If you’ll soon be away from your apartment for an extended period of time, your mail will undoubtedly pile up. In less than a week, your cluster mailbox will be packed to the brim with letters, bills and assorted catalogs. To combat overflow, you’ll need a trusted friend, family member or acquaintance to periodically pick up your mail. With mail theft becoming more common, a noticeably full mailbox may prove a tempting target for thieves. Before leaving, consider who you can trust with your mail.
Landlord
It’s not uncommon for renters to ask landlords to pick up their mail while they’re away. Since your landlord went through the trouble of installing a secure cluster mailbox from a store like NationalMailboxes.com, this seems like the first person to ask. Unfortunately, for every trustworthy landlord, there’s one who places little importance on her tenants’ privacy.
While some landlords will gladly empty your mailbox and store its contents in a safe place until you return, others will neglect the chore altogether and allow your mail to pile up. Worse yet, a particularly unscrupulous landlord may go through your bills, private correspondence and other sensitive documents.
If you’re a long-time renter and on friendly terms with your landlord, you probably know him well enough to gauge his trustworthiness. If you’ve recently moved into a new apartment and have seen little of your landlord, it will be tougher to make that call. Before asking him to collect your mail, speak to other tenants and find out what their experiences have been with him. As an added precaution, you can visit sites like Apartment Ratings and Renter’s Voice to see what former tenants have to say about the landlord.
Significant Other
Asking your boyfriend or girlfriend to collect your mail can be an effective way to build trust in a relationship. By entrusting your significant other with important bills and other documents, you’ll show her how much confidence you have in her. If you really want to drive the point home, give her a copy of your apartment key as well. Not only is your apartment the most convenient place to leave your mail, giving her a key serves as a reminder of your trust.
Alternatively, if you’ve only been seeing someone for a few weeks and cannot make any real judgment calls about her character, give your mail key to someone else. Asking someone you’ve been dating for a short period to tackle this chore can make you seem inconsiderate. Furthermore, long-term partners aren’t always trustworthy, either. If your special someone has a propensity for snooping, don’t give her unsupervised access to your mail.
Close Friend
If your trip is fast approaching and you haven’t found anyone to collect your mail, reach out to a close friend. When selecting a chum to entrust with your mail key, look for someone with whom you have a good deal of history. Ideally, select a friend you have done favors for in the past. Narrow your search to people who live in 15 minutes of your apartment building. With the rising cost of gas, having someone make a daily trip to your residence can result in additional trips to the pump. If you can’t find someone nearby, offer to reimburse your friend for fuel expenses or take her out for a nice dinner when you return.
Neighbor
Providing assistance to those who live nearby is the cornerstone of a good neighbor. If you have a history of helping a certain neighbor out, it may be time to politely call in a favor. Asking a trusted neighbor to collect mail, packages and newspapers while you’re out of town is a common practice in apartment buildings and residential neighborhoods. Make sure you select is someone you’ve known for a long time and whose character you have little reason to doubt. In return, assure the person you’ll gladly do the same for her the next time she’s away.
Parents
When it comes to people you can trust, your parents are probably at the top of your list. Who better to entrust with your mail than the people who gave you life and prepared you for adulthood? Just prepare to answer questions about any risqué magazines or unusual-looking letters your folks pull out of your mailbox. As the Tampa Bay Times reports, mail theft is increasing. Having your mail stolen can result in compromises to your bank account information, credit card numbers and other sensitive data. In extreme cases, stolen mail can be the precursor to full-on identity theft. So the next time you’re out of town, make sure your mail key is in the hands of someone you can trust.
