Many of you have huge databases and do a great job of keeping in touch with the contacts on your lists using frequent mailings.

If you are one of these people...Kudos to you! When maintained correctly, your database will provide a super source of mortgage referrals and new loans, keeping your pipeline filled for many years to come.

If you're like me, you're probably experiencing more and more pieces of your mailing being returned than when you first started mailing to your lists. You see things like "Undeliverable as addressed" or even "Forwarding Order Expired."

Its unfortunate but, every time you mail to a contact that has moved or just can't be found for some reason, you have just thrown good money down the drain. Not only did it cost you to produce the mailing piece...you also paid for the postage to send it. In all of this, here's the really bad ere is absolutely no possibility of getting any kind of response from those returns.

Now, if you're relatively new to the mortgage business and/or maintain a very modest database of contacts this isn't a problem for you. But, if you've been in the business for a number of years, your list may consist of many hundreds and possibly thousands of contacts.

When you have a huge list, you just can't talk to everyone and take them to lunch. Most of them are contacts you have acquired over the years and you use direct mail to keep your name in front of them. You have found that by doing this, a goodly number of them call you when it's mortgage time.

So...You maintain your database the best way you can by going into your list of names and delete the "returns" that you receive. No more bad addresses (until the next mailing), no more wasted mailers, and no more wasted postage. We also lost some contacts in the process that we worked so hard to get.

This just might be a better solution for you...

Our US Postal Service has an NCOA (National Change of Address) System that a limited number of companies are licensed to access. These companies or Service Providers are able to take your list and check it against the USPS address system.

By using this service, you'll receive a report that will let you know if anyone on your list has moved, gone out of business, or even if the zip code that contact was in was changed by the Post Office itself. You'll also receive a new copy of your list that has been cleaned, scrubbed, and updated.

The cost for having your list checked is extremely economical (about $5.00 per thousand records) and will allow you to keep getting your mortgage marketing message out to as many people on your list as possible.

The NCOA service is by far the easiest and most effective way that I have found to keep your marketing lists clean and your costs down. So, eliminate some of your list maintenance chores and save on your next mailing. When you're ready to keep in touch, make your life easier and check your list.

Tom Domin is the author of "101 Ways to Originate Mortgages" and publisher of "Tom's Mortgage Tips" a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter geared for Mortgage Professionals. Increase your pipeline and put your mortgage career on the fast track and sign-up for FREE at