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Unsolicited Postal Mail (Junk Mail)

Every day, millions of Americans open their mailboxes to all sorts of unsolicited marketing. Eliminating unsolicited postal mail can be a challenge, but it is possible.

Most General Junk Mail

The majority of direct mail marketers are members of the Direct Marketing Association. As such, they are required to screen their mailing lists through the Mail Preference Service. The MPS is a list of names and addresses that is provided to marketers every three months for the purpose of screening our those who would rather not receive their unsolicited mail.

For more information on this service, please use the links below.

Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers

A good credit history is essential to the financial stability and success on any individual. Receiving offers for credit cards can be a good thing if you're just getting started, but once you have established your credit and have relationships with a few creditors, there should be no need to receive further offers for more credit cards. Applying for too much credit, applying too often and having too many creditors (with debt load or not) can also hurt your credit. Not receiving pre-approved offers is a good way to keep this all under control.

The three major credit reporting agencies regularly rent mailing lists of those people with certain credit scores or ratings. If you would rather they not include your name on these lists, there is a toll-free phone number you can call to make this request.

ShopWise (ADVO)

ADVO distributes the ShopWise weekly advertising and coupon circular. I do not know if they scrub their lists using the DMA list (discussed above), but they do provide an online form that you can use to opt-out of receiving their advertising.

Sexually Oriented Material

Occasionally you may find yourself on a mailing list used by organizations that mail out advertisements for sexually oriented material. The United States Postal Service has a form (Form 1500) you can use to request that this type of material not be sent to you.

For more information on this service, please use the links below.