U.S. Postal Service

Rules Apply, Even to Mailboxes

by Henry “Hank” Lerner, Esq.

Do-Not-Call. Do-Not-Fax. CAN-SPAM.

     It’s getting tougher and tougher for a REALTOR® to contact potential clients without violating any laws. Even using good old-fashioned shoe leather to canvass the neighborhood is not without its issues. I recently talked with a PAR member who was going house to house delivering flyers. The REALTOR® had her information in a clear plastic bag and was placing the information on the outside of homeowners’ mailboxes. A mail carrier delivering mail in the neighborhood told her she was not allowed to place material on the mailbox or “anywhere near the mailbox” or she’d risk being severely fined and jailed.

     I decided to do some investigating.

     As you might guess, there is a federal statute that covers this scenario, as well as extensive U.S. Postal Service regulations.  In short, the Postal Service does not allow anyone other than a postal employee to distribute material in or on a mailbox.

      The regulation seems to indicate that the support post isn’t considered part of the mailbox and that materials lying “anywhere near the mailbox” probably aren’t prohibited unless they are blocking the delivery of the mail. These rules also don’t apply to mail slots in the doors of a home and they wouldn’t apply to simply leaving materials on the front porch of a house or hanging from a doorknob.

      Of course, if you’re leaving marketing materials on people’s property – particularly on the front lawn near the mailbox – you might be littering. And depending on your municipal ordinances, as a door-to-door solicitor you may be required to register and/or get a permit from the municipality.

     If you choose to market your services in this manner, it would be a good idea to check both with your municipality and your local postmaster to get clarification on any local rules or interpretations that may affect your activities. (Find a list of postmasters online at http://www.usps.com/postmasterfinder/.) After this, if you have any questions about what exactly you can and cannot do, you can’t go wrong to consult brokerage counsel to be sure that any activities are within the law.