At 09:16 AM 4/21/99 -0700, Roy Buzdor wrote:
>Joe Geiser wrote:
>>
>> The USPS owns the mailboxes on the street, and
>> technically owns your mailbox at your house.
>
>While I know that this is true (I was a mailman for
>a while), it seems rather counter-intuitive that
>the USPS owns a box that I bought and attached to
>a building which is on my property, which I am in
>the process of buying for another 10 years yet.

Yes, by law, when the USPS places mail in a recepticle
for delivery, that recepticle is deemed as 'owned' by
the USPS as a device for delivery of mail.  And while
we 'purchase' it, consider this:  any tampering/destruction
of it is a Federal offense.  If it wasn't 'owned' by
the USPS as a part of their delivery mechanism for the
U.S. mail, destruction of a mailbox would be simply
a misdemeanor offense for larceny/destruction of private
property under $250.

So generally when the neighborhood teenagers take a bat/etc.
to a mailbox and get caught, they generally are happy to
replace it and won't do it again after a visit from the
Postal Inspector....  He considers them 'suspect' for
any others that are damaged in the area so you can be assured
they tell their friends.  This takes care of it for a year
or so until a new batch of teenagers comes along and the
process gets repeated....





/jf
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                        Wednesday, April 21st

          Today in 1898 - The Spanish-American War began.

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