Pro tip: Don’t move the mailbox

When you renovate an apartment building, you may be tempted to move and/or replace the mailbox.

Don’t. Why?

When you install a new mailbox for an apartment building, it comes unlocked.

The USPS needs to install a master lock so that the mail-carrier can access the slots. But, due to budget cuts, the USPS is down to one (seriously, one) guy installing master locks for all of LA.

Because there has been an epidemic of mail theft (don’t get me started on petty crime these days), the your USPS mail carrier generally won’t deliver to unlocked mailboxes.

So, if you move your mailbox, your tenants may experience a 6-12 month wait for mail delivery to begin.

Just another one of the countless, annoying, fiddly little things you need to learn about renovating apartment buildings in LA.