BraaiGuy:

geek4me: When you buy a new home or rental property does the law require you to redirect mail received for earlier owners/tenants?

I hardly send snail mail these days but receive mail for others who lived at my address recently or even several years ago. I don't mind forwarding on the odd letter saying "Not at this address" but when there is mail almost every day what must one do with it all?

When the previous tenants have left no forwarding address, perhaps because they want their privacy, can I bin it, must I hang on to it for ever, or am obliged to redirect it either to the letting agency that rented out the property, or write "No forwarding address" or "Owner no longer at this address - Return Sender" or some such and make a unplanned trip to a Post Box to send it on.

If I have to forward/redirect mail, how many weeks, months, or years am I required by law (if any) to do this? Do I need to forward it within a fixed number of days of receiving it or perhaps once a month?

Others must have this hassle too. I presume it would be illegal to open it even if there is no return address on the outside of the letter and perhaps also illegal just to throw it away.

Dustbin or just return to sender. Dont think there are any rules around it.

jaymz: We still get mail for two people who used to live at the place we brought 3 years later.

We just do what we have always done, goes into a pile with "Return to sender, no longer at this address" written on them and once in a while we take them all down and shove them into the post box.

We have moved in the past and found the redirection service offered by NZ Post doesnt always catch everything, and have been grateful to those who send it on.

Shame on all of you who just bin it, or open it.  You go on about others being too lazy to setup re-directs, yet you are too lazy to write Return to Sender and drop it in a post box or into your work's outgoing mail?

BraaiGuy:

geek4me: When you buy a new home or rental property does the law require you to redirect mail received for earlier owners/tenants?

I hardly send snail mail these days but receive mail for others who lived at my address recently or even several years ago. I don't mind forwarding on the odd letter saying "Not at this address" but when there is mail almost every day what must one do with it all?

When the previous tenants have left no forwarding address, perhaps because they want their privacy, can I bin it, must I hang on to it for ever, or am obliged to redirect it either to the letting agency that rented out the property, or write "No forwarding address" or "Owner no longer at this address - Return Sender" or some such and make a unplanned trip to a Post Box to send it on.

If I have to forward/redirect mail, how many weeks, months, or years am I required by law (if any) to do this? Do I need to forward it within a fixed number of days of receiving it or perhaps once a month?

Others must have this hassle too. I presume it would be illegal to open it even if there is no return address on the outside of the letter and perhaps also illegal just to throw it away.

Dustbin or just return to sender. Dont think there are any rules around it.

keewee01:

BraaiGuy:

geek4me: When you buy a new home or rental property does the law require you to redirect mail received for earlier owners/tenants?

I hardly send snail mail these days but receive mail for others who lived at my address recently or even several years ago. I don't mind forwarding on the odd letter saying "Not at this address" but when there is mail almost every day what must one do with it all?

When the previous tenants have left no forwarding address, perhaps because they want their privacy, can I bin it, must I hang on to it for ever, or am obliged to redirect it either to the letting agency that rented out the property, or write "No forwarding address" or "Owner no longer at this address - Return Sender" or some such and make a unplanned trip to a Post Box to send it on.

If I have to forward/redirect mail, how many weeks, months, or years am I required by law (if any) to do this? Do I need to forward it within a fixed number of days of receiving it or perhaps once a month?

Others must have this hassle too. I presume it would be illegal to open it even if there is no return address on the outside of the letter and perhaps also illegal just to throw it away.

Dustbin or just return to sender. Dont think there are any rules around it.

It's not a good idea to doll out advice when you don't know what the rules are.

mattwnz: Yes not a good idea, as people can be responsible for any advice they give.

mattwnz: That is bad advice, DO NOT THROW IT AWAY. My suggestion is to just take it into NZ post periodically to send to the right address. Or contact the old person and ask them to get their details updated.Or just put put return to sender. Takes 2 seconds to do.

keewee01: And defnz, if you said you would forward it, then you should forward it otherwise you're being dishonest! At the very least you should collect it and give it to the landlord.

keewee01:
And defnz, if you said you would forward it, then you should forward it otherwise you're being dishonest! At the very least you should collect it and give it to the landlord.

defnz:

keewee01: And defnz, if you said you would forward it, then you should forward it otherwise you're being dishonest! At the very least you should collect it and give it to the landlord.

It wasn't the previous tenant asking me, it was the landlord passing a note from previous tenant 

defnz: Being dishonest to people I don't care about, how dare me.

Give me a break, too much moral high horsing going on in this thread.