How to get a USPS Postal Address for HOA Business

Maybe just rent a box at the closest post office. Jeanne

We used our clubhouse address as our official address. You may want to discuss this with your Postal service if you can put a mailbox up. There are issues with using a Post office box. Believe it or not, P.O. boxes aren't proof of actual property ownership. Which means it may not be used for applying for certain loans or utility applications etc...

Did you know a warrant can't be served on a P.O. box if your looking for a person? Unless there is a physical mailbox in front of the residents, the police can't serve a warrant. I know as I have someone who owes me money who doesn't have a mailbox but a P.O. Box. Keep this in mind when considering P.O. boxes. You probably won't be delivering any warrants out on anybody but it's good to know just in case there's an issue.

Thanks for all the replies.

I hadn't considered using a P.O. Box, but I suppose that is one option. It would be nice if we could use the unused mailbox on the association property - for the convenience factor, and since it wouldn't cost us anything.

Since we don't have a clubhouse or other common area structure, I'm not sure how to go about getting a new address registered with the USPS - maybe I'll give them a call in the morning and see if they have some more details.

Thanks again!,
Fritz

They can if you have a mailbox even if it's not close by. That's because it represents an actual property address. A warrant has to be detailed with exact physical identifying description. That means if the warrant says you have a pink house, they can't serve it on a blue one. If you have enough time to paint it before they arrive. LOL.

A P.O. box isn't a physical property address. You don't live at the post office. That's not to say they can't serve a warrant on your post office box for it's contents. They just can't use it to find you physically. Usually won't have your home address on any of the mail delivered there.

This is a bit confusing. So I don't typically trust too many contractors or people who could owe me money that use P.O. boxes. It sends up a red flag for me. That's because if I have to collect on them later, it's going to be more difficult to do so. Which is something some crooks are aware of. A P.O. box can potentially hide alot of information...Just ask a postal inspector...

It's also NOT legal information permissable in a court of law either....The police can't bribe a clerk or the post office for a physical address. That will for sure get the case thrown out of court...An individual could try that route but for the law...not so much....

Thanks Melissa...so it really isn't whether i have a mailbox, it's the difference between having a physical address (ie, real property) and a PO box. Got it. The way it was stated first was somewhat confusing, like I could avoid warrants by knocking down my mailbox or something.

Tangential thread: I understand the desire to not do business with PO Box users (or to at least be wary), but I always think back to where I grew up. We had a PO Box all my life, because that was the only option. There was no mail service. Everyone in town had a PO Box, or if you were poor, you had General Delivery C/O Postmaster, and you got your mail sent to the Postmaster, who held it for you at the front counter. There was no other service/option. If you wanted mail, you went to the Post OFfice to get it.

Always hated things that said "No sales to PO Boxes" or some such thing, because I had no choice in the matter. It's not like I could change the city and US postal system so I could have an actual street address.

Yup, lived in a place so backwards, we didn't even have house numbers or street addresses. The old timers, or those who cared to go to City Hall and look at the old plat maps, could tell you what street names were, but I was 16 before the city even put street signs up. Even then, there were no house numbers or street addresses. I lived at the corner of Ohio and Vine. Yup, my actual address was NorthWest Corner of Ohio and Vine. Worse still were those houses not on corners... My Neighbors were "Second house north of Ohio and Vine, next to the church". UPS must have hated our town.