Mail Delivery key?

[mbsv]

I live in a place where the mailbox is behind a gate, and the mail carrier has a master key to buzz themselves in. Pretty normal.

But the lock has been broken for a while. The building manager says the USPS is responsible. USPS... well the first person redirected me to a second, who redirected me to a third, who doesn't answer their phone.

Does anyone know? I also can't find this info online.

 

[Map8]

Insist on talking to the post master at your local post office. It is USPS responsibility to take care of this in a timely manner.

When my neighborhood mail box was broken into I called the local post office. The postmaster from that office actually drove to my street to check it out and hand delivered my mail.

It took a few weeks for the USPS to replace the entire box during which time I had to go get my mail from the post office. Once the new box was installed, I had to get a new key from the local post office and show ID proving it was my address. A bit of pain in the ass but the USPS did take care of it.

 

[Yakoo752]

Insist on talking to the post master at your local post office. It is USPS responsibility to take care of this in a timely manner.

When my neighborhood mail box was broken into I called the local post office. The postmaster from that office actually drove to my street to check it out and hand delivered my mail.

It took a few weeks for the USPS to replace the entire box during which time I had to go get my mail from the post office. Once the new one was installed, I had to get a key from the local post office and show ID proving it was my address. A bit of pain in the ass but the USPS did take care of it.

it doesn't read like the box is the issue but the gate to access the property. No matter who's fault it is, the property manager should repair and pursue reimbursement as they see needed.

 

[DucatiHoney]

I helped a client get permission from the USPS for a locked mail box. I know that some of my clients have mail carriers go in through locked gates. In either case, it was my understanding that it was up to the owner of the lock to deal with keeping it in working condition. I'm not an expert (IS there an expert on this stuff? :laughing) but I think your building manager has it wrong unless he's got some agreement with USPS to the contrary.

 

[mercurial]

Property owner ultimately has a duty to tenants to ensure property has adequate security measures in place and should find a solution when notified. Whether or not USPS is ultimately at fault, is not your problem. If any security issues arise from this lock being broken, since you have already notified property owner that the lock does not work, they would be liable.

I would suggest sending property owner a letter advising them on this liability (and the fact that this letter functions as evidence that can be used to prove that they are aware of their liability.)

 

[mbsv]

Well it's broken locked. Better than when the door was broken unlocked for a while. (The mail carrier didn't deliver then because the key didn't work... never bothered to pull on the handle!)

I already told the building manager. And probably others did too. Thus we all got a note saying it's USPS' fault.

Guess that means sitting on the phone for a while too,

 

[mercurial]

So basically you have a dumb mail person. :laughing

That's probably a losing battle to escalate on. Maybe you can just wait for the mail person to come and give them a tutorial?

 

[Climber]

The property manager is passing the buck, it is ultimately their responsibility to ensure that the property is secure if that's one of the features of that property.

Do you know who the owners of the property are?

Contact them, the property manager will fix it quickly after that.

I believe that if there was a crime committed on the property as a result of the broken door (or if could be possibly used), the owners could be sued.