4 ms·

I recently bought a house that was gutted and had no mailbox when I moved in. I went for as long as possible without adding one. (It's 99% junk mail that I ju

I recently bought a house that was gutted and had no mailbox when I moved in. I went for as long as possible without adding one. (It's 99% junk mail that I just recycle immediately.) Well, you can't actually get away with this for one reason: the government. Specifically, the IRS, but probably the census too. (And they only allow you to use a PO Box if you certify that you cannot physically accept mail at your residence.) If they send you an important document, there better be a box for the USPS to put it in, or you could end up in hot water. I wish the USPS & IRS & Census would allow addresses to opt-out of mail entirely. It's time to let people and companies go 100% paperless without paying for scanning services.

jonny_eh 13y ago
Wouldn't you just end up with junk on your stoop?
eli 13y ago
The Direct Mail Association has an opt-out (which is volutary, but many mailers abide by it): https://www.dmachoice.org/ https://www.dmachoice.org/ The FTC runs a opt-out program for credit card and insurance offers which is mandated by law: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
sneak 13y ago
I live on another hemisphere from my mailbox. (Don't blame me, blame webapps that don't accept non-US addresses.) I get my mail about 2-3 times per year. I stopped filing tax forms in a state I once employed someone. N.B. up front that I am configured _entirely_ paperless with my bank. The state (Indiana) made up numbers because, despite 6 quarters of forms filed with zeroes, they had assumed that no more filings meant "tax evasion". They mailed a few angrygrams, then filed a tax warrant. They handed it off to a private processing company who got a lien and sent it to Chase's lawyers. The bank's lawyers notified me by mail, of course. My first indication that any of this was happening was when the entirety of my business checking account balance disappeared from the web interface when Chase turned it over (less $150 in their processing fees) to the state. A half-dozen notarized(!) forms printed and certified mailed to Indiana and most of a year later, I've now got a credit on file with them - still no refund, of course - and I'll never get the processing fees back from Chase. It's not so much about the money (it's less than $5000) as the fact that, due to this insane idea that not calling someone, not emailing someone, it becomes A-OK to involuntarily seize someone's funds BECAUSE YOU SENT A PIECE OF TREE. Sorry, my little anti-mail rant turned into an anti-bureaucrat rant. (But are there really any others who oppose gutting the paper mail system once and for all?)

jonny_eh 13y ago

Wouldn't you just end up with junk on your stoop?

eli 13y ago

The Direct Mail Association has an opt-out (which is volutary, but many mailers abide by it): https://www.dmachoice.org/ https://www.dmachoice.org/ The FTC runs a opt-out program for credit card and insurance offers which is mandated by law: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

sneak 13y ago

I live on another hemisphere from my mailbox. (Don't blame me, blame webapps that don't accept non-US addresses.) I get my mail about 2-3 times per year. I stopped filing tax forms in a state I once employed someone. N.B. up front that I am configured _entirely_ paperless with my bank. The state (Indiana) made up numbers because, despite 6 quarters of forms filed with zeroes, they had assumed that no more filings meant "tax evasion". They mailed a few angrygrams, then filed a tax warrant. They handed it off to a private processing company who got a lien and sent it to Chase's lawyers. The bank's lawyers notified me by mail, of course. My first indication that any of this was happening was when the entirety of my business checking account balance disappeared from the web interface when Chase turned it over (less $150 in their processing fees) to the state. A half-dozen notarized(!) forms printed and certified mailed to Indiana and most of a year later, I've now got a credit on file with them - still no refund, of course - and I'll never get the processing fees back from Chase. It's not so much about the money (it's less than $5000) as the fact that, due to this insane idea that not calling someone, not emailing someone, it becomes A-OK to involuntarily seize someone's funds BECAUSE YOU SENT A PIECE OF TREE. Sorry, my little anti-mail rant turned into an anti-bureaucrat rant. (But are there really any others who oppose gutting the paper mail system once and for all?)