taking mail without permission

[zddoodah]

As far as I’m concerned, if someone takes something that belongs to me without my permission, they STOLE it.

That's fine, but the law doesn't agree with you.

If I take her keys off the kitchen table and drive her car out for a few hours without permission is that stealing or not?

Unlikely. An element of pretty much every larceny statute I've ever read is that the person taking the property intends to deprive the true owner of possession permanently.

Please tell me its not so I can use her car and save myself some gas money.
After all, it’s a ‘shared’ household.

In your example, you have effectively stolen the gas you used. You've also put some amount of wear and tear on the car. When your roommate took the mail, she didn't deprive you of anything. When you got the mail at 6:00, you got exactly what you would have gotten if you had gotten the mail X hours earlier.

In my prior response I asked you some questions: At what time did you see her take the mail? What difference did the delay between X:00, when you otherwise would have gotten the mail, and "after 6pm," when you actually got it, make? I assume you ignored these questions because the answer to the last one is that it made no difference. Right?

The next time I see her do it I'll just call the police and see what they have to say.

You certainly are free to do that. Please come back to this thread and tell us how it goes.

 

[Zigner]

The OP may want to consider that calling the cops on the lady may actually be a disincentive for the lady to hand over her mail. In other words, the mail might just end up in the shredder.

 

[quincy]

The OP may want to consider that calling the cops on the lady may actually be a disincentive for the lady to hand over her mail. In other words, the mail might just end up in the shredder.

It certainly could irritate the housemate.

 

[not2cleverRed]

thanks quincy,
"Tell her that you prefer she leave your mail in the box from now on or drop off all of the mail in the house before leaving for the day."
She is a very difficult person to get co-operation with.
If she refuses to co-operate, can I take legal action?

thanks for replies.
The next time I see her do it I'll just call the police and see what they have to say.

Are you familiar with the phrase "that's like the pot calling the kettle black"?

You seem to be a very difficult person to be around.

Would I be annoyed? Yes. But if she didn't open or destroy you mail, and you suffered no damages, then you have no cause for legal action.

 

[quincy]

I know that for some housebound individuals, getting the mail can be the highlight of their day.

I am not entirely unsympathetic, especially if R33C0 was expecting a special letter or a check in the mail. The housemate was inconsiderate.

There is still no reason to call the police or seek legal recourse, however. Inconsiderate is not illegal. If it were, there would need to be far more jails.

 

[Zigner]

I know that for some housebound individuals, getting the mail can be the highlight of their day.

I am not entirely unsympathetic, especially if R33C0 was expecting a special letter or a check in the mail. The housemate was inconsiderate.

There is still no reason to call the police or seek legal recourse, however. Inconsiderate is not illegal. If it were, there would need to be far more jails.

Our mail carrier comes anywhere from noon to 9:30 pm (yes, he has occasionally been THAT late). Receiving mail in the evening is not a big deal.

If R33C0 was so eager to receive an item of mail, then s/he should have been on the lookout and made sure to get to the box as soon as it arrived...

 

[Zigner]

I know I've been harsh on the OP (this is not an apology), but I would like to recommend that s/he (or anyone, for that matter) sign up for Informed Delivery® by USPS® (https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action). The service sends (via email) images of the mail that you are expected to receive on a daily basis. It's not been perfect for me, but it has caught an item that never actually arrived at my house. I was then able to contact the post office and let them know it was missing. Had I not received the notice that it was coming, I would never have known that I should have received it.

 

[Just Blue]

I know I've been harsh on the OP (this is not an apology), but I would like to recommend that s/he (or anyone, for that matter) sign up for Informed Delivery® by USPS® (https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action). The service sends (via email) images of the mail that you are expected to receive on a daily basis. It's not been perfect for me, but it has caught an item that never actually arrived at my house. I was then able to contact the post office and let them know it was missing. Had I not received the notice that it was coming, I would never have known that I should have received it.

I was just about to recommend the same thing to the OP.

 

[Taxing Matters]

As far as I’m concerned, if someone takes something that belongs to me without my permission, they STOLE it.

Just understand that your feelings about what constitute theft may not match what the law considers theft.

If I take her keys off the kitchen table and drive her car out for a few hours without permission is that stealing or not?

It certainly could be theft or some other criminal offense. But all the details of what you did and why would matter.

Please tell me its not so I can use her car and save myself some gas money.

Even if it wasn't theft you'd still likely owe her for the gas you used while driving her car.

In any event, you taking her car out for a few hours is not quite the same thing as taking the mail and then some hours later giving you that mail. For starters, what she did in walking off with the mail not end up using up a resource like burning gas while driving around for a few hours.

This just isn't something law enforcement is going to care about. No crime was committed, and in particular no harm was suffered by it. When you share living space with others this kind of thing happens. You either work it out between you or, if this stuff really bothers you that much, perhaps you really would be better off living alone so that you don't have to deal with it.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to Connecticut’s theft (larceny) law:

https://codes.findlaw.com/ct/title-53a-penal-code/ct-gen-st-sect-53a-119.html

And here is a link to mail theft:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1708