Landlord won't fix mailbox lock?

Question

My mailbox lock somehow stopped working on friday, I tracked down the mail lady and had her open the whole thing for me then spent the rest of the day trying to contact my landlord. Saturday she told me that our handyman was out of town for the next two weeks, she gave me the option of having it unlocked and leaving it open, or having her get all my mail. She's never available and I do not trust her so I asked her to have my mailbox unlocked. It's now Tuesday and I have no been able to access my mailbox for the last two days. Is it even legal for her to deny me my mail? ? Any suggestions as to what I can do to regain access to my mail? Thanks !

Answer 1

I had this happen to one of my tenants.  The lock on the mailbox broke.  She called me.  Unfortunately, the owners of the building are not responsible for maintenance of the mailboxes. Mailboxes are federal and the post office is the one who has to handle it.  You must call the post office and get them to fix the lock.  The landlord cant touch it.

Answer 2

She needs to have it repaired in a timely matter. Tell her to hire another handyman or call a locksmith to repair it.

Answer 3

Contact the Postmaster. The landlord is REQUIRED to provide a lockable mailbox. You best option is to report this to the Postmaster and have your mail held for you to pick it up. Unless you have the new Centralized Mailbox the landlord is responsible for the lock itself, though the Post Office may have to lend a hand in opening it for repair access.