Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Stolen Mail from an E-bay purchase

My girlfriend ordered a purse and some scarves off E-Bay. A few days later, the packages arrived to her apartment building and were too large to fit into her mail box, which is in a locked lobby in her building (locked from non-tennants). The mailman left the packages on top of the row of mail boxes. She came home, stopped at the mail boxes and saw here packages on top. The packages were open, and the contents were gone. She told the property manager, who is onsite, with an office. The property managers response was: Sorry, the mailman has been told to leave the oversize packages on the boxes.

She paid for the items before they were sent, standard for E-bay. She paid with a Credit/Debit card, so it is already taken from her account.

My question is: Who is resonsible?

Just an interesting fact: my girlfriend put a little note over the mail boxes explaining that someone opened her packages and took the contents. The property manager took it down and said she didn't want to alarm the tennants.

If the property manager is not willing to take the packages, shouldn't there be a warning about the chance of having your packages stolen by other tennants?


Asked on 2/11/04, 7:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Stolen Mail from an E-bay purchase

Find out from the seller if the packages were insured. If they were, file a claim with the Postal Service. If not, make sure you have it insured next time you order anything to be delivered by mail.

If I lived in an apartment building like that, I'd pay for a post office box and have my mail sent there.

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Answered on 2/11/04, 7:07 pm


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