You can file a claim if your mail has gone missing, though.
Mail doesn’t get delivered for lots of reasons: the address is illegible, the sender hasn’t put on enough postage, or the person doesn’t live at the address any longer, among other reasons. If there’s a return address, the U.S. Postal Service will return it to the sender. But what happens to undeliverable mail with no return address?
Turns out, undeliverable mail has been a problem since Colonial times. In 1741, then-Philadelphia postmaster Benjamin Franklin called out almost 800 people who hadn’t picked their mail up in a local newspaper, Smithsonianreported.
“Franklin warned that if they were not redeemed before March 25 following they would be ‘sent away as dead letters to the General Post Office,'” according to the National Archives. Find out some things that will surprise you about being a mail carrier.
The Second Continental Congress established the postal service in 1775. The first official Dead Letter Office opened in 1825. In 1992, the USPS renamed it the Mail Recovery Center to reflect the goal of getting mail back to the original sender.
These days, what happens to the undeliverable mail depends a lot on what it is. According to the USPS, local post offices will handle the mail or they will send it to the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia—also known as the post office’s lost and found.
“If it has no value, it is destroyed,” Brenda Crouch, a retired USPS employee wrote on Quora. “If it has value and there is nothing in the contents to indicate the sender or recipient’s address, items will be auctioned.” Here are some more surprising facts about the postal service.
Adds Sandy Paonessa, another retired postal service employee: “Undeliverable and unreturnable First-Class mail is sent to the Mail Recovery Center. Letter mail is destroyed or recycled. If it is an item of value, it is held for a period of time awaiting someone to file a claim for it. If the item is not claimed, it is auctioned.”
The cut-off for value? $25. So postcards, periodicals, and political flyers don’t make the cut. If a parcel is sent to the Mail Recovery Center, workers there act as detectives, opening and scanning the mail to try and figure out where it can be returned.
“In fiscal year (FY) 2014, the Mail Recovery Center received 88 million items and processed 12 million of those valued at $25 or more,” according to an Inspector General’s report from 2016. “It returned 2.5 million items to customers—a resolution rate of 21 percent of researched items, or 3 percent of total incoming items.”
Did you send something that never reached its address? Here’s how you can file a claim. Then find out things your mail carrier won’t tell you.
FAQs
If the mailpiece is addressed incorrectly and has no return address, the mailpiece will either be handled by the local Post Office™ or sent to the Mail Recovery Center.
What happens to undeliverable mail with no return address? ›
What happens if you mail a letter without a return address? If the everything is correct to the addressee it will be delivered. If it can't be delivered or is refused it will go to the Mail Recovery Center (dead mail office) and, if they can figure out who sent it, it will be returned to you.
What happens if you mail a letter without a return address? ›
The return address is not required on postal mail. However, lack of a return address prevents the postal service from being able to return the item if it proves undeliverable; such as from damage, postage due, or invalid destination. Such mail may otherwise become dead letter mail.
What happens to a letter with insufficient postage and no return address? ›
Returned to the sender and delivered when the sender pays the total deficient postage and additional postage for forwarding or return if other than First-Class Mail and with a return address. c. Treated as dead mail if it has no return address.
What happens to mail with insufficient address? ›
As was mentioned earlier, USPS Insufficient Addresses are typically returned to the sender. However, this can become more than just a small nuisance, especially when dealing with shipping to your customers. A lot of waste is happening behind the scenes.
What happens to post with no return address? ›
A return address is strongly advised however, if you do not provide a return address, any undeliverable items sent to our National Returns Centre that cannot be repatriated, will be disposed of and claims for compensation will not be accepted.
What happens to undelivered USPS mail? ›
Mailpieces are scanned and those that are determined to contain items of value are opened in an attempt to identify an address where the piece can be forwarded or returned. The Mail Recovery Center (MRC) is the U.S. Postal Service's official “lost and found” department for undeliverable and non-returnable mail.
What to do with a letter with no return address? ›
You can cross out the address and mention, 'Please return to sender- not known at this address. ' Drop the item in a nearby postbox or give it to a postal carrier the next time they visit your address to drop off something.
Where does mail go if there is no return address? ›
The USPS Mail Recovery Center is equipped to recycle or dispose of returned first-class mail without a return address that is undeliverable. If you wish to use your own address for the return, you may do so.
What does USPS do with undeliverable mail? ›
Mail that is undeliverable as addressed is forwarded, returned to the sender, or treated as dead mail, as authorized for the particular class of mail. Undeliverable-as-addressed mail is endorsed by the USPS with the reason for nondelivery as shown in Exhibit 1.4. 1. All nonmailable pieces are returned to the sender.
As long as you have your return address on it then it will come back to you for the postage. If you don't have a return address on it then the PO it was sent to will try to collect the postage from the recipient. If they refuse to pay postage & there is not a return address then it is sent to 'dead letters'.
What to do with mail that isn t yours with no return address? ›
After marking the mail as “Return to Sender,” you should place it back in your mailbox so the mail carrier can pick it up. You can also place the mail item in any USPS collection box.
Who pays for return to sender USPS? ›
Who pays for return shipping when marking a package as refuse/return to sender with USPS? First Class and Priority Mail are returned with no additional charge. Ground parcels do have a charge when returned, which the sender pays.
What happens to mail that Cannot be delivered and has no return address? ›
If the mailpiece is addressed incorrectly and has no return address, the mailpiece will either be handled by the local Post Office™ or sent to the Mail Recovery Center. If your mailpiece has not arrived within 7 days from its date of mailing, you can: Submit a search request in the Missing Mail application, OR.
Can I pick up undelivered mail from the post office? ›
Customers may go to the Post Office to pickup the item on or after the date and time indicated on the PS Form 3849 delivery notice. When an item is looked up via the USPS Tracking® feature, the Post Office® information may not be provided immediately after an attempted delivery.
Is mail without return address suspicious? ›
Suspicious mail often has no return address, excessive tape and postage, and/or misspelled or badly written words.
Will USPS ship with no return address? ›
However, the USPS will return undeliverable. If there's no return address, it just goes to the dead letter office, and you'll never know.
Can you trace mail with no return address? ›
Tracing a letter with no return address back to its mailbox of origin can be challenging, but there are a few methods that can be used to determine its origin. Here are some possible ways to trace such a letter: Postmark: If the letter has been processed by the postal service, it may have a postmark.
