Keeping the Junk Mail Out of Your Mailbox
For every piece of mail that you actually need, you likely receive multiple advertisements, credit card and insurance offers, and other junk mail. That unwanted correspondence may include credit applications and other information that you should probably shred or dispose of in some other way that renders it unusable. Not everyone has an industrial shredder so it may be best to keep junk mail out of your box, to begin with.
The good news is that, while it’s impossible to stop all junk mail, you can significantly reduce the amount that ends up in your mailbox. All you need to do is register with two websites and pay a $2 fee.
Opting out of credit card and insurance offers
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows credit reporting agencies to add your name to lists of creditworthy individuals. These lists are then used by creditors and insurance agencies when mailing out their offers. Fortunately, the FCRA also allows you to opt-out of being added to those lists and stop those offers from being delivered to your mailbox.
You can either go to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688) to start the process. This website and service are operated by the three credit bureaus.
You’ll have two choices. You can either opt out of these offers for five years or permanently opt-out. Either way, you can go back to this same site later and undo your opt-out choice if you wish.
Note that, if you decide to permanently opt-out, you’ll be required to sign and return a form to confirm your choice.
When you visit the OptOutPrescreen.com site or call them, you’ll be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number. Your DOB and SSN are not required but are requested in order to ensure that the organization can positively identify you. In most instances, it’s best not to provide this information. Once you do, you have no control over what happens to it. Although this site is run by the credit reporting agencies and they already have your personal details, you may still want to withhold this information initially and only furnish it if it becomes absolutely necessary to process your request.
Opting out of marketing offers
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) maintains a consumer site at DMAchoice.org where you can specify what kind of marketing mail if any, you want to receive. You can pick and choose from catalogs, magazines, and other marketing mail. You’ll be asked to pay a $2 processing fee, but doing so will buy you ten years of limited or blocked junk mail.
DMAchoice.org also allows you to stop marketing mail from being sent to deceased individuals or someone in your care.
Summing up…
Registering with these two websites and paying a $2 fee will stop a large percentage of marketing, credit, and insurance offers from reaching your mailbox. Deleting your profiles from these marketers also reduces your digital privacy risk. If you’re tired of sifting through piles of junk mail to find items you actually need, consider using these sites to opt-out and maybe save a few trees in the process.