We’re in the midst of closing on my mother’s house, making sure the house is empty, etc. She has a rural type mailbox that I would like to keep if possible. As I won’t be seeing our lawyer until later in the week, and this isn’t an issue I want to trouble her with, I was wondering if any USPS Dopers know the rules. Am I required, as a seller, to provide the buyer with a mailbox? FWIW, I think the buyer’s going to level the house and rebuild, if that makes a difference. It will likely be some time before he catches mail at that address.
My mother-in-law wanted to keep her mailbox, too. She called the agent representing the buyer and the agent passed on the request. They had no problem with it.
However, in your contract, it might be considered a fixture of the property. (It should spell out what you can take and what you can’t.) A mailbox might be considered much like a ceiling light-- something attatched like that can’t be removed.
I’d just give the buyer’s agent a call. Most likely, they won’t mind.
Rules probably vary from state to state. But a mailbox sounds like an item that would typically be viewed as going along with the house, unless there was something specific in the contract stating otherwise.
Check now with the buyer’s agent to see if taking it is OK, and save potential headaches.
It’s not a huge deal, I was just looking to save myself maybe $30-40. There is no sentimental value to the mailbox at all.
See, our mailman is a weenie, and is afraid of dogs. I do my best to have the dog inside when he is due, but sometimes he comes early, the dog is out, and I miss my mail. What I want to do it put a rural type box at the fenceline, so weenie-boy doesn’t have to even come in the yard. If I get moms, I save money, I get the mail box up earlier than I otherwise would if I had to buy it, I get my mail on time, and the mailman doesn’t pee his pants so often. Profit all over the place.
Inviso-text:
:rolleyes: Replace box with basic mailbox from local hardware store. 
Inviso-reply:
:rolleyes:
That involves me getting my laziness to the local hardware store chain and spending money. If I had the sort of initiative you describe, I’d already have my new mailbox. I know there are several solutions to my situation, but the question I asked pertains to the legality of me not leaving the buyer with a mailbox.
If you take the old box, be sure to say “Yoink!” when you do it.
It’s attatched to a 4X4 post which has been driven into the ground. It’s not even set in concrete, so I’m expecting more of a “schlurpp” sound.
You do realize that as long as the mailbox is up to recieve mail you don’t own it don’t you?
If you take it down…now that’s another story.
You may need a deboxing permit, approved by the postal fairies. 
I didn’t. Since my mom passed away last year, even for months before then, when she was convalescing here in between treatments, her mail has been forwarded to my house. The mailbox at her house has not recieved mail in at almost a year and a half.
I think I know what you’re getting at though. But is a vacant house, with mail from the previous owner being forwarded, really recieving mail? Her mailman had known for quite some time that she was ill, her mail had been forwarded, and that she eventually passed away. He didn’t even bother leaving stuff marked “Resident”.
FWIM’s in buying houses I would like to point out some differences. In one the person was so f’n cheap that they took everything including the shower curtain rod with them. It just left a bad taste with us and we have a very low opinon of those cheap bastards. The other not only left more then we expected but left a bit of food and some cans of soda in the fridge, which not only was very thougful, but came in handy when we 1st moved in, and was exhausted and didn’t want to go to get food.
Also I don’t know why you would expect a mailman to deliver your mail if you have dogs in your yard. It doesn’t make him a weenie, it just showes he is wise and doesn’t want to place himself in unneeded harm. It seems like a good idea if you can solve this by installing a mailbox at your fence, but it seems like a shitty way to do it unless the buyers give you an OK on it.
My reading of the sale contract on my last house would have clearly indicated that I owned the mailbox unless it was explicitly stated otherwise.
The negotiated price for the house as agreed to by the buyer probably includes the mailbox. If you want to keep that mailbox, get with the buyer and offer a $30 price drop and an amendment of the form.
When selling a house, there’s generally a “seller’s disclosure” document which, among other things, mentions what comes with and doesn’t come with the house. If you want the mailbox, that should specifically be listed there as not coming with the house.
If it’s already past that point, have the agent contact the buyer and see if it’s an option.
However, if there’s no special value to the mailbox, it does seem like it would make sense just to buy yourself a new one from the hardware store.
Last thing: check with your local post office to make sure it’s okay to change where the mailbox is. Some areas have regulations about that. I can’t imagine it’s an issue going from a mailbox on the house to one at the street (thought the reverse might be an issue), but you should ask, just to be safe.
This is an interesting point. I never thought of that. I wonder what the issue would be? While, as Reeder alluded to, technically the USPS might own the mailbox, shouldn’t the homeowner be able to chose a convenient pick-up location, whether at the house or at the street? Naturally, putting the mailbox in the middle of the back yard surrounded by picker-bushes is not convenient for either party, dogs notwithstanding, what would the issue be with moving the mailbox from the street to the side of the house?
Not arguing with anything said here, I’m genuinely curious.
It depends on how mail is delivered in your neighborhood. Most places with newer construction are required to put up “cluster” mailboxes where all houses on the same block go to the cluster to pick up their mail.
In my area, each house has a rural-type mailbox placed on the street so that the carrier can drive by with his little truck and put the mail in the box without getting out. There are strict regulations about where it must be placed, including height, distance from the driveway, adjoining homes sharing posts, etc. These make it convenient for the carrier.
In other areas where the carrier walks the route, the boxes can be on the house, a slot in the door, mailboxes on the street, etc. Ask your PO what is allowed in your area.
I think you’ll find the issue is not whether you have to provide a mailbox, but whether you can remove something which would reasonably be considered attached to the property and thus included with the house in the sales agreement. From what you’ve described, I would consider the mailbox attached, and removal of it a violation of the contract. I wouldn’t remove it without the express – and preferably written – permission of the buyer.
You *do * own the box. The USPS “owns” the space inside it, and can regulate where it is and what size it is, and can prohibit anyone but them from using it, etc.
But it sounds like it would be easier to leave it and install your own. Just check with your local PO first.
Casey, I think your question was answered well by FatBaldGuy. The post office has routes that they’ll only do certain ways - where I live, they’re going to the clusters, or they’ll have truck-only routes. My previous house had a mailbox by the street (even though it was an urban area), and if we had removed it and put a mailbox by the front door, they would not have gotten out of the truck to take the mail up to the door. I don’t know whether they would have fined us or something, or simply not delivered the mail, and I never had any interest in looking it up.
But, as I said earlier, I can’t imagine that it would be an issue going the other way. The central detail is how the mail is delivered, and are you making more work for the letter carrier. It sounds like your current area has a carrier walking to your door, so a box by the road would be less work for them. I would expect that to be okay.