Opening US mail not addressed to you.

[Tastes_of_Chocolate]

Over here arjee mentions open a piece of mail delivered to his/her house, without realizing that while the address was correct, the name belonged to someone who didn’t live there. Now I’ve got a couple of questions.

Let’s say the same thing happens to me (actually, I do occasionally get my neighbors mail, with my address on it) and I open it. I’m assuming that in general the powers that be would shake their heads, realize it was a boo boo, and not press any charges. Could they? Is unknowingly tampering with mail with someone elses name on it an offense?

Also, mail with my address, but someone elses name, who does it belong to? There is no “Fred G Chucklebutt” at my address. Does the mail belong to the address or to the name or do both have to match?

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Tastes of Chocolate

Over here arjee mentions open a piece of mail delivered to his/her house, without realizing that while the address was correct, the name belonged to someone who didn’t live there. Now I’ve got a couple of questions.

Let’s say the same thing happens to me (actually, I do occasionally get my neighbors mail, with my address on it) and I open it. I’m assuming that in general the powers that be would shake their heads, realize it was a boo boo, and not press any charges. Could they? Is unknowingly tampering with mail with someone elses name on it an offense?

Also, mail with my address, but someone elses name, who does it belong to? There is no “Fred G Chucklebutt” at my address. Does the mail belong to the address or to the name or do both have to match?

I can answer the last part. Mail remains the property of the sender until it reaches the individual or organization named. So if you get Fred G. Chucklebutt’s letter, it’s the property of the sender.