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Since a mailbox officially belongs to the government and thus falls under U.S. law, tampering with, disabling or otherwise vandalizing a mailbox is illegal under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705. Those found in violation of this code section can be fined up to $250,000 or sentenced to up to three years in prison for each instance.
Individuals can report any theft or violence against a mailbox directly to the U.S. Postal Service toll-free at 1-877-876-2455 or online at USPS.gov. By keeping a mailbox in good repair and in a safe location, individuals can reduce the risk of vandalism.
Postal retiree here, 29 years service, 25 of which were with the Postal Inspection Service, the agency which investigates mailbox vandalism. So I do know a lot about this this.
The U.S. Code section pertains to willful, malicious damage to mailboxes, like when kids drive around with a baseball bat. Not someone accidentally backing into the box. I do not recall any instance when anyone was prosecuted Federally for malicious damage. Always handled by local law enforcement as vandalism.
And your standard rural-type mailbox does not “officially belong to the government.” It belongs to you, although Federal laws regulate what can be placed in it.
I’ve been retired over nine years. I thought my “mailbox damage” spiel days were over.
I’d give the neighbor a drop dead date and after that, give him the bill from your handyman. You said it was a rental. Do you know the landlord?
We just moved into a brand new build. Didnt have a mailbox so we went to Lowes and got one. Cost 30 bucks and took 5 minutes to install. That includes digging the hole, inserting the pole and filling it back in and screwing the mail box on the mount.
If you really want to start bad blood with your neighbor over 35 bucks and 5 minutes of your life, then go ahead. However, dont expect him to worry about watching over your place if you are gone on vacation.
We just moved into a brand new build. Didnt have a mailbox so we went to Lowes and got one. Cost 30 bucks and took 5 minutes to install. That includes digging the hole, inserting the pole and filling it back in and screwing the mail box on the mount.
If you really want to start bad blood with your neighbor over 35 bucks and 5 minutes of your life, then go ahead. However, dont expect him to worry about watching over your place if you are gone on vacation.
Great, come over and do the digging and reseating of the post for me. I'm female and can't lift anything over 10 to 15 lbs due to a back injury. So that means I need to hire someone to do the job. BTW, it will take longer than 5 minutes and cost more than $30 if I hire someone in my area, so since you are the self-appointed expert here, you do it for me and I'll pay you $30. No need to get a new post or mailbox.
Of course I don't want to "start bad blood" with the renters next door...who would actually want that? At the same time it would be nice if they and/or their guests would manage to exit their driveway without backing into my mailbox, which has happened 2x in the span of 4 months. Somehow over 13 yrs of living in my house no one else has driven into my mailbox. How grossly unfair of me to expect someone to repair or replace property they damaged.
Well, if it is a neighbor, I would not want this to spark some adversarial relationship with him, not for something so low in cost. Sometimes it is best to let things go a bit to save a whole lot of potential issues later. So I would just fix it myself, maybe ask one more time in a pleasant manner.
I agree, I wouldn't make a big deal over it. It's a neighbor that you will always have to see. It's a good idea to stay on friendly terms with neighbors so they will look out for you in the future etc. Just hire someone to repair your mailbox and possibly move it over a few feet away from the street so it doesn't keep getting ran over. I wouldn't make a big deal over this. It's just a cheap mailbox and mailbox post.
Last edited by possibleyou; 09-15-2019 at 10:06 PM..
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lottamoxie
Because a picture is worth 1,000 words, here's the lay of the land for the visual folks.
The red line shows the path of a car/SUV backing out that manages to end up crashing into my mailbox.
The green dashed lines show the property lines between neighbors. As you can see, our driveways are very long and close together.
Thanks for the pic. I see what you mean. That's pretty much it as far as location goes. JMO. You need something else on their side of your mailbox for them to make first contact with. Someone else suggested a large concrete filled post. I like something a little more decorative. Are you allowed to do a stone or brick column mailbox. If not maybe you could surround the box with large boulders.
Why shouldn't concrete be used? The mailbox & post were in terrible shape and wobbly when I moved in here and then it was completely knocked over by an ambulance. My BIL set the new mailbox & post in concrete so it would stand up better. Why is this a no-no? I guess it's a little late now but I would like to know the reasoning behind it anyway.
I would send the neighbor another text saying that I realize he's busy, but I'd like to get it repaired by (insert time frame here -next week, the end of the month, whatever), and "would he prefer that I hire someone to do the work and just send him the bill?" That way there's a question he has to answer, and you've set a "deadline" by which you expect him to do it.
A simple steel beam might cause the neighbors to pay more attention when backing up❓
Last edited by Rickcin; 02-14-2021 at 08:08 PM..
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