Unwanted Junk Mail? Stop the Flurry!

The average Chanhassen resident receives about 41 pounds of junk mail yearly–most of it during the holidays. You can control your pile of junk mail in several different ways. It can take five weeks to five months to take effect, but here are easy ways to end the flurry:

• Stop credit card solicitations at 1-888-567-8688 or Opt-Out Prescreen, which allows opt-out for five years or permanently.
• Stop receiving mail addressed to "resident" or "occupant" via Retail Me Not or call 1-888-241-6760.
• For Val-Pak (coupon packs) mailings, go to the Val-Pak website or call 1-800-237-6266.
• A consumer's mailbox can often be overrun with catalogs – even if they've never shopped with the company. This is likely because the consumer has, at some point, made a catalog or online purchase with a company that handed over their contact information to Abacus, an alliance of catalog and publishing companies. Consumers can contact the company in question using their 800 number to stop individual catalogs. To stop mass mailings, consumers can email Opt-Out or write to Abacus, Inc., P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield, Colorado 80038.
• Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is a trade group with 5,200 member companies that use telephone, mail, and the Internet to pitch their products directly to consumers. To stop receiving mailings from DMA members, consumers can go to: DMA Consumers. DMA regularly updates its list, but companies it notifies to remove names from their mailing lists may not be as prompt, and it may take as many as six months before solicitations from all DMA members stop. Or, write to Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, N.Y. 10512 ($5 fee online).
• Sign up for a service that contacts all of your direct marketing solicitors. Contact Paper Karma, and they will work on your behalf through a convenient app on your phone. Prices vary depending on the time you'd like to use the service.
• If a child under age 13 is being mailed advertisements or credit card offers, it could be a sign that identity theft has occurred. Parents should contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below and inform them of the situation.

Resources

• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
• Experian: 1-888-397-3742
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289