Must the Landlord Provide a Locking Mailbox? Yes!
In ambling around the city’s multifamily residential areas we sometimes see the telltale signs of dilapidation. When we peek inside the vestibule we are likely to see mailboxes that are broken and doors that are agape without a functioning lock to secure them. The Postal Service requires locked mailboxes to protect mail recipients from mail theft and identity theft. And that is the responsibility of the landlord. But some landlords overlook the obligation and even refuse to repair mailboxes at a tenant’s request. One tenant’s complaint sent us down the rabbit hole to learn exactly what are the USPS standards for mailboxes — and what we should expect from the landlord that provides it.
The picture at the top of the post shows the mailboxes at 136 S Canon Drive. These are the original mailboxes for the 1937 structure and they have their charm. However mailboxes that have no functioning lock or that don’t close properly quickly lose their charm. More to the point they certainly don’t conform to Postal Service standards. Likewise at 126 N Almont Drive the maintenance of these contemporary mailboxes falls well short of anybody’s expectation for a mailbox. More to the point these don’t meet USPS standards either: box doors are ajar and one mailbox is missing the lock.
Unfortunately the sorry state of the Almont mailboxes is reflective of the blighted conditions at this property generally. We recently reported owner Parivash Laaly to code enforcement as this once-handsome apartment building has declined for decades without maintenance. No surprise that the mailboxes are a shambles too.
What is a tenant to do? Little known among the public is that any mail recipient that has a substandard or broken mailbox can ask their mail carrier to notify the landlord about the problem via USPS form 4056 (‘Your Mailbox Needs Attention’). Hopefully the landlord will make the necessary repairs. But of course landlords don’t always make those necessary repairs. That is why we post explainers like this one. Let’s look at what’s required of the landlord.
Locked Mailbox is Required by Law
The essential California Tenants Guide: Rights and Responsibilities (2022) describes the statutory requirement for mailboxes: “A dwelling may be considered uninhabitable if it substantially lacks a locking mailbox for each unit that is consistent with the United States Postal Service standards for apartment housing mail boxes.”
The guide is referring to Civil Code section 1941.1, which establishes minimum standards for human habitation in rental property. That is understood to include heat, hot water, electricity, and plumbing, of course, but tenantable premises also requires a locking mailbox (unless a mail slot meets the USPS standards).
A dwelling shall be deemed untenantable for purposes of Section 1941 if it substantially lacks…. a locking mail receptacle for each residential unit in a residential hotel, as required by Section 17958.3 of the Health and Safety Code.” — CIV § 1941.1(a)(9))
Nowhere in state law does it say that every apartment needs a locking mailbox. Maybe that’s common sense or was established as a requirement long ago through case law. Whichever it may be, a locking mailbox is required and the landlord must provide it. Incidentally the residential hotels provision (HSC § 17958.3) was added as recently as 2008 in order to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act. It recognizes that a residential hotel functions no differently from an apartment: it is a guestroom or efficiency unit that is leased and occupied for sleeping purposes and is the primary residence of the guest.
USPS Regulations
To understand the landlord’s obligations we must turn to Postal Service regulations. And USPS is nothing if not well-regulated! It turns out that there are very specific regulations for every aspect of mail delivery including standards for apartment house mailboxes: approved models, installation requirements and security features. Let’s walk through it.
First, the Postal Service will only deliver to a mailbox that is approved by the Postal Service:
Delivery of mail to individual boxes in a residential building containing apartments or units occupied by different addressees is contingent upon USPS concluding the following requirements are met: (a) The building contains three or more units (above, below, or behind — not side by side) with (1) A common building entrance such as a door, a passageway, or stairs; and (2) A common street address (some part of the address is shared) approved by local or municipal authorities; and (b) The installation and maintenance of mail receptacles are approved by the Postal Service. — Postal Operations Manual subsection 631.54 ‘Apartment Houses’ (July 31, 2020 update)
Second, the Postal Service assigns to the landlord the responsibility to make sure the mailbox is secure:
Appropriate mail receptacles must be provided for the receipt of mail. The type of mail receptacle depends on the mode of delivery in place. Purchase, installation, and maintenance of mail receptacles are the responsibility of the customer. Appropriate locations for installation should be verified with local Postmasters. Customer obligations are as follows: a. In locations where door delivery has been authorized, customers must provide either house-mounted boxes that provide adequate protection and security for the mail and that are approved by the local Postmaster, or they must provide door slots (see 632.3). — Postal Operations Manual subsection 632.1 Customer Obligation
Third, the Postal Service assigns to the landlord the responsibility for maintaining the mailboxes:
The guidelines for receptacle maintenance and repair are as follows: (a) Owners or managers of buildings must keep receptacles in good repair. (b) Carriers will report on PS Form 3521, House Numbers and Mail Receptacles Report, all apartment houses that are being remodeled and all unlocked or out-of-order mailboxes. Delivering employees and postmasters must ensure that all inside-letterbox Arrow locks are recovered when buildings are torn down or remodeled. (c) When informed of equipment needing repair or irregularity in the operation of apartment house mail receptacles, postmasters will promptly initiate an investigation and direct what repairs must be made at the expense of the owners or managers. — Postal Operations Manual subsection 632.627 ‘Maintenance and Repair’
Fourth, delivery will be interrupted if a mailbox is not up to Postal Service standards. Subsection 632.627 continues:
(d) Failure to keep boxes locked or in proper repair as directed by postmasters is sufficient justification for withholding mail delivery and requiring occupants to call for their mail at the Post Office or carrier delivery unit serving the location. A reasonable notice of approximately 30 days will be given in writing to the customers and the owner or manager of the apartment building.
And fifth, the landlord must replace the mailbox with an approved model if an apartment building is “substantially renovated or remodeled.” So says the Domestic Mail Manual section 508 ‘Apartment Mail Receptacles.’ Check out these approved models from an approved vendor that is listed in Postal Operations Manual section 632.511.
Mail Carrier Obligations
You wouldn’t know it from the prevalence of busted mailboxes, but our mail carriers are obligated to report broken mailboxes to the Postmaster. The mail carrier can use Form 3521 to report a broken, unlocked, or non-standard apartment mailbox. Moreover, the Postmaster is obligated to investigate any report of a substandard mailbox.
Now this may be a paper rule that doesn’t get enforced. Nevertheless we encourage tenants with busted mailboxes to take it up with the carrier. Have him or her make a report about your substandard mailbox!
Mailbox Improvement Week
The Postal Service wants to ensure that mailboxes are up-to-snuff. Broken mailboxes frustrate mail carriers. Mail theft is a distraction that the service doesn’t need. A well-functioning, standard mailbox in good repair is better for everyone.
That’s why each year the Postal Service celebrates ‘Mailbox Improvement Week’ typically during the third week of May. The purpose of this poorly-promoted event is to encourage landlords to repair mailboxes and to replace substandard mailboxes with newer models that meet the Postal Service’s standards for safe operation and security. Those standards were last revised in 2004 pursuant to USPS policy STD–4C.
This year Mailbox Improvement Week kicks off on May 21st and runs through May 27th. Read the latest USPS Postal Bulletin to learn more!
Regulations for Replacing the Mailbox
Because the Postal Service controls the delivery of mail from sender to recipient, it does not allow any third-party to handle the mail or even open the mailbox. In fact a Postal Service representative must be on hand to supervise the replacement of a mailbox or even to change a mailbox lock! The Postal Operations Manual describes the policy:
When informed of equipment needing repair or irregularity in the operation of apartment house mail receptacles, postmasters will promptly initiate an investigation and direct what repairs must be made at the expense of the owners or managers. To avoid any questions about disposition or treatment of mail, repairs must be made only when a postal representative is present. It is unlawful for anyone other than postal employees to open receptacles and expose mail. — Postal Operations Manual 632.627 ‘Maintenance and Repair’ subsection (c)
Evidently the new landlord at 212 Reeves didn’t get the memo. When she replaced a perfectly serviceable (and USPS-approved) mailbox last year there was no Postal Service representative on hand. Instead the landlord’s handyman simply emptied the mailbox of tenants’ mail and then unceremoniously pried the old mailbox from the wall. (The mail was dumped in the trash.)
Adding insult to injury, the landlord’s handyman sloppily cut a slot in one of the mailbox doors to create a drop box for the rent check. Affixed to that box is ‘unit #15’ which the owner intended was to be a postal address for building management. There is no fifteenth unit at this property, however, and so that apartment address has not been approved by any agency. A utility bill was sent to that unit but the mail was left on top of the mailbox.
These acts violated Postal Service regulations on two counts: the approved USPS mailbox was now defaced; and the mailbox exhibits a street address for a unit that does not exit. Ironically the new mailbox may conform to USPS policy STD–4C, but it is of lesser quality than the unit it replaced with thinner steel and flimsy dividers suggesting the cheapest model available. Indeed this mailbox is a reflection of the new landlord’s approach to property maintenance.
The new landlord at 212 Reeves would do well to familiarize herself with the Postal Operations Manual or at least review our explainer to learn the landlord’s responsibilities for safe and secure mailboxes.