News and a legal question. Couple Get Mail for Hotel Once a Week. (house, the best)

[John1960]

Hi, Can these people keep the crates of wine, cheese platters, and - once - 100 pounds of frozen fish without having to return it because they didn't order it?

DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) -- What's in a name? For Harold and Martha Smith, it's been bundles of letters, crates of wine, cheese platters, and - once - 100 pounds of frozen fish. All have been delivered to their ocean-view home in the ritzy Monarch Beach area.

And all of it was supposed to have gone to the St. Regis Resort about 1 1/2 miles away.

"This has gotten my dander up," said Mrs. Smith, 75.

TBO.com - News From The Associated Press (broken link)

[Vesper]

The short simple answer is no, it is fraud to keep something that was intended for someone else.

The best way to handle it would be to refuse shipment/delivery. One might try posting a sign if deliveries are left without a signature. When it involves mail, black out the barcode at the bottom, draw a circle around the address and write in big letters, Delivered to wrong address!

One might also try contacting the hotel concierge to arrange timely pickup of inappropriately delivered items.....

[canibeyou]

I was under the impression that once mail had been delivered, correct address or not, it was no longer the possesion of the US mail and it was yours to do with what you like and someone at the PO better learn to read.

[Racelady88]

Originally Posted by canibeyou

I was under the impression that once mail had been delivered, correct address or not, it was no longer the possesion of the US mail and it was yours to do with what you like and someone at the PO better learn to read.

Tampering with mail is a Federal offense. The post office here gets ugly if you write on the mail itself, they want you to attach a note.

I used to get mail for someone who was using my address for deliveries, and not paying for the goods. I wrote to the postmaster and it stopped. One of the deliveries did not have a return address. I opened it to get the packing slip. I called the company and they told me to keep the contents of the box for my trouble. They called me back a day later & told me that the person was having things delivered all over my neighborhood, and had not paid a single invoice. They turned him in for mail fraud.

[canibeyou]

Interesting. I got a package delivered to my PO box once. Same PO box # but for a town in North Dakota. I don't live in ND. I walked it to the counter and told the girl behind the counter that the package wasn't for me. She looked at me and said, "Do you want to keep it? It was delivered to you. It's your property now." I looked at the return label. It said "Danbury Mint". I figured I couldn't use a NASCAR plate or a lighthouse statue, so I handed it to her and told her "No thanks".

So, when a package or envelope is delivered to an address, I was under the impression, from the postal employee, that it is now my property to do with what I want. Now I'm intrigued and I'm gonna go and flat out ask someone at the PO today.