Break Ins/Prowlers

Why didn't you notify the Police?

Note: You still can notify the police. Your video may be the break they need in the case.

You were not careful before there was criminal activity?

... perhaps that is why y'all became targets ...

We'll contact the police and give them the clip that we have. Thank you!

I worded it poorly. I always try to be careful and look around, but if there are noises outside, we've always assumed it was a neighbor. The other complexes near us have gates and locked entryways so that's probably why we are a target.

It's strange because even though our complex only has 16 units, we don't know any of our neighbors! We sometimes go weeks without running into a neighbor. When we do see them, they seem pretty private after salutations so we let them go about their business. The only contact information we have for any of our neighbors are three people on the board.

There isn't a secure area besides our individual units. The board wants everyone's door to look the same so we can't have a mail slot put just in ours. I asked if we could potentially have have this done for everyone if the post office agrees because some people had theirs broken into multiple times, but the board said they replaced the doors about ten years ago and they are still good, so no.

I get what you're saying, but the board makes it come off as a money issue and unnecessary spending in their eyes. They also said other neighbors don't complain with the status quo and because we haven't really conversed with neighbors, we don't know if this is true or not. We're trying to "bump" into neighbors more than before just to see their thoughts, but honestly, at this point, we won't know for sure who is a neighbor or visitor or trespasser lol if all else fails, we will have to have our important mail sent to our workplaces.

It very well could be a money issue, although I think they're being short-sighted as well. It sounds as if the HOA owns the mailboxes...??? If the board thinks that buying new mailboxes is too expensive, wait 'til they see what it costs when a resident's mail is stolen and their bank accounts drained, and the person files a lawsuit against the HOA for refusing to provide or allow secure mailboxes.

Here's what I would do in a similar situation:

* Go to email delivery of financial and other important documents (saves you the chore of shredding stuff as well). Direct the rest to a secure delivery spot (PO box if they're close enough?).

* Start an education campaign. It's very likely that the board is just uninformed and not thinking beyond immediate issues. Talk about identify theft and stolen mail, and what the possible consequences would be for the HOA if it owns and is responsible for the mailboxes.

* Ask the board to educate the community about these issues.

* After that, if the HOA budget is really that strained, suggest the board poll the community about their willingness to chip in for secured mailboxes. I did a quick Google search and saw 16-unit boxes for sale around $1300 (installation is extra). That's a small enough amount of money that owners may be willing to do a small special assessment once they're aware of the issues.

* And don't forget to check with the local post office to see if they have any requirements or useful input.

This is a solvable problem. Good luck!

Hold your horses on the cluster boxes... Ours were broken into a few times. One of the reasons is that owners often did not take care of their locks on their boxes. The HOA did NOT provide the locks nor install them. The locks were about $5 at a home improvement store. The mailman would install them for free if you left them in the box.

The post office also doesn't make cluster boxes as readily now a days. Think they have like 1 to 2 vendors that do it. They may be increasing production as they are trying to make money saving decisions to include cluster boxes. Less starts/stops.

Post office has their own postal inspectors for postal crimes. Best to report those to them. They will send an inspector out. Had this happen when our boxes got broken into. My last paycheck got stolen as others child support payments. One of which was a law enforcement officer. They couldn't even touch the crime as it was covered by the post office.

Form a neighborhood watch for the crime if you are all that concerned. Just don't fund it with HOA funds...