41
votes
Accepted
Are U.S. mailboxes federal property?
The real story is that the articles you link to are logically fallacious.
The first hedges its assertions by saying a mailbox is "effectively considered" to be federal property. It cites 18 USC 1705,...
- 35.1k
36
votes
Accepted
Are these unsolicited seed packages illegal?
Reports I've seen are that these seed shipments have false customs declarations, claiming that they contain something else, e.g. this one which was declared as "ring". That would violate 18 ...
- 29k
36
votes
Accepted
Receiving a certified letter and the contents is not address to you
If the envelope had someone else's name and not your name, you should in theory not have opened it, and should instead have marked it "Not known at this address. Return to Sender." and ...
- 113k
24
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's mail?
Do not throw away mail that is not addressed to you.
If you receive misaddressed mail, write "Not at this address" on the envelope and put it in a mailbox, or give it to the mailperson (source: ...
- 364
23
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's standard mail?
As indicated here, throwing away mail is the crime of obstructing mail. There is no exception for "junk mail" i.e. standard mail. It is possible (virtually guaranteed) that an individual postmaster or ...
- 210k
15
votes
Are these unsolicited seed packages illegal?
We have an intersection of two very different effects.
Agricultural import laws
This is an area of law that normally, consumers have no reason to deal with. However the laws apply to absolutely ...
14
votes
Accepted
Misdelivered merchandise -- can you legally (if not morally) keep it?
Reading the examples from the ftc site what they mean is if someone sends you a good (intending for you to be the one who owns it) and asks you to pay for it, then it counts as a free gift
If a good ...
- 6,131
12
votes
What is the proper way of handling non-USPS packages for long-gone tenants?
Focusing on the legal question, the obstruction of correspondence statute would not be applicable to UPS package deliveries. To repeat 18 USC 1702,
Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package ...
- 210k
11
votes
Accepted
How to prove a party received a specific letter?
It's true that you can't prove what was in the envelope. But assuming this ends in small claims court or some sort of collections action lets play out how it works.
The company is going to claim that ...
- 8,646
10
votes
Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's mail?
This is a concise summary of the rule in Australia.
The recipient is obliged to cross out the address mark it "return to sender no longer at this address" and post it or otherwise deliver it to the ...
- 197k
9
votes
Misdelivered merchandise -- can you legally (if not morally) keep it?
Both Federal2 and Maine law prohibit anyone who sends you merchandise you did not order from billing you for it or from pressuring you to return it. By law, you may keep the merchandise and consider ...
- 5,509
9
votes
Receiving a certified letter and the contents is not address to you
You are A. X sent you a letter clearly intended for B. Doing nothing is bound to create some confusion or worse, but legally you are not forced to do anything.
However: That letter might be about X ...
- 32.9k
8
votes
If I accidentally send a package to the wrong person, is it still my property?
I would think that this would be treated the same as lost property. In most places, if you notice lost property (for example because the postman hands it to you) you have the choice of ignoring it (...
- 32.9k
8
votes
Tenant's Son Living on property
Close family members can stay as long as the tenant wants
The tenant is entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of the property which includes living with their close relatives - spouse, de facto and children ...
- 197k
8
votes
Receiving a certified letter and the contents is not address to you
Why does the sender have b degnan's address, and why are they sending a registered letter to that address? It's quite possible that there were multiple letters sent out, and some envelopes got ...
- 181
6
votes
Accepted
What if someone put a non-lethal "bomb" in a package addressed to them to get back at a mail stealing thief
"Revenge" is not a legal concept. If you injure someone other than in self defence or for another legal reason than you are committing assault. Hence dangerous booby traps for trespassers ...
- 13k
6
votes
Can a landlord use the delivery of U.S. mail as a method of surveillance?
Residents agree that the receipt of mail by any individual not listed
as a Resident or Occupant in this Agreement at the Leased Premises
shall be proof of occupancy of that individual and a ...
- 210k
5
votes
Is it illegal to send mail through the US Postal Service with a missing or fake return address?
First, return addresses are intended simply to provide a mechanism by which an undeliverable or returned letter can be returned to the sender. If you have a practical concern then consider the ...
- 363
5
votes
Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's mail?
In the United States with USPS, this appears to depend on letter type.
"STANDARD" is what the junk mail gets mailed as (and it does not get forwarded with a Change-of-Address), whereas "FIRST CLASS" ...
- 5,018
5
votes
Accepted
When (if ever) is USPS's Certified Mail/Registered Mail/Signature/etc. valid for proof in court?
You appear to be conflating two different legal concepts: evidence and proof.
evidence something that furnishes proof: testimony; specifically: something legally submitted to a tribunal to ascertain ...
- 197k
5
votes
Accepted
Is it legal for an apartment manager to put advertisement stickers on my mail?
If the sticker is not easily removable, it would likely fall under defacement of the mail which is illegal according to 18 U.S. Code § 1705 - Destruction of letter boxes or mail:
Whoever willfully ...
- 4,285
5
votes
Is it illegal for me to take my mail out of my neighbors mailbox
In the US it is generally illegal for you to open somebody else's mailbox. Your best course of action is to contact your neighbor and let them retrieve the package for you.
In practice it might ...
- 3,150
5
votes
Mail sent to my address for someone who doesn't live there and I don't do any work for free
There appears to be a contradiction to my lack of enslavement or indentured servitude with a concept that someone can put mail in my mailbox and then expect me to work for someone else if that mail ...
- 113k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the legal stance of a person who receives misaddressed court documents
You aren't allowed to open it or destroy it. (18 USC 1702).
USPS says (at http://faq.usps.com/):
If the mailpiece is delivered to the correct location but the recipient on the mailpiece does not ...
- 3,954
4
votes
Does filling U.S. postal service business reply envelopes with junk incur any legal peril?
Two questions. Since the answer to the second answers the first I will go out of order
If a person did that could he be found liable for damages in a civil action? Or does it run afoul of any ...
- 2,316
4
votes
Sending dried fruits to Australia through courier
You would not be liable for a fine (If you think about it, how can you be - Australia does not have jurisdiction over you as you are in New Zealand, and you have broken no NZ law - Further, you ...
- 3,470
4
votes
Is it really illegal for someone who's not a postman to use a mailslot in the USA?
A mail slot is not a mailbox. So putting a key through a mail slot after locking the door is not the same as putting the key in a mailbox.
- 8,646
4
votes
How to prove a party received a specific letter?
A common practice for law firms is to make a photocopy of correspondence issued, and to send it by multiple channels.
For instance, you may scan and email it to a customer service email address as ...
- 12.1k
4
votes
Can an owner ban a person from a property when a contract is in place?
He can probably cancel your contract for cause and ban you. If he does so, you can send someone else to get the packages, forward them to someplace other than your home, or retrieve them with a "civil ...
- 194k
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