If you live in an apartment, condo, or even a mobile home park or some subdivisions, you may have what's called a "cluster" mailbox, shared with other residents.
But if it breaks, who is responsible for fixing it? It's important information to know, the because the obvious answer is not the correct one.
Mail Carrier Can't Deliver
Some tenants of an apartment building in Cincinnati's Westwood neighborhood are pulling their hair out, trying to get their mailbox repaired.
As the mail carrier makes his rounds each day, tenants in the apartment building on Glenmore Avenue can only guess if they will receive any mail.
It all depends if the mailman can get inside to fill their row of boxes.
"He's dependent on someone being home," Peggy Hochstetler said. "And he buzzes until someone lets him in."
Hochstetler, whose mom lives in the building, is on a crusade to get its master lock fixed.
"It has not worked for a minimum of 5 to 6 months," she said.
The problem is mail carriers are not allowed to drop a big stack of mail outside an apartment building, because checks and other important mail could be stolen.
So unless there is a tenant to buzz him in, he cannot leave the mail that day.
So we called the landlord, Cobble Hill Properties, which told us in a statement "the postal service has the key, so it is their responsibility to fix the lock. We have asked them several times to repair it."
But not so fast.
The US Postal Service's Rule Book, in its most recent 2012 update, states that when it comes to cluster boxes at condos, apartments, and mobile home parks: "purchase, installation, and maintenance of mail receptacles are the responsibility of the customer."
It states the Post Service may repair a broken box "at its discretion," but says it is ultimately the landlord or HOA that owns the box and bears full responsibility.
Hochstetler says neither excuse is acceptable. "Somebody's got to step to the plate and figure this out for the people who live here," she said.
USPS will Work With Landlord
We contacted the US Postal Service, where a spokesman told us they will be contacting the landlord, and will try to have the box repaired in the next week.
Meantime, if you a have a problem with your group mailbox, let your landlord or HOA know group mailboxes are really their responsibility, so you don't waste your money.
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