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Personal mail opened by someone else

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tambrlyn

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA my mail was opened by someone other than myself ...he admitted it to my autistic son on messenger .....post office said fraud said it is a civil matter ...what can I do at this point...how do I find an attorney...please help
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA my mail was opened by someone other than myself ...he admitted it to my autistic son on messenger .....post office said fraud said it is a civil matter ...what can I do at this point...how do I find an attorney...please help
How were you harmed?
 

quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA my mail was opened by someone other than myself ...he admitted it to my autistic son on messenger .....post office said fraud said it is a civil matter ...what can I do at this point...how do I find an attorney...please help
Who is this "someone" who opened your mail and how did this someone come to be in possession of your mail? What happened once your mail was opened?
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA my mail was opened by someone other than myself ...
Who is this person?
What is his relationship to you?
Does he live with you?
How did he get hold of your mail?
Why open that particular piece of mail?

Must be more than you are telling.
 

quincy

Senior Member
tambrlyn, could you please add your additional details to this thread, and answer the questions asked of you here? Thanks. There is no need to start another thread.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
IF it's mail tampering it's a federal issue if it's not mail tampering then that part is moot.

EXactly where was the mail taken to be opened by another :

1. From the place where the USPS normally delivers mail to this address. Or

2 Some other place after having been delivered as above
 

quincy

Senior Member
More questions than answers so far. :D

Here are two additional details that were part of the other, mostly-duplicate thread:

The mail was addressed only to tambrlyn and it was placed on her windshield.
 

tambrlyn

Junior Member
More information

It was delivered to my brother, who is a postal employee, he did not have permission to open it. It was delivered to my mom's address which is now sold (she died in the last year and my father died at least 11 years ago) and my brother forwarded the mail to his new address. I have not lived at that address for 20 plus years. He open a letter addressed to just me and dropped it off with an orange certified card that had his address on it and put it under the windshield wiper on my car. He lives 10-15 minutes from me. He invaded my privacy and didn't have permission to open. He has not answered text or phone calls from me with information that was needed for paper work. The last time he called me he yelled at me and was trying to bully me.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
SO far there is zero evidence to support when and where and who may have improperly opened anything ...and OP it sure reads like you have a beef with your brother ....and it's inappropriate for law enforcement to waste public resources on your private disputes with brother.
 

tambrlyn

Junior Member
It was delivered to his address across town. He opened it then delivered it to me. He sent a message (text) to my son and admitted he opened it. It wasn't addressed to him. That is tampering and invasion on privacy**************.....So you are saying he has the right to open my mail and invade my privacy.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
It was delivered to his address across town. He opened it then delivered it to me. He sent a message (text) to my son and admitted he opened it. It wasn't addressed to him. That is tampering and invasion on privacy**************.....So you are saying he has the right to open my mail and invade my privacy.
How.Were.You.Harmed?

It's entirely possible your item was opened by mistake...it happens all the time.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
So you are saying he has the right to open my mail and invade my privacy.
No, nobody is saying that. What we are saying is that, in the grand scheme of things, nothing is going to come of it if you weren't financially or legally harmed.

I suggest you get over your snit and move on. Though I imagine your hostility toward your brother will prevent you from doing that.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA my mail was opened by someone other than myself ...he admitted it to my autistic son on messenger .....post office said fraud said it is a civil matter ...what can I do at this point...how do I find an attorney...please help
Complaints about crimes involving the U.S. mail need to go to the U.S. Postal Inspectors, not your local post office. You can find information on contacting the Postal Inspectors here:
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/contactUs/filecomplaint.aspx

If the Postal Inspectors and/or U.S. Attorney decline to pursue it then that is the end of any criminal prosecution for this. I strongly suspect they will not be interested in going after this unless you can show some real harm resulted from it.

In order to sue your brother over this there are several things you need to prove. One of those things is that you suffered some kind of legally recognized harm, e.g. financial damages, etc. This is why we keep asking you what harm you suffered from it. If you suffered no harm from it then you won’t succeed in winning any money damages from him.

Opening your mail might have simply been a mistake; lots of people don't really look at the envelope to see who the item is addressed to before opening it after all. But even if he did it intentionally, the law doesn't provide you a remedy if there was no harm. It wouldn’t be right for him to snoop in your mail, but the law does not provide you recourse for every wrong a person does.

I’m guessing you have other issues with your brother or this one thing would not have worked you up so much. But I suggest you let the small stuff go. Life is too short to spend getting aggravated over every little slight or wrong you thing is done to you.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
I think the OP is all about making a fuss with brother ...and I'm not any to clear about if the USPS has jurisdiction once the mail is past the normal delivery point .as in..I have a mail box and bring in the mail, dump it on kitchen table , toss a few junk mail things in trash ...and leave...my daughter comes by later and opens several envelops ..one of which was for aunt Mable who moved 5 years ago....was there a violation of USPS rules...and does it matter.?
 

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