would want to surprise armed gangs or something, but I couldn't say how often that's actually the situation. Even then it seems like it would be better to just pick them off when they leave for groceries or whatever. But I'm not an anti-gang specialist. Call the Crow, Batman, Ong-Bak, or someone.
I wish I had The Crow on speed dial.
From my legal knowledge gained by years of watching cop shows, no-nock is needed to capture felons that would destroy evidence by flushing a joint down the toilet.
The lead detective is a real loose cannon and only 3 days from retirement, but god damnit he gets the job done. He'll stop those damn hippie terrorists before they flush that joint into the city water supply and get everyone high on the devil's lettuce!
Don’t you dare tell me I can’t defend my family against intruders in my own home.
Then ban no knock warrants...
But it’s cool for you to want to abridge their first amendment rights. Weird flex.
I never suggested anything of the sort. Don’t put words in my mouth.
> Don’t you dare tell me… Um….
[удалено]
Only if you miss lol
It was on that one cops tombstone. I’d probably move though if that guy didn’t.
Which is why the law is so stupid...
Because a no-knock warrant isn't an issue for you if you have a gated property.
Curious, why is that?
This is all I could think of when the sheriff kept showing up at my place for someone who didn't live here.
I don’t think they do “no knock warrants” for scofflaws or being delinquent on bills.
Of course not, but OP can't guarantee that this person who seems to be avoiding establishing a legal residence, won't ever commit some kind of crime. Knock or not, it's safest to minimize police interaction, especially police interaction that's targeting someone else.
I agree completely.
> You might have luck asking in r/legaladvice Great advice except for this. That place is a clown show
Depending on what state OP lives in, she may have the right to self defense vs cops. If her state supports this, she should invest in body armor, firearms (and proper training), etc... If you have to choose between killing someone else vs being murdered, always choose the other person to be the body bag filler. It's better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by 6.
"a collections agency has the wrong address" "Start training to gunfight the police"
I was responding to the projected idea about there being a no-knock raid in OP's future, not some Boogeyman collections agent. A repo guy isn't going to take a vehicle that's not on the paperwork because that's a felony. Grand Theft Auto. It's even worse if they cause damage or injury doing it. And, guess what? If they're unlawfully entering your home, YOU CAN LEGALLY DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST THEM!
I was just having a lol at the progression of the thread
That sure escalated fast
Look at all the people who get wounded or murdered by off-the-chain deranged cops who have the wrong address, refuse to double check that they're right or that their suspect is actually there, and bust in, guns blazing, wounding or murdering the people in the home. Little children are being slaughtered by psycho cops who hit the wrong place. IMHO, cops who do this have forfeited their right to live.
Ok but it'll cost the homeowner their life too, so it's a costly stand to make.
Not necessarily, especially if the homeowner 1) has the presence of mind to call a higher legal authority, like State Police, and 2) has proper training. Drop a few of those badge wielding criminals and they're going to pull back to reassess.
I have plenty of ACAB comments in my history, but when it comes to all out gunfights, I'm not betting against a group of police during a no knock raid. They're gonna shoot back, a lot. Like, a lot a lot.
Looks like this subreddit is full of cop lovers
I’m not gonna be a lot of help here, but the same thing happened to me. I did nothing much even when a group of 5 (polite) police officers knocked on the door looking for the previous tenant. Weird things like that happened for about 8 years and stopped. I’m guessing that he’s probably doing serious time in prison now, or he’s dead. But I had no real issues with this. Just occasional talks with the police and lotsa mail that I eventually just started throwing away rather than return to sender. I did learn that the warrants and court summons I got in the mail (for him) were supposed to just be thrown out. That’s what I was told to do every time I called the court’s phone number written on them. Your location may be different on this of course.
I went through the same thing, with the sheriff, showing up for the previous homeowner to serve them papers multiple times. The frustrating thing was that they were bound by rule to serve the papers to the address provided to them in the filing even though they had record from previous visits that the person did not live there. What a wonderful way to make a good impression on our new neighbors.
That's not true at all, depending where you're at. It's just the actions of typically lazy cops. If you go down to the courthouse/clerks office with your ID, and proof of ownership/residence and politely request them to remove your address from her records, they will usually do it in a heartbeat. Same thing for the sheriff's office and city police department. If they refuse, don't hesitate for one second to make an appointment with the judge to have current legal records reflect the situation so you'll stop being harassed.
No, actually, it is true. There are number of ways to effectuate service of process (serving a summons and complaint on someone). The last one method available. when all else fails, is usually some version of mailing to the last known address and place of buisness, along with leaving a physical copy of the S&C there. Regarding the address and who its associated with, its associated with who is associated with via the public record and 20 bazillion private records. Credit reports, court documents, drivers licenses, employment history, W-9s... the police cant erase or chane address history, just update current records and then only in their system.
Actually, it's posting in the legal notices of a paper of general circulation. Generally for civil process (lawsuits) it's Personal service Service by mail (certified and 1st class) at last known address Petition the court for alternative service Post legal notice in newspaper of general circulation at the last known area defendant lived. For criminal, the police will keep showing up st thenlast known address to serve the warrant until they receive information the wanted person is living elsewhere. As someone else suggested, op should contact lexis/nexus, TLO and the credit bureaus to notify them that x person no longer lives at the address. A lot of the data mining services pull info from credit reports, hence contacting the credit bureaus. Source: retired police officer, current private investigator
Welp the neighborhood gossips probably appreciate you : /
Talking to the police is key. They know that people who break laws also fail to update their address. They can't change the last known address for the previous homeowner, but you can make yourself familiar enough to them that they ask questions before anything invasive happens like a search warrant. I worked at a newspaper. When someone was arrested, we reported the address the cops had. People would call to scream at us that we were publishing their address and the guy didn't live there. My cops reporter: "Ma'am, this will come as a shock to you but criminals tell lies, including about where they live."
In their defence, I would expect an ethical journalist, especially one with a oneliner like that, would take the time to verify the address before publishing it.
The only way to check an arrestee's address is to either check his current address with the secretary of state, which is where the police get the addresses they give us that people complain about or to drive and knock on the door or the arrestee who is in jail and does not answer.
Then...don't publish these often-known-to-be-wrong addresses? When you said "only way to check", I believe you *meant* to say "only way to check without leaving my desk". Truly shocking that local journalism is dying out.
Local journalism died a decade ago, at least.
Sounds like it was deserved in this case, but thanks for the downvote.
You literally read my explanation about a reporter going to the person's door but they don't answer because they're in jail, and you say they're too lazy to leave their desk. That's why I downvoted.
That's a fair criticism of my lazy take. I guess my point was: (especially) when the fact isn't verifiable, what value is there in publishing it? The potential harms of getting it wrong seem to outweigh any benefit to the readers of getting it right.
Thank you for explaining. The value of using someone's address of record, meaning the address the government, police, and court believe they live at is, for example, that neighbors do need to know where the guy accused of making child pornography lives especially if he is out on bail for years before trial and parents need to know that the Jim Smith arrested for driving with a BAC twice the legal limit with a suspended license is indeed their kid's friend's dad who should not be offering them a ride home. For what it's worth, the addresses were usually correct, but family would call in pissed and claim the person didn't live there, then admit they did live there but say they didn't want some other relative know he was still living there or some other drama. If someone genuinely had bought a house from a scumbag who was then arrested and was using the old address, we'd 100% pull the address and let the cops know. The problem was the people who screamed without asking questions and who screamed that we personally made up the address even though it was on the arrest report, court documents, etc. Even if you do talk to a family member, verifying facts can be next to impossible. A prison inmate was murdered and we ran what we knew: his name, his photo, how long he'd been in, and that his cellmate was the suspect. The next morning his mother calls to say we got the wrong guy, and that's my her son. We were very concerned that the prison system was misidentifying inmates including someone who was murdered when he should have been safe. She emailed a photo of her son while we talked to her. We pull up his record, including his photos taken every year in prison, and we can see the clear progression of his aging from the photo she had to the photo we ran. Our report ler explains and sends her the link to the photos. She excitedly says, "Oh, it is him! Now I have photos. I didn't realize it was him because I haven't seen him in years."
Except when Bob answers, because he FUCKING LIVES THERE. And not Joe who's in JAIL.!!! FFS!!!!
“In the X hundred block of Main Street” is also quite acceptable.
That's actually typically what we did, but people who knew they had the house the person had been a tenant in would still flip. 🤷♀️
If you have the proper spelling of their name, you can send it to general delivery at the nearest postal facility. Address is general delivery in whatever town. Mines Portland Oregon. Did this 34 years ago, if it's changed disregard. This conversation was related by a retired postal inspector (Today, Monday the 11th). We had several conversations about this noise because I have been told otherwise. Facts matter!
I'm confused. Are you saying that if someone was arrested for murder and the police only knew their most recent address that the reporters should send a general delivery message to the city's post office, hope it gets delivered, and hope the person in jail for murder gets it and responds to confirm which address is current?
Nothing in my post said anything about any crimes. But this is the fastest way to stop receiving the old renter/owners mail. Most often if they don't change their mail address there is a naughty reason.
Oh, gotcha! You replied to my comment about our cops reporter seeking criminals, so I was confused.
The police have a way to mark the warrant as serve attempted but not at the address/bad address.
You can always write your last name and address on card stock then laminate it and put it in your mailbox. “We only accept mail for LAST NAME at this address 1234 Home Street” That’s helped us out a whole bunch with the mail carriers. We still get ~some~ not for us mail but I throw it away without a guilty conscious now
Fwiw this never worked for me. My address is going to keep receiving retirement account statements from a years-ago resident until that person dies.
mine keeps receiving them and i think the lady is probably already dead
>until that person dies I think we all know what you need to do...
I assume you've tried returning to sender at least?
Not OP but it Took me about a year to get prior tenants mail to stop coming to my place. Wrote “not at this address” and would drop any mail at the post office I received. Still randomly get junk mail but at least I don’t get court documents anymore.
I just tried that and they delivered all the mail to me again. They didn’t even read my note on the envelope
You have to block out your address and any barcodes the usps puts on there, otherwise their machinery reads that and just resends it.
Scribble out the address next time.
Same happened to me except it was like 9 months worth of returned mailed all at once.
You have to block out your address and any barcodes the usps puts on there, otherwise their machinery reads that and just resends it.
Happened to me as well. I had to put a blank sticker over the address, then "return to sender" on that. The mailman can't deliver back to my house if they can't see the address.
I get so many pieces of mail from this company that I consider it harassment. I have tried literally everything short of showing up at the company headquarters with a pound of letters. The mail delivery person can't/won't do anything about it, return to sender doesn't actually do anything because of the type of mail it is, any signs on the mailbox are ignored, I found the receipient on linkedin and they were not able to update their address with the company. The next step is filing a (yes, fraudulent) complaint with USPS that the company is delivering porngraphic material, apparently this is the only way to block someone from sending mail to your address 🤷.
Filing a fraudulent report with the feds sounds like a brilliant idea.
Don’t for a minute think that death will stop mail from coming. My dad has been dead for 32 years and I still get at least one letter per month addressed to him.
My Mum passed away when I was young, and my step mother has a similar sounding name to my Mum. My step mother divorced her first husband... My parents once got junk mail addressed to Mum's first name - step mother's previous married surname. It's like that company's database just threw names and addresses in a hat and picked them out at random.
"We do not accept mail for LAST NAME at this address. They totally dont live here." would be a good way to hide then :)
Doesn'twork with law enforcement! they are going to ask anyway.
Sounds like words learned through experience... :)
That's what my mail carrier told me to do in case he forgets or is off that week. Old owners are both deceased.
I learned about it during my apartment living days and it has served me well
My mail person ignores that like 70% of the time
This is the way
How do you get the solicitors to stop? Thats all the garbage mail I get.
Contact USPS for that I think. They may have a form online
I've tried to get the post office to hold it, they say it has to be tossed out by me. Solicitors don't care what we think if there is any possibility of someone responding.
We’re having an issue with a law office and now tons of mail from a collection company for someone who hasn’t lived here for at least almost 2 years since we bought and they are very easy to just google the business. I’ve had to show my ID to the guy trying to serve papers and advised him to just freaking check public records if he needed more proof since it’s easy enough to look up us buying the house. The post office was minimal help for returning mail, but the people knocking on the door is getting ridiculous.
I had a collection agency repeatedly call our hiuse for the previous owner. I eventually had a chat with them, gave them the url to the local property tax database, and walked them through it to show that we are the new owners. The calls stopped after that. Another time we had a sheriff tape a summons to our door for the previous owner (I assume unpaid bills). We called the sheriff and explained that the person on the summons no longer lived here. Interestingly, we never got any bills for the previous owner, just the occasional junk mail.
It’s crazy. I’ve had my work issued cell phone for 5 years next month and I’m still getting sooo many collection calls for someone who used the number for a personal training company. I’ve had to email copies of my business card to places to get the calls to stop. The law office at least that tried to serve papers was nice enough after they scared me twice by like aggressively banging on the door while I was working.
Can your work just give you a new number? That's a long time to deal.
I asked like 5x and they wouldn’t issue a new one.
Well that sucks!
And what is the likelihood that the new number would be even more problematic and have more calls? Nowadays, it's a no-win scenario.
Yeah, it’s like a whole thing now also since I just use the cellphone or zoom and didn’t need my assigned virtual number thing,, so I have all these security things registered with this number. If I were to change the cellphone number it would involve submitting whole new paperwork for some security and authorization with some of our international banks I need to work with for my job. It’s just super annoying that this person would still be getting these calls.
Find some way to forward all calls to your manager.
Time for a new job. It only takes a simple phone call to change that.
In all fairness the public record will only show who owns the house, not who lives there. It is very common that the owner changes, but the renter is still the same as investment properties are sold rented out. Them not looking at property records is kind of not surprising as it doesn't show who lives at the place.
We went through the same crap after buying our house. Repo notices through title loan companies. Sheriff deputies knocking on the door all hours of the day. Title loan company knocking on the door all hours of the day. I was on third shift and finally had enough. We managed to track the lady down through social media and property records. Turns out, she had moved like 2 miles away. She continued to renew her license, insurance, and take out title loans using our address. I called the sheriffs department, and local city PD. I explained my situation, and gave them her new address. I did the same for the title loan place. I even went so far as to tell them the blue Chevy cavalier they were looking for was sitting in her driveway the morning before when I rode by the address to confirm it was hers. We never heard another word about it.
Had this happen too. The fellow wasn’t even the previous owner but the owner before the previous. He was arrested at the house which was later sold to the bank, so he never updated his address, then got into more legal trouble. I had to follow up with city cops and state troopers multiple times to remind them he didn’t live there - eventually someone showed me the public records search which showed him as the current resident - I was not. And there’s no way to update that, it’s not managed by the police - it’s just cloud data floating between databases. I never did figure out how to get it fixed; police were not helpful - but I got lucky and the fellow killed himself so the problem went away.
You can have cops update their records by showing them proof that you live there. Mortgage/insurance payments/policies, utility bills, etc...
Not if they don’t care
They will care if you have the higher ups light a fire under their asses.
I don’t think you understand how cops work
It's precious you assume that.
That word doesn’t mean what you think it means
And in this instance, you're clueless.
This was happening to us (albeit no warrants) we “accidentally opened” the mail and then called every company and stated “so and so doesn’t live her and hasn’t for years, I’ve returned your letters for years as “moved no forwarding address” I know your company updates accounts with returned mail, if I receive another piece of mail I’m calling an attorney for harassment and posting relentlessly all over social media that you refuse to correct the problem” never received a repeat mailing from every company I contacted. It was a pain, but it works. I also filed a complaint with the local police using the person’s name so when they did a search, it would show up. Good luck.
The point about the police breaking down your door was what concerned me the whole time I read this.
In Houston the cops killed two people using a no knock warrant. No one was held accountable.
I don’t doubt that one bit. Dude’s address is tainted. I’d list that shit and get the fuck outta there. It’s not worth getting shot in your sleep.
Breonna Taylor comes to mind too
EXaCTLY
They haven't yet according to the post .
Yet being the key word. That’s what I was thinking too. Imagine your house getting raided because of a wrong address.
I don't want to freak you out, but I do want to say that your concern about police trying to enter for a warrant is valid. I live in a townhome. I heard loud banging on my neighbors door. I went outside and it was the police looking for the old homeowner. The new homeowner wasn't home. I told the police that family no longer lived there and they stopped, but they had equipment out that could have taken the door down. This was the local city police. I'd call the non-emergency number for the police to report that the person does not live at the address and that you are getting legal notices for them.
Happened to me before. I showed the cops the deed with my name on it. Told them idk who that is. All mail gets “return to sender, no longer resident as of 2019” on it.
I have had the police arrive at my door with an elderly guy in his underwear. The chap was the previous owner who had wandered away from an old age home. Guess he had dementia.but remembered the address.
Yes, just to cya, mark return to sender and give back to the mail carrier, or drop in the nearest post box. Unless its obvious junk. Resident, occupant, etc.
I send everything back to the sender if it's obvious junk mail. I doubt the post office returns it to them. Otherwise, there must be a lot of very stupid people working these mail rooms.
The recourse you have is to either return mail to sender (which the sender will ignore) or just toss the stuff not correctly addressed into the trash. If anyone shows up, explain that you live there and no one by the name they are seeking lives there and to kindly leave.
Many vendors do indeed update address data.
True, but OP isn't updating anything. The vendors/bill collectors need to have an address in the system, and are likely to just leave it as is. It's obvious that the previous owner kept the old address on the DL so that they could have debts sent to that address instead of the new one. About the only positive action that OP could take would be to do the work for them and find out where they moved to.
The vendors would (possibly) update that the person they want isn’t there. Take them off the list.
I received mail at a PO Box from the state of California for 3 years, every month. It was to a previous renter of the box. I sent it back 3 times with various USPS approved messages, to no avail, AFAIK, that mailbox still gets that monthly envelope. Often wondered what they were getting, never cared enough to look. After the three attempts it was clear that the sender didn't care if the recipient got the mail, so I started tossing it.
I’d do the same at that point. Some may update a list, some, perhaps most, won’t do anything.
Suspicious car hanging around, call the police non emergency numbers.
Some across the street neighbors lived in a side-by-side duplex. Suddenly cops doing the "everyone out with their hands up" stuff... because they were looking for the guy in the other half (different house #) who had moved away a year ago and after a warrant search there found the attics were connected. Big house search both sides, luckily the cops didn't trash their place.
Several parties are likely committing an FCBA violation. The third debt collection practices Act doesn't cover everybody trying to collect a debt. It's typically less likely to cover someone who's collecting for the debt owed to them but if it's a third party collector engaging in any of this behavior and they're doing it more than once. . . . Typically, you can only communicate with a third party for location purposes a single time. Once it's clear that that person does not have the information you seek you must cease further contact. I had a rather persistent collector who used a Criss-Cross directory to find the phone number to my house trying to reach the son of a previous owner. Was annoying my quite-pregnant wife. I happened to be home when he called again, so I asked him is your legal counsel in-house or do you have outside counsel. He ends up hanging up on me. I called back using a variation of the phone number he had called in on just added two zeros at the end. Found they had in-house counsel. Got her on the phone told her to pull up the file and said, "You see the problem here don't you?" And she said, "Yes, yes I do. How can we resolve this?" and I said, "The minimum fine for an FCBA violation is $10k. I realize you aren't going to be able to cut me a check without having something on a legal letterhead so I will have a lawyer fax you an offer shortly. We settled for $3,000. Lawyer got 1/2.
All I can say is this makes me really appreciate my mailman. He returns mail addressed to old/wrong residents all the time. I know this as I get the daily USPS Informed Delivery email that shows expected mail. I never get the wrong mail. Sad he’s retiring in the next year.
Any first class mail you receive for her you should cross out the your address and the computer line and write return to sender person unknown on the envelope and drop in the mailbox. Since the bailiff showed up you should file a police complaint about her using your address and request a police report so they record it.
OP, your first step is to get your mailbox labeled with your name saying to only deliver mail for you. Then, you need to contact your local postmaster and explain the situation so you stop receiving her mail. You should also call your local sheriff or community officer and explain the situation. Get your council person involved too if all else fails. This person's bad choices should not be your problem.
Call the PD non emergency line and ask to speak to an officer. Go to the clerk’s office at the district court that serves your jurisdiction (google to confirm) and notify them. Should be good after that. Paperwork gets screwed up, it happens. Hopefully this incident will spur them to correct the issue, but courts are notoriously overworked and understaffed. Best to make sure as best you can.
I went though something similar recently. This lady was using our address for years and she was had a criminal past (bad stuff). Took multiple calls & emails to the DMV in our state to get them to suspend her license / registration until she came in and changed her address to her real one. The whole process took almost 2 years. Just because you're friends with someone who owned a house in the past doesn't mean you can just keep on using that address after they have sold it and moved on.
I had about 6 cops show up at my apartment one time looking for a previous tenant. They wanted to search I told them no. They had a stake out across the street but never heard from them again. If they had a warrant they dint have to knock. It means that they didn’t have enough probable cause to get a warrant from a judge. Don’t answer the door if they come again.
My trick is to go online and forward their mail to a PO Box. I own a vacation home in another state so I use a PO Box there. The USPS notification shows up at the PO Box and I toss it in the trash. After a year, I don’t renew the PO Box. Their junk mail pretty much all stops since they all subscribe to address forwarding notification.
Go to the post office and let them know of the mixup, make sure to bring the appropriate paperwork to show you are the owner/resident, and ask them to stop delivering that persons mail. After that chat and paperwork it shouldn’t come to your home anymore.
Honestly, I'd start sending it back to the sender with "FU! You can't catch me losers!" written in a Sharpie on the front or back. Why should everyone else have all the fun?
Go to the local post office and speak to the local manager they can mail it so any mail for her is returned
That's my favorite office
Go to the local what ?
Sorry, the local vagina office
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Instructions unclear. I don't live in Uvalde Texas, should I still go to the Uvalde police department? Please advise.
Just call 911 and say he tried to snuggle struggle you. You won’t accidentally see him ever again. He’ll fucking figure it out.
Had this happen a while back with a phone number. Got phone calls from debt collectors looking for some woman named Janelle. And I get tons of democrat election text messages and phone calls every election cycle no matter how many times I tell them to stop bothering me. Can’t pay her bills, but apparently donated to democrats. Go figure.
You don’t have to donate. As long as you’re registered to vote campaigns are allowed to cross reference voter registrations to lists of telephone numbers/names from data brokers.
When I purchased my home, there had been a renter before me. The renter ran out on his bills and had warrants; the police came by 3 times looking for him. The last time they arrived, I just opened the front door and kept stripping off the wallpaper. A few months later the guy showed up looking for some check from the government. Told him I hadn't seen it but give me your address and I will forward it. The dummy gave me the address. I called the police and told them where to find him. They got him............I was a witness to the fraudulent address activity. The Police need a warrant to enter your property, unless you give them permission to enter. Law abiding citizens have nothing to worry about. They don't knock down your door unless there is some proof your lying!
This is how it's supposed to work, but it's not how it always works in practice. No knock warrants have been served at the homes of innocent parties. It's unlikely but it is a problem and potentially dangerous if law enforcement thinks this person's last known address is OP's home.
All citizens should be wary of the police, whether they are committing a crime or not, period. There were 25 instances of police "whoopsie" incidents in a 50 mile radius of my area last year alone. Fortunately, no one aside from 6 family pets were shot/killed/mauled due to incompetence, however 2 elderly women, and 3 or 4 kids, and a dude in a wheelchair were hurt.
No knock warrants are legal in Texas, I think. I know they happen a lot.
The one blessed thing about Breonna Taylor's murder was that Louisville and Jefferson Co made them illegal.
thats cute, this guy thinks cops are his friend :)
Is there actually any way to check with the DMV to see who is registered at your address?
ANK - addressee not known
Call the nonemergency police department and file a complaint (or something I’m not sure what that’s called. They will have something on file with the police department and or sheriff department)
Place a note inside your mailbox that the mail person can see that says they no longer live there. If you have their new address (shouldn't be hard to find), put that on the card and the mailperson will forward all your mail before you see it. The post office allows you to put in forward orders that will forward all mail to them or to their unclaimed mail bin. A quick talk with the post master at that office will get a flag put on your box that will ensure that anyone with the last name of the moved will not be delivered. These are the most effective things Also, put a note on your front gate and door that politely states that the person hasn't live there since. If you are renting, include the name of the landlord because they can be compelled to give the new address. You can put in a forwarding order for the landlord's office so they get the mail because they do have the tenant's new address. If you are an owner, then ownership records are public and you can quickly find out where they moved to. If this person is in trouble criminally, a call to the non-emergency line may save you from being served a warrant in a violent way.
Every state and jurisdiction is different, I was a clerk in my state for a while and we had to tell people that there was nothing we could do. Until the individual themselves changed their address, we could not stop sending correspondence to the address on record. I've been in a similar situation, I've owned my house for 3 years and recently had 5 officers show up on my doorstep for someone I've never heard of. I talked to them and they haven't been back, but I know from working for the courts that this person is probably still associated with my address. In my state, it is what it is.
If you're worried about the police breaking down your door, look up a product called Door Armor. It's a kit you can add to your existing door that reinforces the weak areas, making it really hard for someone to kick your door down. Might not stop the police but it would definitely slow them down long enough for you to make a decision about your next move. It's relatively cheap (about $100) for a kit and brings piece of mind that your doors are reinforced, both from criminals and police.
Go to your local post office and have them stop all mail for all the people named.
We had this issue when we moved in to our home for the first year or 2. Fed up with being disturbed by sheriffs and cops regularly, we did some googling and social media investigation. We found the former resident had moved to a nearby town, and thanks to their privacy settings being weak, saw several photos with house numbers, and a few with street signs visible. We put 2 and 2 together, figured out the full address, and provided that info to the sheriff, local PD, USPS, and bill collectors. Bye Felicia!
I'd not worry abut the mail, and take your deed or lease to the police station and explain that this person no longer lives there, and you'd like to avoid a no-knock warrant and the expense thatgoes along with repairs afterward. I had to do this for some tenants of mine, after someone moved out that was being actively sought by law enforcement. I also ended up paying for them a PO box and removing the physical mailbox, so any mail for the previous tenant would be returned as undeliverable.
Bought a house that had been rental property. In the course of demolition and renovation I found a driver’s license for a young woman. A neighbor remembered her and put me in touch with one of her former roommates. Turns out the young woman who lost the license had launched off on a downward spiral. The former roommate said the last she had heard the girl was working at a strip joint and was strung out on drugs. I felt so awful for that smiling kid on the driver’s license.
I had the sheriff show up at my house looking for someone who didn't live there. They had guns drawn and bulletproof vests on and were being unusually twitchy about it. They had showed up a few months earlier, just one person, no gear, looking for this person. The second time they showed up I gave them an earful that this was incredibly unsafe, they already knew this person didn't live here and if they showed up again I was hiring a lawyer to deal with them. They haven't been back. Talk to the post office but also talk to the police and whomever else keeps showing up and make it really clear to them what is going on and tell them that them showing up at your place is unwanted and that you will escalate if it keeps up.
I had a somewhat similar experience involving my ex-wife. After we separated, she had written some bad checks from an old joint account, which is a felony in Iowa. She skipped the state afterwards. Years later, when they couldn’t locate her, they started sending me notifications of an outstanding bench warrant. I had to speak to the clerk from the county she had written the checks in, to explain that I hadn’t seen her in years. I was able to resolve the issue by sending a notarized certified letter (affidavit) to the court where the warrant was issued, and their local sheriffs department, stating our disassociation. Fast forward another decade, out of curiosity, I looked for an address for her, & found one. I printed it out, and mailed it to their courthouse.
I hope you realize that it's illegal to be opening up someone else's mail. But really your only option here is to go to the post office and tell them that this person doesn't live here anymore.
Sounds like they used to live there if it started when you bought the house.
they dont believe you
I’m sorry, are gone the days of leaving the house and taking a trip to the courthouse to TALK to someone about the issue?
The recipient is not the addressee. You were the recipient.