Mailbox blocked Customers are required, as a condition of delivery, to ensure that proper access is provided to mail receptacles. Proper access includes the removal of large accumulations of snow from the area around curb line receptacles and from sidewalks leading to door or other house‑mounted receptacles.
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The USPS Standard Training Program for City Letter Carriers (p 16.2. 3) instructs: “If the approach to the mailbox is blocked, delivery must be attempted by dis- mounting where it is safe to do so.” This applies whether the box is blocked by a vehicle, a trash can or even snow or ice.
USPS may not deliver mail to your home if they cannot access your mailbox for some reason, if the weather conditions are too hazardous, or if there is an animal that makes it potentially unsafe for the mail carrier to approach the mailbox.
Many of them have no mailboxes, when that's the case any piece of first class mail gets returned to sender. Those that do have mailboxes usually have a seasonal forward in place and get their mail forwarded to their primary location. Your best be will be to visit the post office during the week when they're open.
§1701.
Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Mailbox blocked
Without such access, the safety of the carrier is jeopardized. Mailbox blockage by a vehicle may also prevent the delivery of mail. According to our policy, the city or rural carrier should get out of the vehicle to make delivery if the mailbox is temporarily blocked by a vehicle.
A person may not stop, stand, or park a vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct a mailbox or to interfere with the delivery of mail by the United States Postal Service.
If you don't have a mailbox at your address then your address is not in the postal database and the sender will not be able to pay for USPS shipping to a place with no mail service. UPS and FedEx might go there and will accept that package.
The US Postal Service would not deny you mail delivery, unless your residence presented a hazardous condition for the postman, or lacked a proper mailbox or mail slot. Otherwise, mail addressed to you, which has the proper postage affixed, will be delivered to you — as promptly as conditions permit.
The door may not be opening and closing properly, there can be dangerously sharp details, or the house number may be missing. If your mailbox is in bad condition, the delivery can be held until the problem is fixed.
It is a federal crime to destroy, hide, open, or embezzle mail that is not intended for you. The official crime is obstruction of correspondence, which is a felony. If you're found guilty of this crime, you could face up to five years in prison and some hefty fines.
The federal regulation is designed to promote the efficiency of mail delivery by permitting postal carriers to take short-cuts across lawns. The regulation's purpose and effect is consonant with the Congressional mandate to the Postal Service to provide efficient mail delivery service.
Customers must remove obstructions, including vehicles, trash cans, and snow, that impede safe and efficient delivery. Except when a mailbox is temporarily blocked, carriers must have access to the mailbox without leaving the vehicle unless authorized to dismount.
You may not sue the post office for failing to deliver mail to you, or failing to deliver mail you sent to someone else.
Key Access: Some locking mailboxes use a key lock system. Each mailbox has a designated key, and the mailman carries a set of keys to open these boxes. These keys are specific to the postal service, allowing mail carriers to unlock the boxes and insert mail.
5) The Obstruction of Mail Statute
But what you might not know is that it's actually illegal to hold up mail delivery. The Obstruction of Mail Statute forbids the knowing and willful obstruction (or slowing) of mail, mail carriers, or mail-carrying conveyances.
According to the United States Postal Service, only authorized USPS delivery personnel are authorized to place items in a mailbox. By law, a mailbox is only intended for the receipt of postage-paid U.S. Mail. On their website, the USPS warns people about this law, commonly known as the mailbox restriction.
The original sender does pay for returns if they used ground service. Priority Mail and First Class Mail is returned at no cost. The customer who refuses it does not pay, unless they opened it.
Assuming a USPS-compliant mailbox is installed and ready for use, it's considered federal property. In other words, the homeowner doesn't legally own his or her mailbox; it's the property of the U.S. government. Prior to installation, however, mailboxes aren't federal property.
Generally, when you have a broken mailbox, the USPS will inform you that your mailbox is unserviceable. They will hold your mail at the local post office for two weeks while you or the party responsible handles the repairs, and you can pick up your mail there in the interim.
Position your mailbox 41″ to 45″ from the road surface to the bottom of the mailbox or point of mail entry. Place your mailbox 6″ to 8″ back from the curb. If you do not have a raised curb, contact your local postmaster for guidance. Put your house or apartment number on the mailbox.
Contact the postmaster. Your mail will not be delivered if your box is blocked, and the postmaster can help you address your concern properly.
Sec. 1701 - Obstruction of mails generally. Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
"No part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle.