A couple of years ago I got a call from a postal inspector regarding a vacant property I had listed. He was not interested in buying the home but called the number on the sign as a way to get in touch with the sellers.
It seems that people leave their homes vacant and forget to have their mail forwarded or stopped. In this case someone had used a stolen credit card, to order merchandise which he had sent to the home. He also had mail and bills sent to the same address. He would wait until it got dark and go grab his stuff.
The mail box was a country style box sitting out on the road. The seller later installed a lock on the box and had mail delivery to the home stopped, he picked it up from the post office on his way home from work. Mail can also be forwarded. At any rate if a home is vacant the mail needs to be stopped. This can be handled on-line at the USPS web site, or in person at the post office.
Your neighbors should be asked to keep an eye on the house and should be told that mail and packages will not be delivered to the home. You local police department should also be notified that the property is vacant. If the home is for sale make sure that none of the marketing materials mention that the home is vacant.
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Teresa,
“You local police department should also be notified that the property is vacant.”
That seems like such common-sense advice, yet I can’t say it’s ever been my first thought when vacating a home.
Another piece of advice that I may get very strange looks about is to simply make sure the neighbors know it will be vacant. Now, you may be thinking “Isn’t it normal to say goodbye to your neighbors when you leave?” However, some folks have become so disconnected that that might not be the case. By simply making the neighbors fully aware, they can keep an eye out for strange behavior.