I'm thinking of buying a condemned, uninhabitable house in a tax foreclosure auction simply so I can list it as my residential address. Most places that demand a utility bill will accept a property tax bill, so it doesn't even have to have working water/power (the cheapest doomshacks have both shut off). You'd be surprised how cheap some of these places are. But it does have to show up as "residential" in the USPS databases.
My best solution right now is a UPS box, which gives you a proper street address.
Most places that ask for utility bills will accept a phone bill or insurance bill or some such which you can have arranged to be sent to that address.
I'd be interested to know if there are similar services that are cheaper and ideally less well-known than UPS but equally reliable. Delivery to my real address with the ability to trust them with my real address would also be cool to have.
BTW -- if you have cash to burn, I'd think that renting a cheap studio somewhere that you don't actually live in (and as a bonus, can use as a storage unit, or sublease to someone if the lease allows) would be cheaper and more peace-of-mind than dealing with property taxes, crime, pests, and other issues around an uninhabitable house in your name.
> My best solution right now is a UPS box, which gives you a proper street address.
USPS maintains a very immaculately curated list of CMRAs (Commercial Mail Receiving Agents). It's not hard because they need to register with USPS in order to receive mail on behalf of customers who pay them for mail-receiving service. USPS is allowed to deny them mail delivery if they refuse to register, and does.
Every place that wants to know your residential address, and insists that it is actually residential, checks the address you provide against this list.
Side note: I knew a woman who bought a storefront that had previously been a mailboxes-etc type place. It was a complete nightmare for her, none of the banks or insurers or credit card companies would believe that was her business' physical address because it was on that list. Apparently it takes 1-2 years to fall off the list. Eventually she had to switch to a small local bank and have the bank manager come to physically inspect the location so they could override the databroker software.
> renting a cheap studio somewhere
That's an ongoing recurring cost. Also nobody will rent a place unless it's (somewhat) inhabitable; buying an uninhabitable toxic dump is actually cheaper than renting anything that can be advertised as inhabitable.
Last of all, I am completely fed up with landlords insisting on credit checks. The data brokers exploit this like you wouldn't believe. That's why they have such perfectly accurate residential addresses for all renters.
> peace-of-mind than dealing with property taxes, crime, pests,
Property taxes are beyond easy. You don't even need to receieve the bill! The amount you owe is a matter of public record, and on the web in almost every jurisdiction. Once a year: look it up, buy a postal money order with cash, write the parcel number on it, mail it, done. Property taxes are also based on the value of the property, so for a toxic dump the taxes are tiny.
Crime and pests don't matter if you don't visit the location. Take the mailbox off the front of the house after closing so no mail can be delivered there by accident.
Definitely buy it through an LLC so that long-tail events (it burns down taking the neighbor's house with it, kids break in and injure themselves, etc) don't come back to you.
> buying an uninhabitable toxic dump is actually cheaper
Considering I'm in the bay area, land alone is actually expensive here so that doesn't really work. Is there any way to buy this unhabitable dump in a remote area and have the mail picked up and delivered to me? Are there any businesses doing this?
The comment that started this subthread proposed using it to register for various services so needing to occasionally receive physical mail there is quite likely. For example, banks mail credit cards in my experience.
I'm not sure how you'd deal with vehicle licensing. In WA, all the paperwork I've received has been marked "Do Not Forward".
Unfortunately address assignment is derived from county building permits except in very special situations.
Technically counties issue "situses" and the USPS adopts those as delivery addresses. Most/all counties won't hand out a situs without a building permit and completed inspection. USPS can create addresses without county situses (for example, military installations or federal hydroelectric projects) but I don't think they will do it in any situation that's applicable here.
You could probably check out RV and van life forums. One question would be the degree to which you can get away with giving the state (for drivers license/ID/tax purposes), company, etc. a "fake" address that is not a residential address.
A lot depends on what you think you're guarding against and how many compromises you're willing to make. For example, you can't actually buy a house and remain anonymous unless you set up some shell company which I assume is expensive and probably has tax consequences.
I agree that buying a foreclosed property sounds like a massive headache and doesn't even really solve the problem of having to give your address to someone if you want anything delivered.
> you can't actually buy a house and remain anonymous unless you set up some shell company which I assume is expensive
It is not. Under $100/year in most states.
> and probably has tax consequences.
It doesn't. The LLC has no income (assuming you're not renting that "decoy house"), so there's nothing to report to the IRS.
> doesn't even really solve the problem of having to give your address to someone if you want anything delivered.
That's what a PO Box or rental mailbox is for.
Just keep in mind that you won't be able to hide the fact that it isn't your residence from the data brokers or anyone else who demands a "residential" address and is willing to spend a few dollars verifying that.
Also, what do people usually do if they don't have a residential address? (specifically for example people who live in RVs or off-grid but maintain a modern lifestyle with driver licenses and credit cards and all)
Jameson Lopp had spent tens of thousands of dollars or more on lawyers to make his life untracable after the CIA got into his house, and he shared a lot of what he did.
I'm aware that he's been the target of at least one mugging attempt, and I think he even maintains a list of people who were robbed as a result of being high-profile early adopters of bitcoin.
But the CIA? Are you sure aliens weren't involved?
