Can i have mail delivered to a vacant house, if i own that house outright?

Question

i have 2 residences: an apartment that i normally stay at, and a house that i am renovating. for privacy reasons, i prefer to have my mail delivered to the house. the post office never had a problem with it. but recently, they stopped delivering mail there, saying you cannot have mail delivered to a vacant house(even though i own it). can anyone tell me what to do in this situation?

Answer 1

From what I can see from the USPS website, the mail that reaches the carrier should probably be delivered...there's a couple of exceptions (mail marked "occupant", etc - I tried to link in the "source" field shown below - not sure if it's working)

But I think your mail probably isn't even getting to your carrier.  The post office is now offering a list of vacant addresses to people who are sending the mail - so they may never be sending the mail to begin with, as the software will show it as an invalid address:

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsr...

Since that's a recent change, I'll bet that's your issue.  And the post office can't do anything about mail that isn't sent.

If that's the case, you may just need to get a box at a place like Mail Boxes, etc.

Answer 2

I'm not sure. Is the house powered? I have a home at the beach that we actually used to live in--we visit about one weekend a month and still get mail there (I have one particular piece of mail that I prefer having sent there.)  No one else stays there unless we're there. It stays powered.  I've never had anyone tell me I couldnt receive mail there.

Answer 3

Go talk to them in person. When I was house shopping last year, I looked at probably a dozen vacant houses and every single one had mail in the mailbox.  If that’s the rule, it’s pretty new.

Answer 4

Put a big, neat & new mailbox out front -- make it easy for the carriers. And it should be OK. (they're probably put off by the state of the place, and approaching it)

Answer 5

I solved the problem by putting in one of those larger mailboxes where the mail slides down inside into a large locked container.  That way the postman doesn't get worried if she sees the box overflowing since you didn't get there for a week.  THe mail goes in and i can wait 60 days if i choose.  A thief could drill thru the bottom but they can't reach down inside and get anything.  

It was the overflowing mailbox that worried the Post Office.

Answer 6

Normally if a property is vacant for a certain period of time the postal service will cease to deliver mail to that address. The mailman for the route is required to fill out a form for his supervisor.

Once this is done most mail is stopped at the post office.

If you are seeking privacy you should get you a postal box office from a service that offer post boxes. You may find one in your local telephone book. I am not speaking of the post office but the ones you find on street corners or in strip shopping malls.

These places offer you the privacy you desire and is very inexpensive.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"