Getting off real estate agent mailing lists?

[crocheted_stache]

I recently completed a real estate transaction in a city where I don't live.

Since then, I've started getting real estate agent mail, both postal and electronic, for (supposedly) similar offerings in that other city. I'm sure someone is making good money by camping out at the public records office and harvesting data from the incoming paperwork. It happened when we first moved into our house, too.

I've gotten off of most "regular" junk mail lists (catalogs, sales circulars, etc.) and I take most of my regular bills and statements electronically, but as far as I know, I've never managed to get off a real estate agent's list. Has anyone managed it, and if so, how?

[daverobev]

Return to Sender; Addressee Unknown?

Contact them and ask them to remove you? Click 'Unsubscribe' - most emails now come through large organisations (you can inspect the headers), and if they do these Unsubscribe links have a reasonable chance of being honoured. (Edit - and if they aren't you can complain, and the company in question will do a trace to see where the data has come from etc).

[crocheted_stache]

I'm afraid the return to sender thing barely works under ideal circumstances, and RE agent mail isn't ideal. I don't think the USPS needs to return bulk mail like that.

As best I can tell, the contact info on these postcards is for Joe Agent, but they issue from the realty company head office or its clearinghouse. Agents may pay some amount per number of "leads" contacted, but I don't think they have much if any control over who's contacted. I've asked before, and nothing happens. Also, I suspect I'd still be on the list of new leads, so even if I managed to get off ABC Realty's list, I'd get stuff from the next one, instead.

[daverobev]

Got to raise a stink at HQ level then, to get off the lists.

[crocheted_stache]

In the absence of any clues on whom to contact to do that, I think I may try the "refused" option. It may accomplish nothing, but for sure nothing was going to happen otherwise.
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Refuse-unwanted-mail-and-remove-name-from-mailing-lists

(USPS isn't much help, partly because it's not in their interest to deliver any less mail.)