Information about you may be collected and added to a mailing list whenever you enter a contest, make a donation, buy something, order a product, or send in a subscription or warranty card. This mailing list may in turn be sold or traded with other companies. This is how junk mail is generated.

Getting off of national mailing lists:

To get off a national mailing list, you should write a letter to the Mail Preference Service (MPS) of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). MPS is a free service provided by the DMA to assist consumers in reducing the amount of unsolicited national advertising mail they receive at home. In your letter, request your name and address be deleted from all mailing and marketing lists. Provide them with all possible ways of spelling your name, as well as the names of anyone else at your address who does not want to receive junk mail. Be sure to sign and date your letter. MPS will retain your information in their database for five years and will mail this information to business subscribers four times a year.

Send your letter to:

Mail Preference Service / DMA
ATTN: Dept. 9407644
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
Tel. No.: 212-768-7277

This will help reduce or even prevent junk mailings from members of the DMA.

Another way of reducing unwanted mail is by calling or writing to list brokers. You will need to provide them with your name and address. List brokers are companies that specialize in collecting and selling mailing lists. Below is a list of some of the major list brokers:

Acxiom Corporation 1 Information Way Little Rock, AR 72202 Tel. No.: 501-342-2722	Donnelly Marketing, Inc. Data Base Operations 416 South Bell Ames, IA 50010 Tel. No.: 888-633-4402
R.L. Polk & Company Attn: Opt-Out Coordinator 26955 Northwestern Highway Southfield, MI 48034 Tel. No.: 800-464-7655

To reduce or stop receiving coupons, ads and/or product samples in your mail, you will need to contact the companies distributing these materials to your residence. You can write or call these companies and request that your name and address be removed from their company's mailing lists. One such company mailing these materials is:

Advo Incorporated Consumer Assistance Dept. P.O. Box 249 Windsor CT, 06095 Tel. No.: (888) 241-6760 (Advo requires requests in writing)

There are four credit bureaus: Equifax, Trans Union, Experian, and Innovis. These credit bureaus sell credit information to anyone who would want to purchase their lists. If you don't want your information sold, contact the four credit bureaus and request them not to sell your information. You can contact all four companies and stop them from selling your credit info by calling just one toll-free number: 888-5OPT OUT or 888-567-8688, 24 hours a day.

You can also send a separate letter to each of the companies at the address below:

Equifax Inc. Options P.O. Box 740123 Atlanta, GA 30374-0123	Experian Opt-Out P.O. Box 919 Allen, TX 75013-0919
Innovis Consumer Assistance P.O. Box 725 Columbus, OH 43216-0725	Trans Union Name Removal Option P.O. Box 505 Woodlyn, PA 19094

For a sample letter click here
Note: Make sure that you send a letter to ALL FOUR credit bureaus.

If the former residents of your house neglected to fill out a "Change of Address Form" or it expired, you can fill one out for them. You must fill out a card for each unique last name. On the card write "Moved, Left No Forwarding Address" as the new address. Sign your own name and write on the form "Form filled in by current resident of the house, (your name), agent for the above". Once submitted, this information will be entered into the U.S. Postal Service's National Change of Address (NCOA) database and remain active for a year and a half.

You can also reduce unwanted mail from companies mailing lists generated from warranty cards by writing or calling:

National Demographics and Lifestyles Customer Service Department 1621 18th Street, #300 Denver, CO 80202

Please do not forget to recycle your junk mail.

* sources: Center for Democracy and Technology, Center for a New American Dream, and U.S. EPA