@KittySitter, like @august then we embraced paperless lifestyle some years ago. We use technology services to manage various mail, filing and data matters. Zero junk. We receive near-zero “home” mail to a Canada PO Box (ipostal1) - we receive scan of unopened envelope and then choose to scan opened mail, forward physical unopened mail or discard. Almost all statements (bank, utility, etc) are PDF downloads. On housesits we route any Amazon/similar deliveries to Lockers/pick-up locations. Only in exceptional situations do we receive any mail/packages to pet parent address - and we check first.
I had a sit where my hosts would order Amazon items in their dog’s name, so I would know to open them for her. 
My current hosts specified in their welcome guide what their address was, in case the sitter wanted to have anything delivered. They assumed that people normally have deliveries made.
Once, I ordered some dehydrated minnows for two cats I was sitting, because they adored those treats and were running low. The concierge desk at the luxury high-rise where they lived held the package till my host confirmed that I was authorized to receive it, as a security precaution, because they normally only turned over packages to residents. But I got all of my grocery and meal deliveries without hiccups.
Yes, precisely for this reason I have “mail” sent FedEx or UPS if I am in doubt. For longer sits, the hosts usually tell me if they put the mail on hold, and most don’t.
If I were a host, I would put my mail on hold while I was away just because you never know what might show up and no matter how wonderful my sitter, I wouldn’t want them seeing my private mail. However, the USPS will not let you put a hold longer than 30 days, so hosts with longer trips would have to come up with another option.
I’m fascinated by the commenters who were able to eliminate 100% of their paper mail. Here in the US, it is the government that seems to insist on doing things the old fashioned “snail mail” way. For example car registration cards, driver’s license renewals, etc. I’ve heard some countries in Europe have moved to electronic driver’s licenses. I would be able to get rid of 100% of my paper mail if the government would cooperate!
We don’t actually know that the person “claimed to live” at someone’s house — that’s an assumption. In some languages, “Where do you live?” can mean “Where are you staying?” Answering with your current temporary address or hotel is normal.
For example, in March of 2025, German tourist Lucas Sielaff told a CBP officer he “lived” in Las Vegas — meaning his hotel. Because of that language gap, he was detained for 16 days and deported; the authorities insisted they had “caught” him “living” in the US in violation of his tourist visa. You can find the story by searching “German tourist with US visa held in ICE custody,” or even just for “Lucas Sielaff” As a former resident of Germany, this broke my heart. I immediately understood how that tiny misunderstanding could have happened; I had often answered “Wo wohnen Sie?” (German for “where do you live?”) with the “wrong” answer. The Lucas Sielaff incident felt, to me, a lot like that other thread: Supposed “authorities” insisting they know things about the sitter that they cannot possibly know, and not allowing even a tiny bit of space or compassion to consider the possibility that there might have been a misunderstanding.
Rather than assume intent, it’s often worth checking for language or cultural misunderstandings.
So to return to the topic of this thread, and leave that other thread and its assumptions where they belong - on that thread: One best practice for sits is to ask a local and native speaker about mail and delivery quirks. In one country I visited, parcels were only left if your name appeared next to the building buzzer — something I only learned because a neighbor told me. I had to put a little slip with my name over the homeowner’s to get my packages. If the neighbors invented a saga about it, that’s their baggage, not mine. I travel light!
Something to keep in mind if you’re using the United States Postal Service to have a piece of first class mail delivered to where you are sitting. The homeowner may have informed delivery and see what mail pieces are being delivered.
I worked for the United States Postal Service for 35 years. (Retired) It is illegal to use someone else’s address to receive 1st class mail. It’s not just an address.
“In essence, your home address serves as a key identifier, directly or indirectly linking to various aspects of your life and allowing for the creation of a comprehensive profile of you as an individual “
Using USPS 1st class mail is not the same as using an address to have food delivered or being picked up by Uber, or receiving an Amazon, UPS, FedEx package.
And it is illegal to use someone’s address with out permission.
In the United States misusing the USPS is a federal crime and it is widely known and respected that you don’t use someone’s address on any forms . Because of this, most of us would not think to say, “hey don’t use my address to receive 1st class mail “ It’s a given that you dont do it. You dont live there.
1st class mail in the United States is protected by federal law.
Is that always true? From what I read in Title 18, Section 1341 of the United States Code, which seems to be the relevant statute, two criteria must be met for receiving mail at “other than your address” to be illegal:
(1) having devised or intending to devise a scheme to defraud (or to perform specified fraudulent acts), and
(2) use of the mail for the purpose of executing, or attempting to execute, the scheme (or specified fraudulent acts).
It is a pretty big leap to conclude that an individual traveling in another region with an urgent need to receive first-class mail is de facto “devising a scheme to defraud” by having that mail delivered to their temporary address. Of course, you’re the expert as a retired Postal Service employee - can you please point us to the relevant laws that I might be missing? I have received first-class mail at at least a dozen addresses in the last year, none of which were “my own”, and I know dozens of others who have done the same. I didn’t realize I might be breaking the law by having my updated car registration delivered to the remote location where I was taking care of the fluffies. I guess I’ll have to use FedEx from now on. Recent statistics say that there are over 17 million - million! -”digital nomads” in the US today. Are FedEx and UPS their only options now?
Additionally, if I as a long-time US citizen had no idea until today that I wasn’t allowed to have mail delivered somewhere else temporarily, and I learned it from a little-known Forum, how can we possibly expect a foreigner to know that? Let’s give other members some grace and understanding. I don’t know how the mail works in -Argentina. And if I were in Argentina and needed something urgently, my logical solution would be to have it delivered to the place where I was physically staying.
I searched the law archives to try to find someone - anyone - who was prosecuted solely for receiving first class mail at someone else’s address in the United States, absent the “intent to defraud”. I couldn’t find even one example - can anyone else help here?
I think this is over-reach. I don’t think anyone is suggesting that a sitter is going to be prosecuted for using a homeowner’s address to receive a package or mail or that a sitter likely has some nefarious purpose in mind for doing so. It comes down to something simple: You are sitting in someone’s home. Homeowners may have legitimate concerns (not suspicions, but conscerns) about how their home will be used. So probably something that will get attention like recieving a package in a building that may have strict rules on a lease about unsupervised guests, could potentially be a problem for a host. There might be practicalilities in the address like packages getting delivered to different buildings within a complex. There might be previous bad experiences or stories the homeowner has heard about people claiming residency based on a mailing address. A package might arrive after you leave and the host might not be sure what to do.
For all these reasons and more, it simply makes sense to mention to a host if you plan to be recieving packages or mail at their address during a sit. It might not be something they thought about, but since you saw this forum, it is now something for you to think about.
For homeowners, it might be something to include in your welcome guide and because not everybody reads every page of the welcome to discuss or send an additional note to the sitter.
As a result of this forum, I could imagine a home owner with a long term sit discussing this with a sitter eg: “I’d prefer you not recieve mail or packages from USPS at my address, and use a PO Box, but if something might be sent USPS (Amazon) or you need some personal mail, please use c/o with my name. Grocery deliveries, app deliveries like Ubereats are no problem!”
Wow. Who knew.
“Mail Theft – 18 U.S.C. § 1708
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What it covers: Stealing, taking, or receiving mail you know isn’t yours, including arranging delivery to an address without permission.
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Penalty: Up to 5 years in federal prison and fines.”
Chalk up another example for Harvey Slivergate’s Three Felonies per Day. It is so incredibly easy to run afoul of the law in the US.