Current Events > If someone accidentally sends you a package....

(+) Yeah! (+)

Someone orders something online, but it goes to their old address which happens to be your current address. They drive to your house on the date of delivery and explain that they used to live at your house and accidentally had a package delivered to your adress and ask if they can have the package. They show you their ID , tracking number and Etsy receipt that confirms that they did buy something online and had it delivered to your house by mistake.

Yes. Its illegal to keep or open other peoples mail.

Even if it gets sent to your address by mistake?

TC over here asking us if we would commit a federal crime

Yes, but I wasn't aware of post 2 so now my answer is even easier to make.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Even if it gets sent to your address by mistake?

Yes. Its always illegal to keep / open mail that is not yours.

Even opening your partners mail is illegal, although its most unlikely they will report you to the police.

Yeah, I'd 100% give them their shit. Why wouldn't I?

If they didn't try to pick it up, I'd likely just "return to sender, doesn't live here/wrong address" it. I'm not going to commit a crime and open/keep someones mail.

It's illegal to open other people's mail and that's stealing. Yes I'd give it to them lol

Okay. But what if you already opened it?

Yeah, easy. I'm not going to go out of my way to get it to the person but if they come over to get it, sure.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Okay. But what if you already opened it?

Be ready for an FBI raid.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Okay. But what if you already opened it?

Why would I open something that I know isn't addressed to me?

Health posted...

Yes. Its always illegal to keep / open mail that is not yours.

This I knew, but I honestly thought it just ment like stuff in envelopes/mailboxes and not boxed stuff you get from Amazon or whatever. TIL.

Okay. So it's all good if you opened it, but gave it back to the intended addressee.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

Okay. So it's all good if you opened it, but gave it back to the intended addressee.

If that person doesnt care then youll be fine. However, they can report you to the police, but probably wont.

If i still have the package, yes.

Odds are that I already returned that package with a does not live here to avoid further legal trouble. Otherwise that person could claim they still live there because they are able to receive mail.

Yes. I don't want whatever they ordered and it saves me the hassle of returning it to sender.

The exception would be if I've been living there for years. Then I'd be suspicious. Like in 2021, some guy delivered a package to my mom's house by "mistake" and it weirded us out. My mom has owned that house since 2004 and we'd never heard of the guy. We suspect he was doing some kind of scam.

I received a package last year directed to some previous tenant. I went out of my way to try and find contact info for the person but couldn't find anything. So I returned the package to Amazon with a note that they don't live here anymore and I got the refund money back as a credit from Amazon.

No one ever reached out to me asking for it.

Health posted...

Yes. Its illegal to keep or open other peoples mail.

Only if shipped and/or delivered through the postal service. Packages delivered by FedEx or UPS are not protected by those laws, but I still would give the packages to them all the same if they text me ahead of time letting me know of their mistake (which has happened a couple of times at my current home).

Paragon21XX posted...

Packages delivered by FedEx or UPS are not protected by those laws

Ok, I didnt know that.

so it's okay to follow delivery drivers and take packages off of people's porches?

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

so it's okay to follow delivery drivers and take packages off of people's porches?

ITP laws about stealing no longer exist.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

that would be their gimmick

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

so it's okay to follow delivery drivers and take packages off of people's porches?

No. It's a federal offense to open mail from the USPS that doesn't belong to you.

There would still be multiple local laws that would make what you're suggesting illegal.

Health posted...

If that person doesnt care then youll be fine. However, they can report you to the police, but probably wont.

This makes me curious what the cops would actually do in my case.
I've lived in my apartment almost 10 years. Somehow, someone who lives in my complex gave my address out as her new address about a year ago. I've told management to tell her to fix her address, I've told the postman too.
Every piece of mail of hers I've put back in the mailbin. I still get her mail, it appears she hasn't done anything to rectify the situation, and occasionally it gets opened.
Maybe if she reports me to the police I can explain to them the situation, and they will take me to her apartment so I can yell at her and tell her to fix her address.
I can't even fathom how the address got mixed up, as she lives in a unit that's far away and not close numerically.