Couple receives ex-tenant’s misdelivered birthday card and cheque, calling his parents from the info on it to inform them that their son hasn't changed mail address in 4 years, suddenly mailing stops: 'I imagine that the guy got chewed out by his parents'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Nov 28, 2025 8:00 PM EST

Receiving your ex-tenant's mail is a real pain in the…mailbox. People barely want their mailboxes overflowing with their own unnecessary ads and letters, let alone those of others. Next thing you know, you're super tired and caught off guard when you're sitting face to face with a $500 speeding fine. But when you look at the letter more closely, you realise it wasn't addressed to you, but your ex-tenant. Jerry was always in a rush…Besides the point. It gets annoying and normally ends up in the front yard trash anyway. 

This couple had been receiving their ex-tenants' mail for the last few years. But they had a daily routine solution: pick it up, trash it down. Easy as pie. Until they noticed something strange about one of his envelopes. They opened it up to find a happy birthday, love mom & dad card and a cheque to go with it! They used the number on the letter to get a hold of his parents, informing them that their son hasn't changed his mail address in the 4 years since they moved in…Now we have a slight inkling that, due to the speed at which they stopped receiving his letters, his parents had a strong word with him about his misdelivered mail!

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  • I mean, is it considered disrespectful to leave others with your spam mail? We don't imagine it's ideal…But we do think there are worse things in life than can happen than a few unwanted pieces of paper…The problem more surrounds the fact that he could be missing out on some serious information that he can't just ignore for the rest of his life…

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    Man checking full mail box
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    You've got mail...

    When my girlfriend and I first moved in together, we were meticulous in updating our mailing address for all of the places that sent us mail.
    via heroman69
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    The tenant that lived here previously, well he wasn't nearly as thorough. Almost immediately, we began to receive mail addressed him.
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    Mail from his bank, government agencies, and half a dozen other companies was all getting delivered to us.
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    The first few of his letters we received, I did the responsible thing, wrote "return to sender, recipient moved" on the envelopes and put them back in the mail.
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    After a month of continuing to receive his mail, I just started tossing them directly in the trash.
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    I figured if he can't be bothered to update his address, I shouldn't be bothered to send it back.
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    Mail delivery driver
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    And so was the status quo for the next 3 years. The frequency of the misdirected mail slowly decreased as time went on, but every month or two we would get something with his name on it and directly into the trash it would go.
    via heroman69
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    That all changed when one very peculiar letter landed in our mailbox, a birthday card. Up until now, I had refrained from opening any of this guys mail, but curiosity got the better of me and I opened the birthday card.
    via heroman69
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    Inside the card was a lovely note from this guys parents, and a cheque. In my part of the world personal cheques have the contact information of the account holder on them, so I called his mom.
    via heroman69
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    I was polite, and let them know that their son had moved out nearly nearly 4 years ago, and that i was tossing the card & cheque in the trash.
    via heroman69
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    I like to imagine that the guy got chewed out by his parents for not giving them an updated mailing address, because we haven't received any more of his mail since then.
    via heroman69
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    VeryIntoCardboard I'm not sure how the laws are in your country but in mine it is a federal offense to open someone else's mail. Just figured you should know since you openly admit to it here
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    OP heroman69 Statute of limitations has long since passed on that one.
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    Stuffed mailbox on a green door
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Standard_Army_1826 I am a year and a half into my own place. The previous person was just renting it. I get her mail a few times a month still. One neighbor said I should just take it to her parents house around the corner. I keep a pen in my car and just RTS everything. If it was urgent she'd have changed her address. I make sure to write MOVED in 2023 on the envelope.
    via Standard_Army_1826
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    Foulwinde Similar situation, the last piece of mail I receieved was something from a bank that looked pretty important. Since the bank branch was nearby, I took the piece of mail in and gave it to the manager. Told them I don't have a current address for "Bob", but this one is no longer vaild. I presumed they had a phone number for him and was able to call and get things updated.
    via Foulwinde
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    ToBeNamed-Later In my last place before we bought our house, I got a jury summons once a year for a man who, per my landlady, was three tenants before me. I got these for over a decade despite returning them as unknown addressee and calling the jury commissioner every time. So this man "skipped" jury duty for at least a decade and a half all told and no one cared. Meanwhile, I got notices in the mail chastising me for missing jury duty I (and they) had proof I served on two separate occasions. T
    via ToBeNamed-Later
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    xnarphigle We've been getting the mail from the last owners of my house since we moved in about 5 years ago. But I'm fairly confident they were elderly and had passed away, so we just continue to toss all of their spam mail and random old people magazines.
    via xnarphigle
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    jeep_jeep_dude We still get the occasional envelope for the prior owner of my house going on 8 years after they moved across the country. Much like you I would return to sender, recipient moved It took me almost 3 years and going to the credit union (bank) for their banking statements and loan payments to stop showing up. What little mail might get delivered now goes directly in the bin.
    via jeep_jeep_dude
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    KarlSethMoran Where I live, there's a "malicious intent" clause attached. If you can show you had good intentions, you can't be prosecuted.
    via KarlSethMoran
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    lupepor Every time I go to my parents apartment for a visit, I usually check if there is mail to be brought up. One day I found a bank letter adressed to my boss, with the name of the company included so there was no doubt it was for him. I did not open the letter, I just took it to the office the next day and left it with his secretary. Half an hour later, I had a urgent meeting with HR... "were did you get this?", "did you open the envelope?" they were paranoia as hell.. It turns out my boss h
    via lupepor

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mailbox address wrong mail delivery parents
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