Often consumer names and addresses are added to mailing lists for a variety of purposes. Common sources of unwanted "junk" mail include charitable solicitations, credit card advertisements and catalogs. Sometimes chain letters and political advertisements also arrive unsolicited. There are several ways in which you can exercise your legal right to eliminate most, if not all, unwanted mail.

Stop Credit Card and Insurance Offers

A major concern for consumers can be receiving unsolicited credit card applications and even preapproved offers in the mail. If you do not want to be included on such mailing lists, you must directly contact each United States credit reporting agency. The agencies Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion are the primary bureaus that keep consumer credit report information in the United States. Unless you exercise your legal right to "opt out," they will offer your name and address to lenders who want to promote their products. You can visit the OptOutPrescreen.com website and fill out a brief form to stop credit card and insurance-related junk mail. You'll provide your full name, address and date of birth and choose whether you want to opt out permanently or for a five year period. It is possible to opt back in later if you're interested in being included on lender mailing lists.

Stop General Junk Mail

To stop general mailings such as catalogs, you can visit DirectMail.com. This is the National Do Not Mail List, which is similar to the "do not call" telemarketing list. The service is free of charge as well as brief; you simply fill out a form with your full name and address to stop being added to a number of mailing lists. DirectMail.com is a direct mailing company. However, they profess to try to help people get off mailing lists because it is potentially expensive to the advertisers to send mail that will be discarded.

Stop Unwanted Catalogs

If you're receiving a lot of unwanted catalogs, Charity Guide suggests you contact the publishing company Abacus to get off its distributed mailing lists. When someone orders merchandise from a catalog, Abacus often acquires and distributes the information to other companies. You can email the firm at optout@abacus-us.com or write a brief letter to Abacus Inc., P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield CO 80038. Be sure to include your full name with middle initial and current address. If you've recently moved, it's also a good idea to include your previous address.

Source:

OptOutPrescreen.com

DirectMail.com

Charity Guide: Remove Yourself from Junk Mail Lists