How you receive your mail may not be at the top of your list of things to think about when you are considering when buying a new home.
If you are a senior citizen, handicapped or simply don’t feel like walking (or driving) up to a block away every day to fetch your mail, however, it is something that you might want to move up the list.
Under pressure to cut costs wherever possible, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is now requiring builders and developers to purchase and install kiosks holding a cluster of individual mail boxes.
Why the Move to Community Mailboxes?
By delivering mail to kiosks, instead of door-to-door or even individual street-side mailboxes, the postal service is saving money on gasoline and wear-and-tear on USPS vehicles. And because letter carriers can deliver to more mailboxes when they are clustered – or fewer carriers are needed to deliver the same amount of mail – it’s saving money on salaries, too.
According to the USPS, at roughly $30 billion annually, delivering mail is the largest single fixed-cost the service incurs. Put another way, door-to-door delivery costs about $353 a year per address, while curbside delivery runs $224. Cluster boxes cut the cost to $160 per address annually.
There are other good reasons to deliver to cluster boxes. One is security. With mail safely tucked away in locked boxes, there is far less chance that identity thieves will be able to snatch your letters, bills and checks.
At the same time, though, requiring builders to supply the cluster boxes adds another layer of cost to their homes, not to mention the inconvenience it can place on homebuyers.
The Post Office defines cluster units as free-standing, pedestal mounted metal mailboxes containing eight, 12, 13 or 16 individually locked mailboxes and parcel compartments. Each box can cost $1,000 or more, depending on the style and size.
Beyond that, developers are free to individualize the installations. In climates where intemperate weather is a factor, builders sometimes decide to spiff up their kiosks with overhead roofs and lighting, making them resemble covered bus stops, but that adds an even greater cost factor. In some instances, they put the centralized units in customized buildings that blend in with the community decor.
Cluster boxes have been the norm in most attached townhouse communities for years. But builders usually have been able to stop local postal officials from switching to them in communities where the single-family homes are detached, according to Claire Worshtil, senior program manager for land use at the National Association of Home Builders.
The momentum, though, changed in 2012, says Worshtil. Under siege from the Internet and other, less expensive competitors, the Postal Service revised its operations manual to make cluster boxes the default for new residential development, even in those large lot subdivisions were houses can be acres apart.
Builders in some places around the country – Oregon is one that comes to mind – have been dealing with cluster boxes for years and have come to accept them. But in other places such as North Carolina and Florida, builders are finding them a tough requirement to swallow. Ditto for those in infill sites, where the neighboring older homes still have their mail delivered to their doors.
Under pressure to cut costs wherever possible, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is now requiring builders and developers to purchase and install kiosks holding a cluster of individual mail boxes.In North Carolina, according to Tim Minton, director of government affairs for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, the USPS failed to notify both builders and the local building authorities that it was no longer going to deliver to individual houses. Moreover, it wouldn’t grant a waiver to subdivisions that were already approved but weren’t started until the housing downturn had turned upward.
Consequently, some projects that were cleared three or four years ago found out mid-stream that cluster boxes were required. In many cases, says Minton, there wasn’t any place to put them. And in other instances, mail is delivered in half of the subdivision and developers have to put in cluster boxes for the homes in the other half.
Some builders spent $60,000 to $70,000 to put in boxes they were not counting on when they started, Minton says. But the postal service held firm. “I feel worse for our home buyers. They expected their mail to be delivered to their homes, but that’s not going to be the case.”
Who is Responsible for Cluster Mailboxes?
The quick answer? The people who live in the community.
A recent study by Gallup on behalf the USPS Inspector General’s office found door-to-door or curb delivery is not going to die hard among homeowners, who place a high value on maintaining the status quo. The situation even prompted Syndicated Columnist Bob Greene to wax poetic on the topic on CNN:
“It’s hardly wild speculation to predict that people will not relish having to go out into the weather every time they want to retrieve their mail. Some won’t trust the security of the group mailboxes, no matter how many assurances they receive. They’ll be especially vexed on rainy or snowy days when they make the trip to the cluster boxes, only to find that the carrier hasn’t arrived yet. For those accustomed to door-to-door mail service, the act of picking up and sorting through the mail in front of other people may feel less private.”
Individual owners can’t fight city hall on this one and neither can home owner associations. Only builders can take up the fight and only with local postmasters, who have been given the authority to veer from the dictum from headquarters in Washington. But that’s proven to be difficult, as builders in the Tar Heel State found out.
Even the North Carolina League of Municipalities has failed to sway the local postmasters that the “requirement has caused significant difficulties for developers, future buyers and local governments alike.”
Still, the NAHB recently offered its members a few guidelines to use to persuade their postmasters to back off. “Local Postal Service officials may conclude that cluster boxes aren’t worth the savings,” says Worshtil. “Pointing out these issues may help them along”:
Postal rules require that cluster boxes must not require residents to walk more than one block to get their mail. But even that can be a hardship on folks in seniors-only communities or people with disabilities. Regular delivery is much less of a problem for this population.
Just because a development sets aside a common area for kiosks does not mean the boxes are secure or safe. Thieves can break into them almost as easily as they can flip open a curbside mailbox. Recently, bandits broke into boxes in dozens of California cities to snatch tax documents so they can file fake tax returns.
Foul weather such as snow or ice can make retrieving mail difficult, if not impossible, for anyone.
Some planned communities leave it up to their homeowners’ associations (HOAs) to maintain the cluster box areas, which mean annual assessments will be that much higher. But not all properties these days have HOAs, which begs the question, “Who’s responsible?”
If homeowners should lose their mail box key, they, not the Post Office, are responsible for replacing it. And if they can’t find their one and only duplicate with which to make a copy, they will have to replace the entire lock, a tricky job at best, especially for those without the proper tools.
Lew Sichelman is a nationally syndicated housing and real estate columnist. He has covered the real estate beat for more than 50 years.
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Laura Simpson
This is the worse thing that could happen to us! I have back issues and my husband has hip issues and it is hard for us to walk blocks to get our mail. This is crazy! If we have to pay for the boxes, Why can’t we just have a fee to deliver it to our mail boxes?
Thomas Mercado
By law, can the USPS stop delivery of packages to individual homes if the developer has not built a mail kiosk and installed the cluster boxes?
Sam
Why usps need closing disclosure paper for getting the mail key? (Too much information on it.)
ken
i can’t understand this comment
Donna Beasley
Hi, I’ve been taking mail for my daughter and son in law who’ve moved. Home is not in an HOA and we live in Texas. Some of their mail comes to my home, some came to old address. That home is now sold and I have the keys to the box. I’ve seen keys left in the boxes but I don’t know if that is the best solution. Do I give the keys to the realtor? or leave them in the box. Also, extra mail gets returned to USPS? In spite of a forwarding card, it’s been 5 months and I’m still getting mail for them.
Jamie Garcia
Hi Donna,
Contact USPS for what to do with mail that is not yours, as well as where to turn in old mailbox keys.
Wally B
What are the rules if the package doesn’t fit in the small mailbox or medium sized parcel boxes near the cluster box? (Size of gift wrapping paper for example).
Jamie Garcia
Hi Wally,
You should contact your local USPS for specific mail-related questions.
Ann
Parcels that don’t fit in the parcel boxes must be brought to the front door of the addressee, or when that isn’t possible, taken back to the post office to be held for pickup.
With the greatly increasing number of parcels being delivered in the last several years (and even moreso in the last several months), there are often not enough parcel boxes in cluster mailbox units anymore, so even a lot of the normal-sized parcels are requiring door-to-door service. Which greatly reduces the supposed cost savings of cluster mailbox service.
Yeti
In this age of identity and financial theft, some feel the need to take extreme measures such as never using a real name for anything sent via USPS. It’s not illegal, but it can pose a problem in such an instance where a parcel is held at the post office and ID must be shown to retrieve it.
Michel
How can a older neighborhood without an HOA get their old cluster box replaced?
Jamie Gonzalez
Hi Michel,
You need to contact your local USPS office.
Suzi
We cannot locate our mailbox in any of the cluster mailboxes in our neighborhood. Who do we contact for help?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Suzi,
Reach out to USPS for any questions regarding your mail.
MA Freeman
I went to my mailbox today in my subdivision cluster mailbox and the key would not turn to open it. What should I do now?
Fred Hopkins
You should contact the post office that issued the key to you. They will likely be able to take care of it for you.
Evan
My cluster box is located on my property. I have 24 households that share my mailbox cluster. If someone is to fall and injure themselves am I liable. How to I request the cluster be moved off of my property.
Jamie Garcia
Hi Evan,
You should talk with your local post office or your HOA to discuss mailbox location and liabilities.
Viridiana Barron
In order to receive mail in the cluster boxes we have to pay for the boxes ? I’m renting and new to this so I am lost because I haven’t received mail.
Jamie Garcia
Hi Viridiana,
You should not have to pay to have a box. If you do not have a key to your box, you need to visit the post office assigned to your area (this may not necessarily be the post office that is physically closest to you). If you have a key and are not receiving your mail, you should be sure you set up your forwarding address correctly. You can set up mail forwarding to your new address on the USPS website. It will cost you about $1 to set up mail forwarding. If you would prefer not to pay the mail forwarding fee, you’ll need to be sure to give your new address to any and every institution that might have reason to send you mail. If you have done all of these things and are still not receiving mail, contact USPS to resolve the issue.
Rosemarie Tucker
Okay I just moved into a brand new subdivision that is not completed yet. We closed on our home the end of December of 2020. We knew up front that we would not have individual mailboxes at our homes but would have kiosks in a common area for the subdivision. It is now mid February and as of yet no one has had mail delivered or picked up. The developer installed a cluster of kiosks in one location approximately half a mile from our subdivision homes. They are just sitting there waiting for mail to be dropped off and picked up. We have reached out to the postmaster and to the HOA and the developer. The response that we have is that it’s everyone else’s responsibility but there’s. The postmaster in our local Town said that they will not start using the kiosks for any mail pickups or deliveries until a covered structure is built over the kiosks. When this subdivision is complete there will be approximately 400 homes. I know it’s only been a short time but it is very inconvenient to have to go to town in the opposite direction of where I work during the post office hours to pick up my mail and having to utilize another post office in another town that’s closer to where I work. We have paid our HOA dues for the year and this is very unfair to make those of us that are living in this new development weight for mail. Any help on how to resolve this would be grateful.
Jamie Garcia
Hi Rosemarie,
This is definitely an issue to bring up to your HOA again. It sounds like the HOA has yet to make the neighborhood mailboxes complicit with USPS rules. It may be a case of simply being persistent (though polite!) with your HOA until the issue is resolved.
ernessa claunch
I live in a subdivision, and I would love to have a clustered mailbox system. Right now ups and fedex will not deliver to my address because for some reason they are not able to find us in their gps system. So, I have to use the post offices physical address to receive my packages. Also, sometimes my packages get sent back. What can I do to get a kiosk in our area? Thanks
Jamie Garcia
Hi Ernessa,
You can talk to your HOA about the issue, or contact your local USPS.
Hannah
We live in a old neighborhood that has cluster boxes, no HOA. Someone jerk broke into our cluster box. (The whole thing.) We received a letter stating we are responsible. However our neighbors did not get any notice. I understand if we had a individual curbside mail box that was damaged, we would have to pay for it. I we own the box. BUT Why are we the only ones to get notified we would have to pay for the neighborhood mail box.
Getting 12 other families to help pay for a box is a bit much, since 50% are renters, who’s owners don’t care about the tenants mail.
If we pay the $3000 to replace the box can we charge rent until the box is paid off, to help recover the money we put into it?
Why is this cluster box a thing in neighborhoods without a HOA, or some sort of multifamily dwellings?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Hannah,
From whom did you receive a letter? The post office? Try contacting whomever sent it and explaining that you are not the sole owner of the cluster boxes. Technically, whoever owns the boxes is on the hook for paying for damages – and unless you personally had them installed, that doesn’t sound like it’s you.
Bethany
I recently bought a townhouse that uses cluster mail boxes at the entrance. Everyday when I get my mail it is completely soaked. I put in a ticked to the HOA company, but they are claiming they are not responsible for the issue. Am I allowed to weather proof just my mailbox? Who can I contact if this is not up to code?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Bethany,
You should contact your local post office before altering your mailbox in any way.
Terri
How do you send mail out when you have a cluster mailbox? I am sure the letter carrier is not going to open each box to check for outgoing mail. Does this mean I have to take any outgoing mail to the post office? What a pain!
Jamie Garcia
Hi Terri,
Cluster mailboxes often have a slot or even a couple of slots for outgoing letters and other thin envelopes. Just be sure you have correct postage on them. For larger packages, you will likely need to find a USPS drop box or visit your local USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. – the same as you would if you had a regular-sized mailbox in your yard.
Trisha S. Jones
The metal post on my street’s cluster mailbox has rusted and broken off after many years. A neighbor placed the actual box atop a wooden post to be helpful, but the box is now about a foot higher than the others throughout the neighborhood. Will the carrier refuse to deliver the mail if the height isn’t standard?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Trisha,
This is a question for your local USPS if you notice you are not receiving your mail.
Joseph Housey III
We are moving to a brand new community of 21 homes. We were told we would have individual mailboxes. Now, the developer is saying USPS is requiring we have a cluster box. The proposed location is directly in front of the tot lot. That’s dangerous. No homes have been built yet, and the cluster box hasn’t been installed. We have spoken to other home owners that have agreed to have dual boxes between homes which only requires 10 stops for the carrier. We are planning to have homeowners send letters to the postmaster general. Is there anything else we can do to get individual boxes?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Joseph,
It sounds like you’re taking all the right steps so far – your local USPS and HOA are your best resources.
Glenda
We have cluster boxes (24), but neither an outgoing slot nor a package delivery box. Our subdivision wss built in 1983. How do we get at least an outgoing mail slot?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Glenda,
You’ll need to talk to your local USPS or your HOA.
Melinda McArthur
Our mailboxes are in a locked room. Management only opens it between 9-4 on weekdays. No weekends. It’s impossible to get our mail as we work 8-5. I literally have to take off work eari once a week just to get my mail. What are the regulations concerning the time our mail room is open?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Melinda,
You need to address this with your management office, or your local USPS.
Gary Crumling
In an aging community (about 35 years old) with cluster mailboxes in some sections, who is responsible for the upkeep of theses boxes? The postal service or the homeowner’s association?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Gary,
According to USPS regulations, the property owners, builders, or developers are responsible for repairing cluster mailboxes. Property owners can appoint a manager to ensure that the mailbox meets the postal service regulations. The installation, maintenance, purchase, and replacement of the USPS approved mailbox are also the property owners’ responsibility.
Joyce Di Paola
I live in a new subdivision in Conroe TX. One of the major complaints of our 200 homeowners is unreliable mail service to our community mail boxes. Mail is consistently placed in the wrong box. Occasionally the whole front of the boxes are left open, exposing everyone’s mail. Oversized packages are stuffed in and can’t be removed. We have complained to our USPS many times and nothing has been done to correct our issues and problems. What are our options with this ongoing problem?
Jamie Garcia
Hi Joyce,
The only course of action is to continue to bring up the issue with USPS.
Denise Nico
We live in an established neighborhood created in 1989. There are over 80 miles of roads with lots for approx 5,000 single family homes. These lots were approved for individual mailboxes when the community was established. We’ve had a large growth spurt in the past few years and the post mistress decided she would not deliver mail to new homes built on some of our roads that never had a house built on them until now. From there she stopped delivery to any new homes built no matter if there were established homes on them or not. Now she has a list of our roads where she is going to stop mail delivery and these roads have homes on them that were built many years ago. She will not hold mail for anyone unless they have a postal box at the P.O. and she is trying to require the community to install CBUs. Incrementally she is stopping mail delivery to various areas of our community. None of it makes sense and I wondered if you could enlighten me on this. We have a group that is trying to fight this issue to no avail. Our community was not set up with areas for these CBUs and it would cost our community millions in order to do this.Thanks for any information.
Jamie Garcia
Hi Denise,
You need to discuss this issue with your local post office. Call the post office dedicated to your neighborhood and inform them of that situation and ask what your options are.
Louis Kramm
I’d gladly pay extra to get rid of these useless “community” boxes. It has been broken into year after year and in CA the post office is in charge of maintaining. It’s ridiculous and I’ve had enough. Even the worker at the post office said “man dats crazy, yall should get a po box…..” or. You deliver my mail to my damn door.
Marc Mandel
The above article stated “Postal rules require that cluster boxes must not require residents to walk more than one block to get their mail.”
Where is this rule stated / published? Bonus points if somebody can provide a link. 🙂
I was able to find “U. S. Postal Service National Delivery Planning Standards, A Guide for Builders and Developers” which states “Typically, mailbox receptacles are located within 1 block of the residence”. That wording is not nearly as strong as the wording in the above article.
We moved into a new development 3 years ago. We were assigned to a cluster that is 2.5 blocks away. Since then, 2 clusters have been installed that are closer. However, the postmistress will not re-assign residents to a closer cluster, even though the new clusters are mostly empty.
She exact reasons change each time she is asked, but it boils down to “that’s too hard to do.”
If there is a USPS regulation that specifies that 1 block is the maximum distance from our property line to the cluster, then I would like to be able to quote that to her.
Craig
Has anyone a recommendation for a community alert system to notify residents when their mail has been delivered?
I live in a 55+ community with about 500 homes. There are several banks of cluster mailboxes located at the Activity Center. For me this is about a mile away.
It would be great to have a means for notifying residents as to when the mail has been delivered. The delivery times range from early morning to early evening – I am not sure if it’s dependent upon tidal patterns, air pressure variances, wind direction or postal worker mood swings but delivery times are all over the board.
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
ALAN SISSON
Unless changed or eliminated, there exists a postal regulation that states that individual home curbside mailboxes may be used IF there is similar mail delivery within one mile of your home. IF so, please cite this regulation number for me. This would eliminate the need for cluster mailboxes. Mine is well over a block away.
Marilyn Brownson
I am looking for regulations concerning what is allowed while our mail currier is sorting mail into our community cluster mailboxes. Some of our residents are quite rude. It is my understanding that people can not stop and check their mailbox while the person is sorting the mail. I produce a community newsletter and I’m looking for information to assist our mail person. Any help towards a document that shows this regulation would be greatly appreciated.. TIA
Jamie Gonzalez
Hi Marilyn,
This is a question for the USPS and it is up to the postal worker to enforce any laws or regulations regarding the mail.
Sanders
Suppose I have mail that needs to be sent out. I use to lift the red flag what do you do now?
Jamie Gonzalez
Hello,
For outgoing mail at cluster mailboxes, there is typically an outgoing mail slot that you can use to send letters and other items in envelopes. For mailing larger packages, you will need to visit a USPS or a USPS drop box, or use a shipping company such as UPS, FedEx, etc.