Law Stack Exchange
Law Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [mail]

88 questions
34
votes
3 answers

Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's mail?

Say I move into an apartment. And over the next months and years, I keep receiving mail for the previous tenant, whom I do not know. This is understandably annoying. The easiest and most convenient approach for me is to just throw away his mail –…
user43
24
votes
6 answers

Receiving a certified letter and the contents is not address to you

I am in the United States and I have recently received a certified letter that was addressed to me (name and address). It's about 80 pages actually. The cover sheet has a confidentiality notice, and the notice is the standard "you shall not read…
b degnan
  • 343
  • 2
  • 6
24
votes
1 answer

Are U.S. mailboxes federal property?

A common claim seems to be that mailboxes in the United States are federal property (example, example, example). (To be clear, some mailboxes are owned and maintained by the USPS, typically cluster boxes, but this is referring to mailboxes purchased…
Dominick Pastore
  • 363
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
19
votes
4 answers

Can your neighbor search your mailbox?

I observed a CCTV recording of my neighbor going through the mailbox and taking items belonging to me. Is there a law against this?
Laure Zipadedoda
  • 199
  • 1
  • 3
19
votes
2 answers

Are these unsolicited seed packages illegal?

I recently came across an article with the headline "Some mystery seeds illegally sent from China identified." It struck me as odd because obviously sending unsolicited junk mail isn't illegal, and I didn't think there was anything illegal about…
You Old Fool
  • 293
  • 2
  • 6
19
votes
3 answers

Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's standard mail?

Is it illegal to recycle standard mail addressed to, presumably, a previous tenant of an apartment? Context: I have received the mail for someone who I assume is a previous tenant of the apartment I live in. I have tried writing Not at this address…
Ryan
  • 291
  • 1
  • 2
  • 10
16
votes
1 answer

How long can I let other people's mail sit in my house?

I sometimes get first class mail addressed to other people. The right way to handle this is to write "not at this address" on it and send it as outgoing mail. How fast do I need to do this? Can I pile up all the misdelivered mail and deal with it as…
interfect
  • 5,497
  • 30
  • 53
16
votes
2 answers

Jurisdiction: Can police officers open mail addressed to a stranger?

A person, let's say Jane, owns a home and receives hundreds of toll invoices (see link) and automated traffic tickets. It is Jane's address but the names are strangers all over the nation (USA). Obviously the scammers are setting Jane's street…
Harper - Reinstate Monica
  • 20,495
  • 2
  • 30
  • 88
13
votes
1 answer

What is the proper way of handling non-USPS packages for long-gone tenants?

I moved into a rental home around 2 years ago immediately on the heels of a previous tenant. I experienced the usual "mail overlap" period of a few weeks, during which I was happy to pass letters & small packages either back to our carrier. These…
Kyle R
  • 131
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
9
votes
1 answer

Does filling U.S. postal service business reply envelopes with junk incur any legal peril?

Some companies that send junk mail include a "business reply" envelope. This allows the junk mail recipient to send a "reply" through U.S. mail at the originator's expense. In fact these business reply envelopes can be filled with heavy junk and…
Gabriel Diego
  • 1,249
  • 2
  • 13
  • 29
9
votes
3 answers

Misdelivered merchandise -- can you legally (if not morally) keep it?

The FTC says: If you receive merchandise that you didn’t order, you have a legal right to keep it as a free gift. However (for example) Maine's website says: A person is guilty of theft if the person obtains or exercises control over the property…
user541686
  • 1,931
  • 4
  • 25
  • 32
7
votes
3 answers

Can a landlord use the delivery of U.S. mail as a method of surveillance?

This is an on-going struggle for me with the management of my apartment building. In the past, the manager has instructed the USPS mail carrier to return-to-sender my mail, because it was addressed to a name that is sufficiently different from my…
wemily
  • 171
  • 1
  • 4
7
votes
5 answers

How to prove a party received a specific letter?

I signed up for a membership service with an HVAC company some time ago, and I've now decided its time to cancel my membership due to lack of use. There isn't a nearby customer center where I live, so I attempted to cancel the membership a few times…
William Breathitt Gray
  • 205
  • 1
  • 2
  • 6
7
votes
1 answer

Postman signs for delivery himself. Any laws broken?

Suppose a Royal Mail worker knocks on the door to deliver a parcel which needs to be signed for. No one is home. He is supposed to leave a "Something for you" card and bring the parcel to the collection point. Or attempt again the next day. Instead,…
Greendrake
  • 28,487
  • 5
  • 71
  • 135
6
votes
1 answer

If I accidentally send a package to the wrong person, is it still my property?

Suppose the following were to happen. I've got a package on my desk. I am planning to send it to person A with intent to give them ownership of it. Instead, by mistake, I send it to person B. Is it still my property? Obviously I can ask for it back…
user1370
1
2 3 4 5 6