Is this illegal? shredding someone else's mail?

Question

Is this illegal? shredding someone else's mail?
i recently moved out of a house. i didn't get my adress changed yet and was still recieving mail there. the lady that rents the place called and left a message on my phone saying she had recieved some of my mail insurance documents and letters from the dmv. i didn't give her permission to open any of them. she told me that she needed my address so she can forward them to me, which was also in the message. i recently talked to one her kids which told me she had shreded them. is this illegal? should i press charges? she left this all on my voice mail too.

Answer 1

She can dispose of mail lower than first class like advertising, but if she destroyed first class mail or merchandise she violated Federal law.

You should have filed a change of address with the post office or called and had them hold your mail until you could give them an address or call for it in person.

You can file a complaint but the USPS is very reluctant to actually follow up on complaints even with proof.

For those things that you think she destroyed, call the people they were from and ask for duplicates to be sent to your new address.

Answer 2

Not only is this illegal but this is BIG time illegal. Tampering with anyone's mail other than one's own is a federal offense and is a felony. Why in the world would this woman do this? Did you part ways with anymosity? It doesn't really matter though - she had no right to do anything with your mail -- certainly not shred it. If she did not have a forwarding address or did not want to take the time to forward it she should have given to the postman or taken it to the post office. As to whether you should press charges? That is a decision you must make. How important was this mail and can you get copies of any business matters? Pressing charges on someone is a big step. If you were not harmed in anyway except for time lost and a little heat under your proverbial collar, consider telling her that you have the right to press charges but won't. Also tell her next time she might not be dealing with someone as forgiving as you! lol! Anyway, I wish you the best. Who knows in about 10 years you may find out the State is holding money for you that should have been delivered now. You just might end up with a cozy little nest egg that has been drawing interest all those years! Don't laugh, believe it or not that happened to me!. Funny thing was I really didn't NEED the money then, but when I found out about it (from the legal section in my home town paper) I needed that amount of money very very much! God does provide. Well I digress - Best wishes and God bless! fishergirl

Answer 3

It is illegal to open or mess with anyone else's mail. It doesn't sound like she has opened them but is trying to forward your mail to you. Any mail that doesn't belong to you should be put back in the mailbox and marked no such person at this address so it can be returned to the sender. Why don't you just do an address change and then all of this would be moot.

Answer 4

well look at the stuff she shredded!! its not silly spam or junk mail its letters from a state office and a company that gives you the security to be on the road or what not. those letters are meant to be yours...technically it is YOUR property and under her hands it was destructed. so destruction of property is something you can pin against her...and i know it is a federal offense to open a letter that is under a name not as your own. the only reason i know this was because my mom was a parolle officer back in the day and i opened a letter to my sister out of curiosity and i got the tail end of that. id seek a lawyers opinion..youd need proof and all that jazz to pin up a law suit. sorry about all that trouble, and good luck!!

Answer 5

Your local law enforcement agency or an attorney could answer better than I, but I believe it's illegal. A person is not supposed to tamper with anyone else's mail. She should have simply "returned to sender" if she didn't want to be bothered. I can't advise you on pressing charges. That's up to you. If she did this to be vindictive, then maybe you need to press charges? Try talking to her first, if that's possible.

Answer 6

The correct thing to do is forward the mail or return it to the sender. Neither costs anything except five minutes of time.

The previous onwr of my house moved out five years ago and I forwarded his family's mail for three years, then started returning it to sender after that.

It take five minutes.

I'd be speaking with somone at the post office about this, I doubt what she did was legal.

Cheers :-)

Answer 7

Technically it is illegal. She should have had the mail sent back to the sender. Essentially she stole your mail.

I wouldn't worry about pressing charges (it's not worth the time)- it doesn't help you at all. Just get the documents reprinted from the sources. By all means get your address correction form filled in.

Answer 8

First off,she broke the law by opening your mail.
I t's a fed.law and the mail s the property of the
postoffice till you receieve it.she should have returned it to the postoffice.By shredding them
was destroyed you private property.
Check with the Postal inspectior.
Yes,upon the findings of the inspector. FILE IN FEDRAIL COURT,

Answer 9

heck yeah it's illegal , unless it was done by a minor/ by mistake and if it wasn't important or can be replaced ,cause things can and do get lost in the mail, and really she should have contacted the ones it ws fronm but sonme ppl are mentally deficient and don't think of things like that like my aunt in-law who wanted to just throw some things away instead of getting them to the right address if she didn't know where ethe street was.

Answer 10

If she actually opened the mail, yes. If she assumed, because of the return on the envelopes, no. I do think you need to make a report to the Inspector General in your state, and send copies of your proof. While she could be in trouble, they will also tell you that you should have changed your address.