Fourplex - Receiving mail for the building

[Jeff Anderson]

As PO BOX rates have more than doubled in the last 10 years, I'm trying to setup an additional mailbox for my fourplex building for the purpose of receiving administrative mail to effectively use it like a PO BOX. The building has the following addressing scheme for the units: '123 Main St. Apt. A' (B, C, and D as well). And, just to be clear, I'm not trying to setup an additional unit--I am just trying to accomplish receiving mail to '123 Main St.', nothing more.

Has anyone successfully accomplished this?

To go on further,

As a test, I hung a mailbox (along side with my tenant's mailboxes), clearly labeled it with the building address, and sent a test letter. The letter came back "Return to Sender Attempted - Not Known". When I went to the local USPS office to inquire with the Supervisor, his explanation was: the Address Management System only shows the four units (i.e. 123 Main St. Apt. A) not the physical building, 123 Main St., and is thus undeliverable. He directed me to the City to have the building address added to receive mail and for this I would have to apply with the City for having an additional unit constructed (i.e. applications, permits, etc.) as mail can only be delivered to a dwelling (rather than a building). I'm not sure how he he concluded this as county records show  '123 Main St.' as a valid physical address.

When I spoke with the City Community Dev. Supervisor to explain what I was trying to accomplish, they said that shouldn't be a problem as I am not adding a unit and the building is a physical address. However, before adding the address to the system, they checked with USPS to verify, and came back denying my request saying the same explanation as what USPS said above.

No one at USPS or the City has been able to provide me with any ordinances, laws, USPS Handbook rules, etc. as their basis for enforcing this decision. Perhaps there is one, but until that can be provided as justification for their decision it doesn't seem proper for USPS to be playing 'detective' telling people they can't hang a mailbox when there is a physical address on record with the county.

Has anyone run into this too?

Thanks in advance for your comments and responses.

[Melanie P.]

Quote from @Jeff Anderson:

Hi @Melanie P. I already checked with the Postmaster. The addressing system only has units 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D' in their database. If the address doesn't fully match, it gets kicked back to Sender as "Unknown".

According to USPS, my only recourse is having the City add a new address entry for only the street address (no apartment unit) in the system. They will only do this if I add a 5th unit (which takes me into commercial territory). So, yeah, government bureaucracy at its finest.

If you add another box and keep sending mail to the that box you will be surprised to see that mail is delivered by your carrier. When it comes to the online tools for address verification you have to call the USPS AMS office and request they extend the RANGE of unit numbers/letters. Here is a link to look up your AMS office: https://postalpro.usps.com/ppro-tools/address-management-sys...

You're not getting what you want because you're giving everyone too much information. Just tell them there's now FIVE boxes at that address and the range needs to be updated appropriately. Your carrier can also put in through his union to have a box added to his route because he is paid based on the numbers of boxes he must deliver to.

If they press you for more information tell them you're renting out the attic/basement and it needs its own address for mail. Leave it at that.