PO Box for current addy?

From what I learned you can have the statements for established account sent to a P. O. Box but you need a street address to apply for new cards. Once you get the card you change the address online.

If someone had has a different experience let me know.

 

Poochie - I just did the same thing. And I'm making sure that any creditors or ca's know this new address because it is NOT on file with the CRA's. I will argue till I die - you can not LIVE at a PO... therefore, invalid addy.

I move a lot and one thing I've read is that every time you change your address it affects your score. (boo hiss). I'm staying put for a long time now and I don't want any unnecessary hits when I move again.

 

But when the OC & CAs get the new address then it *will* be on your credit file.

When I tried to remove an old P. O. Box address because it was not a residence, they asked if I'd ever received mail there. They refused to remove because it was "linked" to an OC (a positive) that was appearing on my report.

I use a Personal Mail Box. So when I change residence nobody knows. It does not on my report that this is not a residence, but when I provide a new OC with a utility bill with this mailing address they open the account.

 

According to the USPS a personal mail box would officially have PMB in the address like this:

123 Maple Lane PMB#901
Sweetness, OH 12345

But, I usually just say #901, and drop the PMB so it appears to be an apartment #.

You get these at private mailbox vendors. Mailboxes Etc. is one company. I'm not sure which company to name that's nationwide.

When the address says P O Box it really screams that it's USPS and not a residence. In my state a P O Box is not allowed as the exclusive address on DL.

I've heard radio ads lately promoting a PMB to prevent ID fraud (I guess becasue they are locked, and they can't steal mail from your unlocked mailbox on a post along the street).

 

Re: Re: PO Box for current addy?

It's funny you mention the use of PMBs (Mail Boxes Etc, UPS Store, Pak-n-Mail ...) as a way to prevent ID theft. The whole impetus for the USPS to start requiring the use of the "PMB" designator:
1235 Anystreet Way PMB 337
Mytown, WY 88837
stemmed from the financial industry!!! Credit card companies and banks wanted an easier way to identify people who were using such services to hide! If you use such a place for your bank statements etc and you also have a car loan, how can GMAC come repo your car when you don't live at the strip mall where your PMB is? LOL Moreover, when you decide to blow town, the PMB place will either forward your mail (if you pay their fee) or just trash it...at least if the USPS delivered it to your actual residence, they could get forwarding info and other skip tracing tidbits!!! :-D

Then the aspect of fruad came up...it's easy for the bad guys to use such places to *commit* ID theft, never mind trying to prevent it!!!

We moved and since we're not in a permanent place yet, we're using a USPS PO box. Changed all our credit accounts to the PO box with nary a peep from any of the banks/creditors.

 

I just phoned USPS to ask about privacy info. They claim that the residence address you list on the P O Box application is completely private. Even with a court order, they would not AUTOMATICALLY give out the residence address to that poor repo man. She claims the only reason they need a residence at all is to prove that you're a resident of that state.

The only time that a creditor seems unhappy about a P O Box is when you are establishing the initial account. They also want to verify that your home phone number rings at the residence address you provide. After your account is extablished, they don't seem to care.