USPS-Approved Locking Mailbox Insert

Someone posted a link in HOAtalk a couple of years ago for a USPS-approved locking mailbox insert.

(This is a "mailbox" with a locking door that can be installed inside of an existing mailbox. It's slightly smaller than the existing mailbox. This may be cheaper than replacing a mailbox with one having a locking door, especially where the existing mailbox is encased in a more permanent structure, such as brick or concrete.)

Our neighborhood is looking into locking mailbox alternatives. I can no longer find that post. (The HOAtalk "Forum Search" option is not very useful.) I cannot find any USPS-approved locking mailbox inserts via internet search.

Please, can anyone provide me a link to this old post or any information about locking mailbox inserts approved by the US Post Office?

In doing a google search, I found the following link:

Locking Mailbox Insert

Please note the warning on their site:

Lockboxes are not specifically approved or disapproved by the post office. There have been rare cases when the use of the small size lockbox has been prohibited. Ask before you purchase.

As Melissa advised, you might want to check with your local post office.

We had a group mailbox with these lock box type mailboxes. The owners had a key to open from the front and the postman from the back to put the mail in. Unfornately, I believe they have stopped making these type mailboxes years ago. We couldn't find replacement parts except for the locks. Over the years they did NOT stop theft. Matter of fact, I had a paycheck stolen and other residents had their child support payments stolen. I had to deal with the Postal Inspectors. Hence why I found out all this information.

It is a federal crime to mess with a mailbox. It is considered FEDERAL property and any crimes should be addressed to the postal service and not necessarily the local authority. You can call the police for vandalism issues but theft is something that should be addressed by the postal services. They have their own police type entity.

You most likely won't find these mailboxes your looking for as they may have been phased out years ago by the postal service. You should still talk to your postal service to find an alternate solution. In our area, they allow the elderly people to have their mailboxes next to their door. Which is an item again sold at Lowes/Home Depot. It's just the mailman would have to go to the doors of the residents instead of driving down the street. Those type boxes may have locks on them if you can find them. Otherwise, most people should know it is a FEDERAL offense to mess with someone's mailbox. Plus people should STOP putting notices/sales inside mailboxes IF they don't have STAMPS on them!!!! Sorry that is a pet peeve of mine..

While Melissa is technically correct that it is illegal to place anything in a mailbox without having mailed it with postage (a law that was passed in the 1930s - and affirmed by the US Supreme Court in 1981 - with the express purpose to protect the financial well-being of USPS), that becomes somewhat of a moot point regarding individual (not cluster) locked mailboxes.

That's because the USPS does not have and will not accept a key to an individual locked mailbox. They only require that the "slot" for the locked box be large enough to accept your daily mail volume (this may explain the reference in Tim's post above regarding occasional USPS prohibition against the smaller size locking mailbox insert). As such, the only person who has access to retrieve anything placed in such a mailbox is the owner.

Here's from the USPS FAQs:

"Locked Mailboxes

Requesting a Locked Mailbox
The United States Postal Service does not sell or provide personal mailboxes. If you would like to obtain a locked mailbox for your residence, you are encouraged to purchase your own locked mailbox at a local store.

Note: A mailbox with a lock must have a slot that is large enough to accommodate your daily mail volume. The Postal Service neither opens a locked box nor accepts a key for this purpose."

I have some experience with this because when our HOA became self-managed, we decided to install a locked mailbox in front of our clubhouse which then became the official street address of the HOA. We invested in a heavy duty (read as several hundred dollars) locked mailbox for which only a couple of Board members have the key.

While it may be technically illegal to do so, we also have this box double as a "drop box" for residents to use to securely get anything (including monthly dues payments) to the BOD.

SPAM. Reported.