Frequently Asked Questions
Find the most commonly asked questions about the residential address uses of the TruResidence service.
General
Q: What is TruResidence?
TruResidence is an address service that provides you with a U.S. residential address, weekly mail pickup, and virtual mailbox features like online mail management, mail content scanning, shipping, and check deposit. It comes with an optional ability to rent a space by signing a lease agreement.
Q: Where can I use my TruResidence address?
Your residential address can be used for receiving personal mail, opening business and personal bank accounts, applying for credit cards, setting up merchant and investment accounts, and maintaining other financial accounts. See the full list of what you can and cannot use TruResidence for on the address overview chart.
Q: What are the limitations of using TruResidence?
TruResidence cannot be used for public-facing purposes such as websites, Google Business, social media profiles, or business formation documents. For these needs, consider our virtual mailbox service.
Q: Will I get a unique suite number assigned to me?
With TruResidence, you'll share the same home address with other customers. Each customer does not receive their own unique "mailbox number" because such designations do not exist for a home. Essentially, it operates like a household where family or roommates reside together and utilize the same address.
Q: How soon will I be able to see my mail?
Mail received at the home address is picked up on a weekly basis. It is then delivered to the closest processing center to be scanned into your online mailbox. Therefore, expect to see approximately a week delay before you see your mail.
Q: Can I receive mail and packages at the TruResidence address?
Yes, you can receive mail and packages at the residential address. Your mail will be picked up on a weekly basis and delivered to a VPM processing center to be scanned and stored so you can read your mail online.
Packages may incur additional transportation fees. We recommend that you get a separate virtual mailbox if you plan to receive packages on a frequent or consistent basis because you’ll end up paying more shipping fees – once to get the package to the processing center and again to have it shipped out to you.
Q: What are the additional transportation fees incurred for receiving packages at the TruResidence address?
The fees vary depending on the size of the package. Typically, any received mail or packages must be transported to our processing center, and the fee is determined by the cost of delivering such items. For small items such as credit cards that comes in a small box, there's usually no charge.
That said, your TruResidence address is not optimized for package delivery. If you plan to receive packages on a regular basis, we recommend that you get a separate virtual mailbox for this purpose. This ensures quicker package retrieval (as home address mail is collected weekly) and saves on shipping costs.
Q: Do I get a U.S. phone number?
Unfortunately, TruResidence offers only the residential address and lease agreement add-on for now. It does not include a U.S. phone number. For phone numbers, we recommend that you get one from a VOIP service like OpenPhone. This way, you can make and receive phone call from anywhere in the world.
Q: Does TruResidence include registered agent service?
Currently, registered agent service is only offered with our virtual mailbox and TruLease plans. TruResidence is designed exclusively for personal use and does not come with registered agent service included.
Q: What is the difference between a virtual mailbox address and a TruResidence address?
There are several major differences between a virtual mailbox address and a TruResidence address.
First, a mailbox address is a long-term business address associated with a commercial office building, whereas a TruResidence address is a residential address attached to a home and is not considered an office location.
Second, a mailbox address can be used on public facing platforms and communications, including mail from the government, IRS, vendors, and customers. In contrast, your TruResidence address is intended solely for personal financial accounts and mail services.
Finally, a mailbox address does not qualify as a physical address. Since it does not involve leasing a physical space, it does not enable you to establish a lease agreement. Your TruResidence address, on the other hand, is tied to a home address and allows you to rent a space by signing a lease agreement. This lease agreement can be used in situations where proof of address is required.
Q: What is the difference between TruLease and TruResidence?
TruLease allows you to lease an office suite within a building through VPM’s network of commercial building partners. It provides you with a physical office suite address, a lease agreement, and optional utility bill. TruLease is typically used for opening merchant accounts, Amazon Store, and Shopify payments.
TruResidence offers you an upscale residential address specifically for personal communications and mailing use. The address can be used for opening bank accounts and maintaining financial accounts. You can also choose to obtain a lease agreement if such a document is needed. TruResidence does not offer a utility bill.
Q: Are there any upcoming locations being considered for TruResidence?
Yes! VPM plans to launch more U.S. home address locations as part of the expansion plan. Additionally, when you sign up for TruResidence, you'll have the opportunity to indicate your interest in other states. You can fill out the form to share what states you'd like to see too.
Q: Under what circumstances can my TruResidence account be suspended?
Account suspensions can occur due to payment issues or violations of our terms. If this happens, you won't receive refunds or credits, and you won't be able to recover any previous payments.
Lease Agreement
Q: Is a lease agreement provided with TruResidence?
Yes, you have the option to sign a lease agreement to rent a space. It is an add-on and costs extra. You can also view location specific costs on the TruResidence overview page.
Q: Can the TruResidence lease agreement be used as proof of address?
By obtaining a lease agreement, you will be able to use it in places where one is requested. The lease agreement is a legal agreement that shows that you have legal rights to a living space at the home listed on the lease.
Q: Does the lease agreement grant access to the property itself?
While you have legal rights to the rented space, it's not ideally tailored for such purposes. First, the condo is unfurnished. Second, it's more like renting a room in a shared living situation with others, so privacy would be a major issue. Plus, keep in mind that leases tend to be short-term, so you'd need to have a plan for moving out. And finally, you are required to obtain additional insurance before you can move in.
Q: How many people can be listed on the lease agreement?
The number of names/tenants on the lease agreement is dependent on the pricing plan you have. Some plans will allow only 1 tenant while others allow 2 (ie. you and a spouse/partner). Check the pricing plan for details.
Q: How much will it cost to add a lease agreement to my plan?
Signing a lease agreement is similar to renting a room in a home. You will need to pay, at a minimum, the first month’s rent plus 3 months for deposit. The deposit is fully refundable after the lease terminates. Deposit requirement can be reduced if you opt in to a credit check and your credit score is sufficiently high, but will always be a minimum of one month..
Additionally, you will also pay a one-time processing fee to us. Please see pricing page for details.
Q: What documents do I need to apply for the lease agreement?
You may need to provide your social security number along with a government ID for identification verification purposes, proof of income, etc. VPM may run a credit check to determine your credit score as part of the due diligence process. Other documents may be required. This is a fairly standard procedure when renting a home.
Q: Can I get a lease agreement if I'm a foreigner?
TruResidence is primarily for U.S. individuals who are looking to maintain a residential home address. We do allow foreigners to sign up and obtain a lease agreement. Additional deposits and verification requirements may be required in such cases.
Q: Can I sublet/sublease my space?
No. There are provisions in the lease agreement that specifically prohibit subletting.
Q: Can I renew the lease agreement or start up a new one at any time?
Yes, you can renew or start up a new lease again at any time as long as there's availability. However, it's rare that you'd need a lease agreement. Leases typically serve specific purposes and are designed for short-term durations of 1-3 months.
Additionally, each property can only accommodate a set number of active leases at any given time, so if capacity is reached, you may need to wait until an active lease terminates before you can rent a space.
Q: Do I have to pay the processing fee every time I sign a lease?
Every time that we sign a lease agreement, we will bill our processing fee. However, if you renew the lease BEFORE the lease term ends, then we will not charge a processing fee.
Banking
Q: Is TruResidence guaranteed to work to open bank accounts?
TruResidence is an address service. We guarantee the service we provide, which is the use of the home address, the weekly mail delivery and virtual mailbox features.
We do not guarantee activities and purposes that we are not responsible for or have control over.
Therefore, we cannot guarantee that you can open a bank account with TruResidence since there are many factors that goes into opening a bank account that are outside of our control (underwriting criteria, your background, bank requirements, etc). The only part we can guarantee is that you will get a true U.S. home address that you can use as your residential address.
Q: Do you maintain a list of banks that I can use?
Unfortunately, no. It is because banks have varying underwriting practices and may take into account factors such as your background, type of business (if it's a business account), underwriting requirements, etc.
Even within the same bank, approval rates may differ across branches, bankers, and underwriters. For example, you may be rejected if you went to one bank’s branch, but accepted if you went to another branch.
Rejections can happen even if you have everything required. For this reason, it is recommended to have a list of several banks to work with, as different banks have different risk tolerances.
Q: Does TruResidence work with fintechs?
TruResidence is not recommended for fintechs (such as Mercury) nor supported. Fintechs are more strict now in terms of what is defined as a physical address, which they no longer just call it that. Usually, they now refer to them as the address where you do most of your work. For example, Wise specifically states that they're looking for a "trading address" where you "perform most of your work". Even if you legitimately have an office/home in the U.S., if you don't technically perform most of your work from/near that address, they may not accept it if they can find out that you don't perform your work from there.
Keep in mind that an address is not the only thing that banks look at. They may look at your overall profile to determine legitimacy of the information you provide. For example, if you are not a U.S. citizen, you login to your bank account from another country all the time (IP tracking), and yet you have a home address in the U.S., it's going to raise more questions.
It's therefore our recommendation that you don't work with fintechs. If possible, work directly with a bank. Even better, open a bank account in person at a bank that has local branches where you can walk in to do this.
Cancellation
Q: Can I cancel if I have not yet received a home address?
If you cancel within 30 days and have not received a home address, we will cancel your subscription with a full refund. If it's after 30 days, then you will get back the remaining unused portion of the annual subscription if you prepaid for the entire year. If you pay monthly, then no refunds are issued.
Q: Can I cancel after I have received a home address?
If you have received a home address but did not receive any mail yet, then you can cancel your subscription and get a full refund if it's within 7 days. If it's been more than 7 days, then the subscription cannot be canceled and refunded.
Q: Can I cancel if I have received mail at the home address?
If you have received mail, you have started using the service, and therefore you will not be able to cancel your subscription.
Q: Can I cancel the service after signing a lease agreement?
If you sign a lease agreement, it requires you to rent for a minimum of one month, which effectively overrides the 7 day cancellation policy. The subscription cannot be canceled once a lease is signed.
Q: Can I cancel if I am not able to use it for what I'm looking to do?
TruResidence is an address service and provides you an address, weekly mail pickup, and virtual mailbox features. If we are not able to provide you a home address or pickup mail or perform virtual mailbox related services like mail content scanning and shipping, then we'd certainly be happy to provide you some sort of refund for service that we promised you.
However, how you use the address is not within our control. While we understand that you may have specific use in mind, it doesn't mean that you can use a home address for such use. It's therefore your responsibility to make sure that you do your research ahead of time before you sign up for our service.
Q: What happens to my mail when I cancel?
When your account is closed, any mail received will be returned back to the sender. The mail sender will be notified that you are no longer at this address. Important mail senders like your financial institutions will usually reach out to you to obtain new address information.
Q: Can I reactivate again after I cancel the service?
If you fulfill the contract term and properly close your account without any owed balance, you can reactivate your service again. There will be a $400 reactivation fee to reopen your account.
Reactivation is not guaranteed and depends on availability. You will not be able to reopen an account if your previous home address is filled. In such a case, you will have to sign up for a new account with a new address.