• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Need to place a mailbox on my neighbor's side of the street

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

cDawg

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mass.

So I just moved into a quaint small NE town that was not big on mailboxes. No one on my street has one, we live about 1/4 mile and busy intersection from the town Post Office. After the 3rd day of my wife playing frogger with our 3 kids to get the mail she decided we need a mailbox. I spoke to the Postmaster, it's permissable to have one it just needs to be on the opposite side of the street due to the route (they cannot change it). So I spoke neighbor's wife about 3 months ago and she stated her husband would be livid if we destroyed the historic charm of the neighborhood with a mailbox. Last weekend I see him outside and stroll over to ask him directly (mind you I aware that there is an easement that covers the first 3 feet of both of our properties). He promptly tells me if I put one up he will rip it down., can walk to the post office like everyone else and he's tired of young people like me buying houses in town and trying to change everything. I am stuck here, I need a mailbox and ahve the legal right to place one in the easement zone but I don't want to be a crappy neighbor.
P.S. My wife thinks I should get a Big Billy Bass mailbox and plunk 2 inches beyond the easement line.
 


justalayman

Senior Member
so, what are you looking for? You know you can legally install a mailbox on the other side of the road. You know the neighbor will be PO'd and might even tear it down.

Not much else to say. Either put up the mailbox or not based on what you know.
 

xylene

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mass.

So I just moved into a quaint small NE town that was not big on mailboxes. No one on my street has one, we live about 1/4 mile and busy intersection from the town Post Office. After the 3rd day of my wife playing frogger with our 3 kids to get the mail she decided we need a mailbox. I spoke to the Postmaster, it's permissable to have one it just needs to be on the opposite side of the street due to the route (they cannot change it). So I spoke neighbor's wife about 3 months ago and she stated her husband would be livid if we destroyed the historic charm of the neighborhood with a mailbox. Last weekend I see him outside and stroll over to ask him directly (mind you I aware that there is an easement that covers the first 3 feet of both of our properties). He promptly tells me if I put one up he will rip it down., can walk to the post office like everyone else and he's tired of young people like me buying houses in town and trying to change everything. I am stuck here, I need a mailbox and ahve the legal right to place one in the easement zone but I don't want to be a crappy neighbor.
P.S. My wife thinks I should get a Big Billy Bass mailbox and plunk 2 inches beyond the easement line.
You need to tell talk to the postmaster what your neighbor said.

It sounds like you already have won the not being a crappy neighbor contest and it is appropriate to put up a mailbox despite this townies' objection.

And should your neighbor interfere with your mail by vandalizing your mailbox, you need to report that to the police and the postmaster, as that action would be a serious crime. (something to note to the neighbor as you put it up.)
 

justalayman

Senior Member
And should your neighbor interfere with your mail by vandalizing your mailbox, you need to report that to the police and the postmaster, as that action would be a serious crime. (something to note to the neighbor as you put it up.)
I will say that mailboxes that experience the baseball bat treatment in the middle of the night are often crimes not solved. Even with the threat by the neighbor, unless there is some evidence, nothing is going to happen until it can be proven he did it.
 

HuAi

Member
(mind you I aware that there is an easement that covers the first 3 feet of both of our properties).
What kind of easement is it? Not saying it's not possible, but usually first few feet of property next to the road contain a utility easement with the city as the dominant tenant. I would be surprised if the easement allows for arbitrary citizens to install structures on the owner's land.

You may have to put the mailbox up on your side and the postman will have to cross the road to drop your mail off. Postmaster can't force your neighbor to allow you to construct a mailbox on his property if it's not in the easement already.
 

xylene

Senior Member
What kind of easement is it? Not saying it's not possible, but usually first few feet of property next to the road contain a utility easement with the city as the dominant tenant. I would be surprised if the easement allows for arbitrary citizens to install structures on the owner's land.

You may have to put the mailbox up on your side and the postman will have to cross the road to drop your mail off. Postmaster can't force your neighbor to allow you to construct a mailbox on his property if it's not in the easement already.
Actually, the postmaster has already clearly stated that the poster not only can place the mailbox there, but must, and that there will be no crossing of the road by the mail carrier.

This is very common and the neighbor has no basis to object other than being a townie louse, which is not a valid reason under law.
 

drewguy

Member
You need to tell talk to the postmaster what your neighbor said.

It sounds like you already have won the not being a crappy neighbor contest and it is appropriate to put up a mailbox despite this townies' objection.

And should your neighbor interfere with your mail by vandalizing your mailbox, you need to report that to the police and the postmaster, as that action would be a serious crime. (something to note to the neighbor as you put it up.)
Yeah, I'd go to the postmaster, and then return to the neighbor "we got off to a bad start . . . postmaster says this is where it has to go . . . I'd like to make sure I install a nice-looking postbox and here are a couple I was looking at. I'd appreciate your letting me know if you prefer one style over another"

Since he's already said what he did, and you tell the postmaster, if the thing ends up bashed at a minimum he'll get some tough questioning.

FWIW, his lament seems pretty bogus--if they have mail delivery it's not really changing the town in any way.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top