Returned mail skip tracing: find the owner's current contact
To skip trace returned mail, re-mail any new address USPS attached first, then put the rest in a CSV with each owner's name, last known mailing address and property address, and trace it for phones and emails. Read what USPS printed on each piece before you decide which pile it goes in.
Key facts
- Price
- a flat $0.03 a record at any list size from 50 to 100,000 records.
- Unit
- Priced per matched record.
- Minimum order
- 50 records
- Minimum charge
- Minimum charge $0.50 when any record matches.
- Single search
- Single search: $0.10, charged only on a match, paid from prepaid credit ($10 minimum top-up).
- Prepaid credit
- Prepaid credit expires 12 months after your last credit purchase, single search or credit-paid list, and unused credit is refundable on request within 90 days of purchase.
- Free tool
- Check your list free at /tools/skip-trace-csv-checker. Check columns, split addresses and download a fixed CSV in your browser before tracing at $0.03 a record. No account needed.
- Subscription
- None. A list order is paid for on its own by card or prepaid credit.
- Max per order
- 100,000 rows or 50 MB per file
- Output
- Up to 10 phones per owner, each with its line type (mobile, landline or VoIP), plus emails where found
- Sources
- 3 core providers: idiCORE, Enformion and Delvepoint
- Not for
- FCRA uses: credit, insurance, employment or tenant screening
- Prices last changed
- Last updated
Short answer
A returned piece tells you one of two things: where the owner went, or why the post office could not deliver. The first is a new address to use straight away. The second is a lead to look up again: the owner often still owns the property and may still answer a phone. A skip trace can add phones and emails; it does not find a new mailing address.
Step 1
Sort the returns by what USPS printed on them
A returned piece carries either a new address on a label or a reason it could not be delivered. Put the new-address pieces in one pile and the reason pieces in another.
Step 2
Act on any new address first
A new address USPS attached comes from the owner's own change-of-address order. Update your list with it and mail again: it is the most recent address you have for that owner.
Step 3
Take out the rows you should not chase
Refused means someone turned the mail down: remove the row. Deceased means the estate's personal representative or heirs are the people to reach, not the owner.
Step 4
Check the county record for a newer mailing address
Look each remaining owner up on the county assessor's or tax office's website. The tax-bill mailing address may have changed since your list was pulled.
Step 5
Build a CSV and skip trace it
One owner per row: the name, the last known mailing address, the property address, and the return reason and mail date as extra columns. Check the columns, upload the file and see the price before you pay.
Step 6
Scrub the numbers, then call or text
Check every number against the federal and state do-not-call registries and your own list before you call or text. A phone number in a result file is not consent to be contacted.
Reading the return
What comes back, and whether anything comes back at all, depends on the endorsement printed on the piece when it was mailed. Each line below is from the USPS Domestic Mail Manual 507, Mailer Services (opens in a new tab) (checked 2026-09-25), for First-Class Mail unless it says otherwise.
- No endorsement
- First-Class Mail is treated as if it said Forwarding Service Requested. USPS Marketing Mail with no endorsement is disposed of by USPS, so an undeliverable postcard sent at marketing rates never comes back. (DMM 507, Exhibits 1.5.1 and 1.5.3 (opens in a new tab))
- Return Service Requested
- Every undeliverable piece comes back with the new address or the reason for non-delivery attached, whether or not a change-of-address order is on file. USPS lists no charge for First-Class Mail; Marketing Mail pays return postage at the single-piece price. (DMM 507, Exhibits 1.5.1 and 1.5.3 (opens in a new tab))
- Address Service Requested
- For 12 months after a change of address the piece is forwarded and you get a separate notice of the new address (a fee applies); in months 13 to 18 it comes back with the new address attached; otherwise it comes back with the reason. (DMM 507, Exhibit 1.5.1 (opens in a new tab))
- Forwarding Service Requested
- Forwarded for 12 months after a change of address with no notice to you, returned with the new address attached in months 13 to 18, and returned with the reason otherwise. (DMM 507, Exhibit 1.5.1 (opens in a new tab))
- Change Service Requested
- The piece itself is disposed of. You get a separate electronic notice of the new address or the reason instead, and a fee applies. (DMM 507, Exhibit 1.5.1 (opens in a new tab))
If a campaign sent at marketing rates produced no returns at all, check the endorsement before you conclude every address was good: without one, USPS discards what it cannot deliver.
Reasons for non-delivery, and what to do with each
A piece that comes back without a new address carries one of these endorsements. The middle column is USPS's own wording.
| Endorsement | USPS meaning | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Moved, Left No Address | Addressee moved and filed no change-of-address order. | The owner is gone and USPS has no forwarding address. Check the county tax record for a newer mailing address, then trace the owner with the property address and the last mailing address you had. |
| Not Deliverable as Addressed—Unable to Forward | Mail undeliverable at address given; no change-of-address order on file; forwarding order expired. | Often an owner who moved more than a year ago. Check the county record, then trace by name with the last known mailing address and the property address. |
| Attempted—Not Known | Delivery attempted; addressee not known at place of address. | Someone else gets mail there, or your list paired the owner with the wrong address. Compare the county record's owner mailing address with yours before you trace. |
| Insufficient Address | Mail without number, street, box number, route number, or geographical section of city or city and state omitted, and correct address not known. | The address on your list is missing a piece. Fix it from the county record; a row needs street, city, state and ZIP to be traced. |
| No Such Number | Addressed to nonexistent number and correct number not known. | Common when a list mails the parcel's own address on vacant land, which may have no house number. Mail and trace the owner's tax-bill mailing address instead. |
| No Such Street | Addressed to nonexistent street and correct street not known. | The street on your list is wrong or is a road name the post office does not deliver to. Use the owner's tax-bill mailing address. |
| Vacant | House, apartment, office, or building not occupied. (Use only if mail addressed “Occupant.”) | The building is empty, so the owner gets mail somewhere else. Trace the owner at the mailing address on the tax record. |
| Deceased | Used only when known that addressee is deceased, and mail is not properly deliverable to another person. | Do not trace the owner. The estate's personal representative or the heirs are the people to reach. |
| Refused | Addressee refused to accept mail or pay postage charges on it. | The mail reached someone who turned it down. Take the row off your list rather than chase it. |
| Unclaimed | Addressee abandoned or failed to call for mail. | The owner may still use the address. A trace can add a phone to try. |
| Box Closed—No Order | Post office box closed for nonpayment of rent. | The owner's mailing box is gone. Check the county record, then trace with the property address. |
Building the returned-mail file
Returned mail usually arrives as paper, a few pieces a day. Keep a running spreadsheet: one row per owner, typed in as each piece comes back, with the reason beside it. By the time you trace, the file is already built.
| Column | What to put in it | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Owner name | First and last name, or one full-name column. An entity name such as “Estate of Mary Jones” or an LLC is kept whole. | Yes |
| Mailing street, city, state, ZIP | The newest mailing address you have: the county tax record's if it changed, otherwise the one you mailed. | One complete address block is required |
| Property street, city, state, ZIP | The parcel's own address from your list. | Optional; both blocks is better |
| Return reason | What USPS printed on the piece, such as Moved, Left No Address. | Optional; comes back unchanged |
| Mail date or campaign | Which drop the piece came back from. | Optional; comes back unchanged |
- Look at the county record before you type the mailing address. Your list may be months old, and the county's owner mailing address is where the tax bill goes now. If it differs from the address you mailed, put the county's in the mailing columns.
- Keep the property address too. The upload needs one complete block, mailing or property. With only the property address mapped, the upload notes that the mailing address is the stronger signal for owners who moved, which describes most of a returned-mail file.
- Leave out Refused and Deceased rows. One turned your mail down; the other needs the estate's representative, traced under their own name.
- Duplicates drop out. Rows whose mapped name and address fields are identical are removed before the price is worked out, so an owner returned from two drops is traced once.
The skip tracing CSV format guide covers headers and file rules, and the skip trace CSV checker shows how your columns will map before you upload.
Some services work from the paper instead: Skip Genie, for one, asks customers to post the returned pieces to it and builds the input file itself (Skip Genie returned mail instructions (opens in a new tab), checked 2026-09-25). Skipmatch works from a CSV you build, so you decide which address goes on each row.
Upload and what comes back
Upload the CSV, map the columns, and see the price before you pay. For each row, the result file carries:
- Up to 10 phone numbers per owner, each labelled mobile, landline or VoIP. Phone1 is listed first.
- Email addresses where they exist.
- A flag on every row: HIT when at least one phone or email came back, MISS when none did.
- A Record status of New, Updated or Previously purchased, which shows whether you have traced that owner with Skipmatch before.
- Every column you uploaded, unchanged and in its original order, including the return reason.
What it does not carry is an address. Skipmatch returns only what the sources hold for that owner, as phones and emails. It does not find the mover's new mailing address, does not check whether any address exists or is deliverable, and does not standardize addresses to USPS format; it only trims ZIP codes to five digits and state names to two-letter codes for the trace. A new mailing address has to come from USPS, on the returned piece, or from the county record.
That is still the right trade for a returned-mail file. A phone number often stays with a person after a move, so a call or text can reach an owner the post could not. Not every row comes back with a phone or an email; the flag shows which did. See a full result on the sample file page.
Before you call or text, scrub every number against the federal and state do-not-call registries and your own list. Every Skipmatch account accepts the permissible-use terms before its first order. This is general information, not legal advice.
Price for small batches
Skipmatch prices per matched record, with no subscription, and orders start at 50 records, at most $1.50 for the smallest order. Returns trickle in, so keep adding to the file until it reaches 50 rows, or add the returns to the next list you trace. Minimum charge $0.50 when any record matches.
| Batch | Rows | Per record | At most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smallest order | 50 | $0.03 | $1.50 |
| Returns from a few mail drops | 150 | $0.03 | $4.50 |
| A season of returns | 400 | $0.03 | $12.00 |
| A large campaign's returns | 1,500 | $0.03 | $45.00 |
Returned mail skip tracing FAQ
What do I do with returned mail?
Can you skip trace a returned mail list?
What does "return service requested" mean?
Why does mail come back "not deliverable as addressed"?
Does Skipmatch verify addresses?
Price your list before you pay for it.
Create an account, upload the file, and see your total before you pay. Records with no phone and no email are never charged.