Today, the all-too-common problems of vandalism and identity theft sometimes cause households in Central Arizona to rely upon mailbox locks. Tampering with mailboxes (or with mail) remains a federal offense carrying hefty penalties. Arizona Locksmith assists customers in obtaining the maximum allowable protection.

Check With The Postal Service First

The U. S. Postal Service issues comprehensive regulations governing the types and sizes of acceptable mailboxes. These rules change from time to time. In Arizona, it makes sense to check with the Postal Service before asking a locksmith to undertake lock installations or modifications on mailboxes. You don’t want to alter your mailbox in a way that prevents mail delivery!

The Postal Service seeks to ensure efficient, rapid mail delivery and retrieval. While carriers do unlock public mailboxes to collect mail, they cannot spend a lot of time locating keys to open private individual mail boxes. For many years, the USPS resisted the idea of allowing any locks on these mailboxes. It does permit communities and subdivisions to establish locked cluster boxes opened as a unit by carriers. Reportedly, in 2001, the Post Office also decided to permit the use of specially designed private individual mailboxes in some settings. A carrier opens the unlocked box to deposit mail, which then falls down a funnel into a secure collection container accessed by the mail owner using a key. This slot must permit regular mail delivery. (Customers interested in securing outgoing mail should use public collection boxes at the Post Office. Additionally, both the Post Office and many private mailbox services maintain secure locked rental mail boxes accessed by customers supplied with owner-issued keys.)

Mailbox Locks

Many community collection boxes and individual secure mailboxes rely on pin and tumbler locks. In 2006, the USPS created a set of rules called the STD-4C standards for new cluster mailboxes and multi-unit building mail delivery. If you reside in a location with cluster boxes or mail kiosks, you’ll also want to check with your local community association if you plan on changing the type of lock on your box. Let your locksmith know about any applicable regulations applying to your mailbox locks! In most cases, a locksmith can assist customers by supplying mailbox lock rekey services after changes in occupancy.

High security mailboxes with locked collection boxes used for roadside mail deliveries sometimes enable customers to use a variety of locks to secure uncollected mail which has dropped down the mail funnel. Since the Post Office approves these boxes on an individual basis, considerable variation occurs in locking mechanisms. Arizona Locksmith assists customers seeking to install new secure locks, rekey pin-and-tumbler locks after occupancy changes, or solve other common mailbox lock problems.

Obtain Skilled Mailbox Lock Assistance

Contact Arizona Locksmith to obtain licensed, skilled locksmith services in Arizona. We help customers manage their mailbox locks. This complex subject has grown important during recent years, as more residents of Arizona seek to secure their boxes against tampering and identity theft.