Why? You haven’t established that what MsRobyn did was illegal. Only that it may be illegal to destroy mail not intended for you. For example, if you take it out of someone else’s box and destroy it, that is likely illegal. In the absence of any cite to the contrary, what MsRobyn did doesn’t seem illegal.
Also, I think it’s interesting that DrDeth’s USPS cite suggests contacting “your local law enforcement.” Local law enforcement doesn’t sound like the optimal recommendation for federal law guidance. And surely the Postal Inspectors don’t get tough over local laws.
In my experience, if I don’t black it out, it comes back to my address over and over and over. If I throw it out, that’s against the law. If I black it out, that’s against the law. I guess the only obvious solution is putting someone else’s undeliverable mail back in the mailbox over and over again until it goes away or we move. I should try that - see how many times the same letter will come back to me with “Return to sender - not at this address” written on it. I gave up after three before. I’m such a quitter.
Sometimes I can’t believe that stuff like that happens. If you have an RTS directive from the current occupants of the address, WHY GOD WHY, would you deliver it again?
All I can think of is that one (or more) of the people who process the mail in your area are unbelievably incompetent. Not specifically your letter carrier, though he/she should be catching that, it’s more likely whoever preps their mail.
I do my own prep, but lots of carriers don’t. Still, I don’t understand that sort of thing. :smack:
I still don’t understand why MsRobyn would have any obligation to the previous tenant? Why should she need to trouble herself with going to the nearest post office or blue box? It’s not her fault that someone else’s mail is being sent to her address. Has anyone been convicted under these circumstances.
Doubtful. I think USPS is just hoping everyone is as paranoid as DrDeth and thinks the minute they toss an old tenant’s mail, the Feds are going to come kicking their door down.
Is it illegal to remove the previous tenant’s mail from your box and stack it neatly on the ground? Where does the obligation end?
Not that I advocate that. In the past I just sprang for a “return to sender–addressee unknown” rubber stamp for under $10. Well worth it compared to getting angry every time a piece of Arnold Goleman’s mail appeared in my box.
Ok, I missed that part, I’m sorry. It would not be a very good defense but I still think she didn’t do that horrible of a thing.
Brendon
I don’t, either. It’s not rocket surgery. I don’t know how automated the system is, but if it’s just computers reading the address and the mail carrier putting it in the box with no human ever looking at it, I guess that makes a certain amount of sense.
Again, I work in the sector for Rural and Suburban (read small town) mail delivery.
Every morning I get several bins of mail supposedly for my route. (a mail bin is about the width of a letter and about three feet long) I then prime it…well I put it in order by address in a giant case with boxes in it (2 addresses per box ideally but it’s up to 5 addresses).
Each letter gets individually primed. Its at this stage that I redirect mail. The boxes have bright orange cards in them stating the name of the person, the old and new addresses, the start and expiry dates for the redirection.
Each redirected piece goes into a bin that gets passed on to the “inside workers”. Also finding its way into the bin are letters and magazines for addresses not on the route, incomplete addresses and damaged letters.
The mail in the bins I get is processed by a computer in the plant in Edmonton and sorted by route.
Mail that the computer can’t read gets sent in bins and the “inside workers” prime it by route. (then I pick it up and prime it by address). Obviously someone is checking the addresses manually for the town to send them to. (I assume in the plant in Edmonton).
Then I pull the mail out in order of stop, pack it, load it and deliver it.
That’s the amount of human/computer interaction with mail.
There is room for a lot of human error but at the very least it shouldn’t ever go out more than once.