Because you lease your mailbox to the Postal Service, they require that your mailbox meet certain criteria regarding placement, design, and usage in order to maintain your service. Sending mail isn’t free (stamps, shipping, postage, etc). Let’s not forget that, as long as you have an up-to-code mailbox, receiving mail is a free service. Once you install your mailbox, and it is ready for the receipt of mail, you effectively lease your mailbox to the federal government for the service of mail delivery. (Aside: vandalism and even mail theft are rarely prosecuted as federal crimes, but that’s a topic for a separate blog post).īut, that is just the first half of the story. Violators can be fined up to $250,000, or imprisoned for up to three years, for each act of vandalism.” This law puts your mailbox under Federal jurisdiction in order to protect you (the resident) from any harm or vandalism that may occur from a mailbox’s misuse. However, once a mailbox is properly installed and ready for use, it is effectively considered Federal Property.Īccording to federal law ( Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), it is “a crime to vandalize mailboxes (or to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). (You can visit to find out about all the necessary specifications). To be sure, the process starts with the resident’s purchase of an up-to-code mailbox. There is actually a careful balance of legal policy that establishes the ownership and property rights of your mailbox.

Many people often wonder why mailboxes are federal property.

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