Fliers in Residental Mailboxes

I think most people have heard, somewhere along the way, that it’s illegal to put missing pet (or any) fliers in mail boxes – right? You probably don’t actually question it, but if you’re like me, you’d really like to see the code that spells it out. And I have it for you.

There are several codes to look at to get the full picture. You want to look at Title 18, Section 1725, which you can find at: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C83.txt. (This is on the US House of Representatives' website.) Here’s how it reads:

TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 83 - POSTAL SERVICE

Sec. 1725. Postage unpaid on deposited mail matter

-STATUTE- Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, or other like matter, on which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on any mail route with intent to avoid payment of lawful postage thereon, shall for each such offense be fined under this title.

And here’s a more reader-friendly version, on the Cornell University Law School site:



Click for a larger view

Then you also want to look on the US Postal Service’s website at the Domestic Mail Manual, then search on “Customer Mail Receptacles”, the second and third paragraphs. Get straight to it by going to: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/508.htm. The important parts are where it says:

“Door slots and non-lockable bins or troughs used with apartment house mailboxes are not letterboxes within the meaning of 18 USC 1725 and are not private mail receptacles for the standards for mailable matter not bearing postage found in or on private mail receptacles. The post or other support is not part of the receptacle”
and
“no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.”

Here’s a visual for you:

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And last, though I couldn’t find an the actual bulletin, I found a quote that was in a USPS Postal Bulletin, Issue 21861, 2-17-94, p. 37 (wouldn’t you know that the USPS started putting its bulletins online in 1995), entitled "Mailable Matter in or on Private Mail Receptacles” which reads as follows:

"Mailable matter not bearing postage found in or on private mail receptacles represents a revenue deficiency to the Postal Service and is a violation of federal law. Title 18 United States Code, section 1725, provides for a fine of not more than $300 per piece for these violations. All employees must uniformly enforce the procedures detailed in the Domestic Mail Manual, section P011.2.0. The failure to enforce these procedures uniformly may jeopardize the criminal prosecution of repeated violators."

You may also find this page helpful:  http://www.lplists.com/mail-off.htm

What's your interpretation? Mine is -- steer clear of residential mailboxes! But feel free to put them in a newspaper box, in a mail slot, or at the front door, such as hanging in a bag on the knob, or rolled up and threaded through the handle.

Here's an important point for pet detectives or for organized volunteers assisting in a specific search -- remember to cover this important regulation with the missing pet's people early in the game. I once stepped in to a search late on the very afternoon that the dog's people had spent hours, before my arrival and before we could talk, putting fliers into mailboxes in the rural area where the dog had been seen. That night, she recieved an angry email from a resident who had found a flier in her mailbox, stating that he was filing a complaint with the post office since it's illegal to put fliers in mailboxes. Sure enough he did, on Monday. The lost dog's person got off easy, with a warning from a postal worker who obviously hated being placed in the position of having to contact her. But she did break a law. And this was very awkward for me since volunteering to assist people search for and recover their lost dogs is what I do, so I can't be any part of breaking federal, or local, laws.

It was a lesson for me . . . however the problem is that there are a TON of important points that all need to be covered with the people as the first item of business when starting to help someone search for their missing pet!