The following guide is provided to Bay Area Mover customers to help them with the moving process from start to finish.
Changing of Address
That moment you find your new home is such a wonderful, rewarding feeling. It is almost easy to put side the matters that must be addressed with a move due to the overwhelming feelings that arise. Nonetheless, it doesn’t matter whether you moved down the street or across the nation, it is your responsibility to change your address as well as cancel and reinstate your utilities.
Although changing your address may seem minuscule at the time, it helps create a smoother, more organized relocation. If you forget to change your address, all your mail will continue to go to the wrong home and possibly even sent back to its original owner. This could put you behind on bills and keep you from your responsibilities even more.
The Process of Changing Your Address
Before you go ahead and start the process of changing your address, have your new landlord or realtor confirm the information for you. It is important to double check with all the confusion during the moving process. This reduces time and stress in the long run.
The first step is to change your address with the United States Postal Service (USPS). You can choose to change your address on their website for a small convenience fee or head to your local post office to fill out a change of address form. It may take a couple weeks for you to start receiving mail since they will need to reroute it.
After changing your address with the post office, you can go ahead and change it with your utility companies as necessary as well as any relevant federal government agencies. Some of the government agencies people never think to call for address changes include:
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)
- State Motor Vehicle Agencies or the DMV
- S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
As for your utility services such as water, sewer and garbage, you will likely have different providers than you did at your previous residence. Therefore, you are responsible for cancelling your previous utility services with the right provider. Once those have been cancelled, contact your new district’s utility facilities to reinstate or begin your service with them. The correct address is essential or the services cannot be activated.