Can my landlord still get his mails at my address?

By Tenant

Surprisingly, a lot of the rental problems today spring from a mailbox issue. Yes, it’s all in the mail. I heard of a woman asking forums why her apartment complex does not have a mailbox and apparently, she has reason to complain since USPS guidelines state that an apartment complex should have a secure mailbox that is easily accessible. And since USPS is like the official mailing partner of the US government then their guidelines would be equivalent to laws.

Now, I have a not-so-similar problem. My family and I are renting a home. Yes, we have our own mailbox where we get our mails. However, we’re also getting my landlord’s mails in this address. So every two weeks, he comes by collect his mail and I think, also check in on us. My family and I don’t feel very comfortable with this setup. Also, we don’t want to be responsible for our landlord’s mail. The mails are very private so I don’t think I would want to be asked for them.

So anyway, I just thought of sharing my experience with you in case you are stuck in a similar situation.

• Don’t panic. If you can’t talk to your landlord nicely, go to USPS. Ask them if it’s right for your landlord to still get the mails in your cluster mailbox. Again, USPS is an authority so they can definitely answer your mailing concerns.
• Correct the address. If you get your landlord’s mails, you can write “Not this address, return to sender.” Yes, your landlord may not like this but you can just tell him your reasons. If you know your landlord’s new address or PO Box, you can also write it on the back of the envelope so USPS can send it to the correct address.
• Don’t pay for your own box. Seriously, you’re already paying rent and that includes access to the mailbox. So you wouldn’t want to spend additional on mailboxes, especially a PO Box.
• Tell your landlord that it’s a kind of fraud to continue receiving mails in an address where he doesn’t live in.

There could be many reasons why your landlord may not want to receive his mails in his address. One of these could be because he is hiding from other people. This is something that you do not want to deal with. As far as you’re concerned, you’re the tenant and he’s your landlord – that should be the end of your relationship. You are not his secretary so you have no obligation to keep his mails.

You know, I did all these steps too but landlord still insisted that mails be delivered in our address. We can’t just move because of this. We’re in a lease and we’re pretty much satisfied with the house we’re renting. The only problem is the mails.

So here’s what I did as a final resort, I filed a formal complaint against him. I used this link, in case you’re asking how I did it: http://www.rentalprotectionagency.com/complaint_center.php

Yup, that solved the problem alright.

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