Sample Opt-Out Letters

Just say no to junk and privacy violations

Here are the sample letters that you can send to "opt-out" of some solicitations and uses of your personal data. You can paste in your address before printing or put your own pre-printed address stickers on after printing.

Letters to the Direct Marketing Association indicating your ``preference'' not to receive unsolicited mail (they also have an option for telemarketing calls but it's more effective to place your number on National Do-Not-Call Registry at http://donotcall.gov instead.)
Letters to Trans Union and Innovis and Equifax, requesting removal from lists that they and other credit reporting agencies sell. A similar letter to Experian also asks them not to provide your credit report over the Internet.
Letters to banks and financial institutions (select the one(s) where you have accounts): Banc One (Bank One, First USA, Wingspanbank.com), Bank of America, California Federal Bank, Chase, CitiFinancial Credit Company, Citibank (also Diners' Club), The Huntington (1), The Huntington (2), (they provide different addresses for different opt-out functions) MBNA, Mellon Financial Corp., People's Bank, PNC Bank, Union Bank and Trust Company, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo. North Dakotans: Wells Fargo Bank North Dakota, N.A., Bremer Bank, Community First National Bank, Gate City Bank, Security State Bank of ND, Western State Bank, or Generic North Dakota Bank form. If your bank is not included above, please use our Generic U.S. Financial Institution form and fill in their address. (If you like, tell us the name and opt-out address so we can include it.)
Letters to credit card issuers (select the cards you hold): AT&T Universal Card, American Express, Chevron Credit, Discover Card, Exxon, FDS Bank (Macy's, Bloomingdales, The Bon Marche, Burdines, Rich, Lazarus, Goldsmith, Stern's), Saks Fith Avenue (Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store, Herberger's, McRae's, Parisian, Proffitt's, Younkers), Fleet Credit Card Services, Nieman Marcus, Sears Credit, Wal-Mart. If you have a credit card issued by an institution that is not listed above, use our Generic Financial Institution form and fill in their address. Note that there is no single opt-out address for Mastercard or Visa; write to the bank that issued your card.
Letters to Advo, to Valpak, to Metromail, to Certified Ad Services, to Carol Wright, to Harte-Hanks, to Database America, to R.L. Polk and Co., to Donnelly Marketing, Inc., to Acxiom, to Abacus Direct (DoubleClick), and to American Business Information, Inc. asking them not to supply information about you, and not to mail you.
Qwest (US West) and Verizon have been trying to use phone call records for marketing without asking your permission. Here are letters to tell Qwest and Verizon to leave you out of it. And one for customers of AT&T Wireless Services.

Please read each letter before printing it. If it's not exactly what you want, save it to a file and make the necessary changes before mailing it.

Depending on your printer configuration, you may need to add blank lines to make the height of the letter 3.5 inches, which is the US Postal Service's minimum. Try setting margins to 0.5 inches and a constant width font such as Courier in 10-point size. If the letter contains confidential information such as your credit card or social security numbers, be sure to seal it securely on four sides (or put it in a separate envelope). But avoid excessive use of tape, which makes the article look suspicious.

Home · Next · Site Map · Legal · Privacy · Cookies · Banner Ads · Telemarketing · Mail · Spam · Opt Out