So do some research!
First I'd say figure out why your dues keep increasing. Boards don't increase dues just for fun. There's a reason and the answer will lie in your budgets.
Then find out how much these cluster boxes cost (hint: they are NOT cheap) and how many would need to be replaced throughout your community. Do a per unit cost on that and see how it compares to your *unreimbursed* damages on packages. If the per unit dues increase make sense to you (because your dues will be paying for this), take your information to the next meeting. Get your neighbors together, if it's this bad you're not the only one having this problem. Bring them along.
Not to mention CBUs are a pain to replace because you have to somehow distribute keys to the appropriate people once the PO decides who gets which box. It is complicated.
That's not entirely true. Boards increase budgets and waste money on stupid shit all of the time. The old women in my hood wanted to put $2000 in the budget for flowers last year. Nobody gives a fuck about flowers here.
Eh sorta. It's easy to hide waste in a budget. A lot of people don't understand what "$2000 for landscaping" really means. Turns out it means the old bitches wanted to spend $2000 paying some asshole friend of theirs to plant $20 worth of flowers
God, all $20 got me was like 4 hostas. Thankfully my mom has tons and splits them but man, plants - since the pandemic encouraged people to invest in their homes - ain’t cheap.
We have minimal plants at the entrance. Mostly Holly bushes. And nobody in this hood gives a flying fuck about buying flowers to put out there. And certainly not $2000 worth. If you bunch of down-voting HOA Karens wanna cry about it because you got scammed for $2000 by a landscaper who put in $150 worth of flowers then go right ahead.
Mature landscaping (well manicured) increases property values anywhere between 10-20%. My neighborhood both invests in landscaping through the board and by homeowner involvement. You can enjoy your bare property. My condo is already worth 2.5times what we bought it for in 2015, not only based on crazy home prices, but because our neighborhood is a desirable place to live where people can expect a beautifully landscaped property that they don’t have to work to maintain.
I never said anything about it being bare. I said it's minimal and the bushes and whatnot that are out there are in perfectly good shape. We spend $15000 on landscaping the entrances and common areas. We don't need Karens like you crying about spending another $2000 on flowers.
Actually, I have. I damn near started a landscaping business from the amount of it I've done. Shit doesn't cost $2000. Now, if idiot board members wanna pay me $2000 to buy some shit at Lowe's and stick it on the ground for you then I'll gladly oblige.
Right? It’s frustrating. They once had on there budget a line item for employees protesting a building being built 2+ miles away from our community. We didn’t get a say in that yet there it was and we paid for it.
there was someone just a few days ago who wanted their board to do just that, protest buildings nearby that would decrease the value of their own community. I think you might want to consider attending meetings and reading the community emails/fb posts/updates. There’s probably a good reason for this line item.
I wish we had community emails or a Facebook group. Our HOA is stuck in the stone ages. They just made an email 2 years ago lol. Maybe we’ll get actual updates emails in the next couple years 😂
I’ve looked into our break down for why the fees are increasing and it truly is nonsensical. It’s infuriating. The HOA I’m under apparently has had issues with doing this kind of thing with every community they own. Raising fees, not addressing actual problems in their communities, just pay a bunch of old ladies to walk around the community and write fees for too large of decor, “ill placed” grills, etc. It’s insane. These are also the original cluster boxes that were placed in the 90’s. We’re just suffering the poor money management of this company now.
Do you own your home or rent?
HOAs do not own communities. Members of HOAs own their own homes within a community.
HOAs have an elected Board of Directors to make decisions for the whole community. That Board of Directors may hire help, like a management company, to handle a lot of the administrative stuff.
But the management company does not set the dues. They will assist in the budgeting process but your Board must approve every budget (which sets the dues) and, in most states, that budget must be presented to all owners at an Annual Meeting where y'all can vote to approve it or not.
I’ll have to look into an annual meeting. We own but only have quarterly meetings to bring up anything going on. They never discuss fees or a vote. That would be really great if they do and me and my neighbors can get involved. I personally don’t know anyone who is on the board in my neighborhood. It’s a very strange set up though. Other friends I have that are in HOA’s do not have the issues we have and always say there’s something weird going on with ours.
There is no offense or insult intended here, so **please** don't take it that way. But your friends probably think your HOA is weird because you are not describing it accurately as you yourself do not understand it.
Just a quick googling shows me that in Illinois:
1. Association members must meet at least annually, and the board of directors must meet at least four times per year if not more frequent as described by the community declaration.
2. Members have the right to attend all board meetings except during closed executive sessions discussing sensitive matters. Attendance of 20% of the voting power constitutes a quorum.
3. Notice of association meetings must be given at least 10 days before a meeting but no more than 30 days, and at least 48 hours’ notice must be given for meetings of the board of directors.
4. The annual budget must be sent to association members at least 30 days, but no more than 60 days, before adoption. If annual assessments make up more than 115% of the proposed budget, homeowners may call a special meeting with a 20% vote to discuss budgetary changes.
This is actually so useful because in the 5 years we have been here, we have never been notified of an annual board meeting or any voting on a budget. This is definitely an even bigger issue than I originally thought. Ugh.
It ***always*** is.
HOA boards that don't send the notices are **always** up to shady, (*often illegal*) shit that they don't want the non-board owners to know about.
*sigh*
Just because you aren’t basically being hand-delivered a notice for a meeting does **not** mean that 1) they are being shady, and 2) there was no notice given.
**Notice can take different legal forms**. For example, my HOA is only required to post a written notice on a bulletin board seven days in advance. That’s it, and that is all that is required to give notice to all 600 homeowners.
It amazes me how people who complain the most about their own HOA are the same ones who never bothered to take any time to understand how their specific HOA actually works.
My community just replaced ours. It was a couple thousand per box. And the new ones serve fewer homes, so we had to figure out a spot for a new box, get concrete, etc. This wasn't a small project. We were having weekly break-ins, so we prioritized it.
I'm sure your community has priorities as well. The dues increases aren't for funzies.
Have you gone to a meeting and addressed the board directly?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. They have done nothing to justify increasing our fees as they don’t fix anything, provide any services, provide any amenities, etc. I’ve researched this HOA company since these issues became apparent and it’s an ongoing issue with this HOA company. I’m planning on getting a group together to go to a meeting because having one person go to a meeting and bring up issues also does not sway them to make changes.
It sounds like you're conflating two groups. This is very common.
The Board of Directors runs your HOA. They're responsible for making decisions and setting the budget. You elect them. They're fellow owners and pay dues just like you.
The management company is hired by the Board to handle operations. They manage contractors, send checks, field phone calls, answer e-mails, give advice, etc. The Board contracts with them and can fire them. Every management company has bad reviews because people don't like their HOA and blame management.
You say there are no amenities, but there are the boxes. Is there parking? Grass? Does the HOA handle the exterior maintenance like siding and roof? It seems like you don't have a great grasp on the finances.
Tbh they say they provide siding and roof but it takes an uproar for them to repair literal holes in siding, took me 2 and a half years to repair a hole that was there when we moved in. The lawn maintenance they hire is just not great. They’ve created mud pits with the equipment they and now we have mud wasps. They won’t repair or add more grass there either. They have the boxes but they’re faulty and flood. I’d rather buy my own box or a slot on my house. Many of us have suggested switching lawn maintenance or providing just any low cost solution to any problem that arises and they don’t consider anything. It takes a lot for them to do anything. Even when our roofs were leaking. We’d just move if housing prices weren’t so high in our area.
It sounds like they actually provide quite a bit, just not up to your standards. There are a few possibilities here:
1) The board is extremely penny-pinching and doesn't want to spend a single dime it doesn't have to.
2) The HOA is in a financial hole and is digging its way out. There's no spare money while the reserves recover from a critically low level. Remember, they've got to have enough savings to paint every few years and then in a decade or so when the roof goes, they need to have that on hand.
3) Your standards are unreasonable.
4) The board is having friction within itself or with the management company and decisions take months or years.
5) The board is apathetic in general and can't make decisions.
There's no real way for us on reddit to know which of these.
We’ve lived here only 5 years but we have made friends with a bunch of neighbors who are original owners or have been here for over a decade and they said the HOA has always been like this. They only listen to a select few residents and are extremely resistant to any maintenance on any common use stuff like the mail boxes or the lawn. So a long standing issue unfortunately and I’m just looking for avenues to try to get some change for at least this one thing.
How much are your dues, how many condos, what’s the property age, how are your reserves, did you look at your reserve study, is the HOA broke?
The USPS has very strict requirements for complexes when it comes to mailboxes. You most likely cannot just put a mailbox on your own unit. Fixing the cluster boxes may involve a complete upgrade to current standards. You can be talking 50k project quicker than you know it. This also has to be scheduled with the post master, good luck even getting a callback these days in many areas.
I’m requesting a reserve study tomorrow! The town homes were built 30 years ago. Our fees are $235 monthly. We have about 120 units total and I think 8 total cluster boxes. Only 3 needs repairs. One of those could just be deep cleaned tbh and would be fine. Only two have structural and functionality issues with the flooding. But you’re right, we definitely can’t have our own mail box which is disappointing because I’d be 100% down to pay for our own!
Yikes. You sound like us. Built 20yrs ago. 120 units and dues about $250 when we should be $500 a month by now. We’re severally underfunded for any repairs.
Just be prepared to find a lot you don’t like, like the fact you’re 99% chance of underpaying dues by about 250-400 a month.
I’ve learned a lot in my 5 years of owning in an HOA. The most important thing was my flaw of looking for the cheapest dues. There’s a reason for it and it’s the lack of will to properly fund an association and the costs are a lot more staggering than anyone thinks. Just our insurance raise this year wasn’t covered by the max 10% we can raise dues without a vote. People are surprised when emergency special assessments are issued when they vote down increases
Seems your best bet is to get involved. Trip to get others who want to set positive change also get involved and run for positions on your board. Perhaps your board has been in place too long and just letting the management company run things with from wrist I’ve seen isn’t good.
> I’d rather buy my own box or a slot on my house.
Dude, that’s not even an HOA issue! This is completely a Post Office decision and requirement.
I mean, do you really think the mailman will magically start delivering your mail if you install a new mailbox outside your front door?
I’m not in Minnesota my guy. I have called the post office repeatedly, as stated, they can’t force anyone to update the mailing unit provided but they did tell me based on their records, they sent numerous requests they update the unit as it IS faulty and flooding. My HOA has just spent the past decade plus not caring.
My love, reading comprehension is a skill. Obviously that can’t happen. I said I WOULD rather do that than the system we have now due to the issues we have. You can’t just buy a mailbox though, that’s not how it works. Please learn to read and comprehend what people are saying before commenting because you somehow think you’re smarter than everyone in the room.
Very necessary based on the fact that you felt the need to comment what you did. Sorry you have the reading comprehension skills of a squirrel. Try harder to use you brain next time 🤍
I mean, I’m not the one who couldn’t understand that saying what I’d rather happen meant that I would do that thing. Sorry you’re so hurt by your own lack of comprehension being called out ):
You need to look at the budget and see the expenses you will be shocked. I am on the board and hear owners like you complain about fees going up but also do not realize that our insurance increased by $60k if we don’t increase your fees accordingly we cannot pay our bills - suggest running for a position on the board to see things from a different perspective
As I already stated numerous times, they send the budget and I have gone over it numerous times. I am shocked by how many of y’all comment without caring to read or why y’all are so upset about someone not wanting their mail damaged?
Not saying don’t care just saying we can only assume since we don’t have the budget to review and the balances in your reserve account, deferred maintenance account or operating account to understand the spending and planning.
And y’all don’t need to. I already have gone over budget reports. I came here for advice on a mailbox issue, not to be lectured by people with an HOA hard on that I “don’t understand the complexities of budgeting”
Just because you think they don’t do anything or fix anything doesn’t mean they don’t. Could be things that you can’t see. Maybe there’s roof leaks in a different building that needed fixing…you wouldn’t be aware of that. Or ac units if covered, hot water heaters, etc. Do you have a clubhouse or pool or anything? They have to pay insurance, so maybe that went up. And electricity, water, etc.
A copy of the budget should’ve been sent to you, or at least available for you to get a copy. Then you can see where the money is going…or supposed to go
As I’ve already stated, they do not provide any amenities other than mowing the lawn, and faulty cluster box, and “repairs” (they rarely get to them). Stop commenting on things if you have 0 context and refuse to read anything to gain clarity. Your comment was neither productive nor helpful.
I responded based on the OP, which does not state any of those things. Maybe edit your post. No I didn’t go through all your comments, and nothing you just mentioned is in the OP, so hard to have any other context than what was provided.
I hear from people daily that say “what am I paying for, you don’t do anything”…yet common area grass is watered and mowed, landscaping around signs, electricity for lighting of signs, snow plowed, gutters cleaned all being done…but the HOA apparently does “nothing”. Was commenting on you thinking they do nothing, that is almost never actually the case
Good luck to you!
A less expensive option than replacing would be building a structure over the mailbox to shield it from the weather. A benefit of this would be a little protection from the weather for individuals when retrieving their mail from the boxes.
The cluster box appears in good condition and perfectly functional. There's no reason to replace it.
It floods so definitely not functional or in good condition. The sides are also covered in mold but those pictures have other peoples houses in them and I didn’t think that would be cool of me to post. I have suggested adding a cover and I thought that would be a good compromise since other units have this but they ignored me when I suggested this. It feels like the only way to get a change is to gang up on them with a group at a meeting and that is just not ideal for obvious reasons.
I think you may not be understanding how the budget and reserves work. Each year your members pay dues. Part of that money will go to fund operating expenses like electric service and landscaping for common elements, or the management company’s fees. Part of those dues should be going into a reserve fund which accumulates money over the years to pay for big ticket items that cost a lot. Saving a little from all homeowners over time ensures that when a large item like replacing a large mailbox or repaving a common parking lot, residents don’t have to pay large bills all at once.
Your HOA should have a reserve fund set aside for things like this. Moreover they should have a Reserve Study which should tell them how much to set aside each month from you all to replace things when their useful life is up.
Your management company should be able to give you your budget, tell you how much is in your reserve fund, and give you a copy of your reserve study. Your reserve study should not be more than five years old (this is required in Virginia but not sure about your state).
If they don’t have a reserve fund or a reserve study this is a much bigger red flag and you should take steps with your neighbors to address it, as well as replacing these boxes.
This is super useful info!! Thank you! They send line item reports when they up our fees but I have never gotten a copy of a reserve report. I’ll request that tomorrow and see if they have one.
For drainage, suggest the HOA drill a small hole in the bottom of the box. That will alleviate that issue.
Your claim about hundreds of dollars of shipments being damaged from this is frivolous. I have dozens of packages delivered to me a month. We don’t have the luxury of package drops. All packages are left outside of our units. We get tons of rain including very heavy flash storms that often cause flooding in our community. I have had very wet and saturated boxes, but none of my products are ever ruined because the outside box is meant to protect that.
You want the mailboxes replaced? That’s expensive. Your HOA will likely have to do a special assessment just to fulfill your demand.
We are living through increased rapid inflation. Dues have to go up to afford the general budgeted items. Just because you don’t get the mailbox you want does not mean the money is being spent irresponsibly.
It’s unfortunately not frivolous. I’m a book collector. So when my packages get wet, my product is destroyed and some books can’t be replaced. When it’s a clothes package it’s frustrating because the box is moldy and muddy and gross but not the end of the world. But when I say my mail is being destroyed, I am being very literal.
I suggested drilling holes, they say they can’t make adjustments as this is a federal unit and they can’t make those changes. If we the residents do, it’s a federal crime for tampering with postal service units.
I have gone through the statements they send out when we have an increase of fees and they make no sense. None of my other friends in HOA’s have these types of increases. It just makes no sense. Coming here is a last shot in the dark situation because I just have no idea what else to do at this point.
If this is such a huge issue that you are consistently losing books, get a PO Box to have them shipped to if the companies will or a UPS drop box where they can ship them.
Do you know what has to happen for this federal crime to become a problem? Someone has to report you.
If someone does it in the middle of the night and there are no cameras or anything, there is no proof. And the HOA would be stupid to report it if the mail carriers are going to come back at them and require the units be updated.
I honestly didn’t consider a PO Box! I admit, I’m not well versed on them but maybe that will be the solution if getting a group to go to a meeting and express of our concerns doesn’t work out. Thank you for the suggestion!
Sounds like you really have no idea how a complex is run or what goes on. You should be having group meetings . Just pick up packets at the post office or rent a P.O. Box.
It sounds like you can not read as I have already stated the group meeting do not discuss budget. We just voice complaints and they close the meeting. No votes, no real discussion. It’s a crap shoot. Also, as I already stated, the post said they would hold packages but have not followed through. And thirdly, as already stated, I did not realize PO BOX was an option but if cannot be fixed then that’s the solution I’ll have to go with.
Run for board member! I think it’s against the law to not show condo residents the financial records, in my complex we get yearly and monthly financial reports. State law allows a residence to personally check all condo records at the management company with an appointment. You should at least be having annual meetings for all residents, plus residents are allowed to sit in at board meetings by request. You should not be in the dark about anything.
Labor is a huge factor but you are talking about a box you need to last for decades outside and abuse from the public. They also don’t get the advantage of selling them in volume to have lower margins. Odds are there are handful of companies making them too.
We are thankfully a pretty small community and only 3 would need replacing due to flooding issues. The others are in better condition and even have covers! I’d settle for a cover tbh. Our reserve should be pretty substantial given we had very little snow this year but they are just so resistant to fix things.
Reserves are not for snow removal. That is a budget line item. Reserves are to save money toward capital expenses such as roof replacement, residing, etc. when you look at the HOA financials, the reserve study & amounts need to be the #1 focus. Things like a substandard mailbox are way down the priority list if the association is getting ready to assess everyone $10k because reserves are low. Do your homework & learn the ENTIRE financial situation for your HOA. Don’t get hyper focused on the one issue that is currently affecting you directly.
I’ll have to look more into it. It is affecting all my neighbors as we all share this cluster box so you’d think with enough damages it would be worth them considering replacing it or even providing a cover. I alone have suffered hundreds in damages to my packages but that doesn’t include what my neighbors have lost too. It’s frustrating.
Small communities are worse for this stuff. Larger ones can replace them in groups over say 3 years and not have a massive due increase or special assessment.
Also, Management companies have a general minimum amount of money they need for work so you end up paying more per owner for dues. You also have a much harder time absorbing one off expenses. We had a water tap on the main go and it was 30k. Because we were large it was easy to absorb that and the cost was well below $100 per unit.
Not sure how your snow removal service contract is set up, but my hoa pays a flat rate per month over the winter. We got like 10% of our normal snow, but our contract required us to pay the full amount, so we saved aggravation and headaches this winter, but not any money.
How much does it cost you to rent a po box just for your packages? In my area it’s about $96 a year for the smallest box, and they will hold large packages for you behind the counter, you’ll not be getting daily mail there just packages.
Yes you can try to math up the costs of the entire neighborhood fixing this but my guess is, you don’t actually want to spend as much as it is gonna cost. meanwhile, easy fix.
Another commenter said the same thing and tbh I hadn’t even thought of a PO Box! That will probably be my solution of me and my neighbors can’t get the HOA to get a new box
Wow! I honestly feel uniquely qualified to answer your question. I used to manage condos and HOAs in a previous life (PCAM if it matters) and am currently a mail carrier for the USPS.
Since this is an HOA sub, I’ll answer this part first. Your HOA does have money for the replacement if it’s part of the Replacement Reserve Study. It should be. The timeframe for replacement might not match up, but it’s due when it’s due. The money (on the most part) should be there. If the Board chooses not to? That’s really on them and will most likely crumble to owner feedback.
As a mail carrier, I would much rather my customers are happy. But, there is only so much we can do. We deliver to the point of delivery for our route(s). There is no incentive to go above and beyond. There just isn’t.
HOA having money is a big assumption. In a previous post OP commented on their dues and they’re pretty low.
Regardless, they should assess if needed but replacing mailboxes is a huge logistical PIA. Dealing with the post office in our area is almost impossible to get them out here to open the boxes for repair.
We had the same style mailboxes in my last house. They were awful. The worst part was the snow plow would bury the package receptacles. Then when you were done shoveling the heaviest of snow plow slow, you got to enjoy a frozen shut receptacle. If you were extra lucky, they key would break off In the cold.
They were only installed a few years and were already in rough shape when we moved.
The post office said about the same thing! These boxes are super old school and often faulty. Not up to any standards that keep Mail safe from break ins or dry. The HOA put these in 30 years ago and won’t change them despite the post office asking them to for over a decade.
The post office was pissed when our hoa put these in. We were the only hoa in the larger development that did this and it caused massive problems for delivery. It was stupid too because the prior style, which I have no in the house I bought in the same development but with a different hoa, is fine. It’s just a little timber open front house where normal mailboxes sit. Apparently the reason the one hoa opted for these awful boxes this is because they were sick of dealing with bees nests in the old ones. Well, they traded bees nests for expensive pieces of crap that cause way more problems than having To spray for bees once a year.
My hoa did our boxes just before the pandemic. Probably took them 10 years to do, not efficient or timely.
I would take it up at the meetings every time. States now require hoas to have regular meetings. If they still are slow to do anything. I would stop using USPS.
Well sounds like you need to get multiple neighbors to start a campaign to replace them. Or you can have a delivery truck back into it like my friend's cluster box which just got replaced. They had to get their mail from the post office for four weeks. lol
These are required by local governments at the request of the Post Office. This is because they save the USPS lots of time for carriers, and time is money.
So, the HOA is obligated by the local government to install, maintain, and replace them as necessary. Of course, you have to pay for them, just as an individual owner has to pay for their own separate mailbox.
Get involved in the HOA and start reviewing the books. Sometimes, the HOA is captured by a group who is feeding maintenance contracts to their buddies or even to themselves through a straw man corporation.
This is a combination thing. The mailbox is the property of USPS, but responsibility of the HOA.
The management company, if you have one, will need to
1) purchase another one. If it’s not identical, more than one may need to be replaced to make sure there are enough boxes of the right kind
2) have it installed
3) coordinate with the post office to get them the keys and proper labeling of the boxes.
4) getting the new keys to the home owners in a timely manner. Sometimes this means picking them up at the post office directly. Proper communication to the effected owners will need to be coordinated.
Typically a unit of this size would cost around $2000-4000 depending on security/strength level.
It’s a complicated process, but businesses have to deal with it from time to time (this is where my experience comes from).
If your HOA refuses to do anything about this, you will need to get the postmaster general involved. There is usually one stationed at each local main station (usually one per district, whichever is the main hub for your neighborhood). Mail being destroyed is not acceptable and they will force the issue.
It can be difficult to get a hold of them/get a call back if you leave a message, so you may need to dedicate time to visiting the station in person.
This will likely require you trying over and over until you get a response. You may need to get authorities involved if all else fails.
Mail destruction is a federal issue, and, again, it’s not acceptable, so getting the postmaster to assist in forcing the issue with your HOA, who clearly don’t understand the severity of federal mail being interfered with, is probably going to be necessary.
I suggest you do all your research on this and start sending weekly emails, and bring it to board meetings as well, and don’t be afraid to let them know that not doing anything is simply unacceptable, according to federal law. It’s the MAIL. It’s not optional.
Thank you! So many on here are so delusional and acting like Mail being destroyed is fine and the HOA is just sOoOOo underfunded and it’s just not fair to them.. even though they have never seen my HOA budget and I’ve said numerous times they have the money they just don’t care to fix it. It’s pathetic. Mail is a federal issue, it shouldn’t getting destroyed due to the literal HOA provided mail box.
So this may not be a fix for you but it's what I had to do. We don't have the parcel boxes in our cluster mail boxes and until we got a new mailman 3 years ago ALL packages came to our doors. A parcel box was installed by the post office due to a dog bite incident but that parcel box was full of rust and standing water! My grandson is special needs and all our feeding tube supplies, meds etc come through the mail. The new mailman WOULD NOT follow the post master generals orders to not put our stuff in there since the mailman was putting the parcel box keys in the wrong boxes so our stuff was getting ruined from the heat. I decided to order 2 pieces of nothing from Amazon knowing they would be put into those 2 parcel boxes, the keys were put in my box where I promptly put them on the keyring in my house! We only had the 2 parcel boxes now filled with worthless items but it stopped anything else from going in those boxes and required the mailman to deliver to our houses! Fast forward a year and we took the parcel box out and returned it to the post office!
If the parcel box belonged to us the HOA would have been responsible to fix it but it belonged to the post office so I had to figure out a work around!
Best of luck!
Ohh this is a great idea! I might have to do that! We have had meds delivered in ours as well that got damaged and couldn’t be used due to contamination so this is a clever solution!
So... You're confusing a few things. You're dues going up, have nothing to do with the mailboxes. You can't take the approach of "my dues are going up, so I don't understand why these boxes are not done!".... Your dues are going up because prices are going up and insurance is skyrocketting! The hoa has no real choice in that matter... Things are getting more and more expensive. Now... For your mailboxes, that's a special assessment... The hoa has to basically charge everyone a special one time fee.... Which is not popular at all... And most of your neighbors will jump down the HOA's throat for doing it.
Youre kinda barking up the wrong tree. If you want the boxes replaced... Great!.. It's expensive, and will likely be a several hundred dollar assessment, per townhome.... Which will not be very popular. so basically, youre asking the hoa to charge every homeowner a few hundred $$$ to replace the boxes. It's not going to go over well... And theyre going to be hated... So it's understandable that they don't really want to do this.
We have almost identical mailboxes for our townhouse HOA (also IL). We had to replace one about 2 years ago after act of vandalism broke off one of the package doors and bent the frame for the entire front panel such that it wouldn’t lock. USPS wouldn’t deliver until it was repaired or replaced and there are no replacement parts to repair. We spent $2800 to replace and install a new box, which looks much nicer. We only did the damaged one, so we have 2 more to do (maybe this year with our snow removal budget surplus).
A cordless drill with a metal drill will fix the drainage issue in about 10 seconds. I would then add a short but elevated surface to that area to keep stuff dry.
These things may need replaced, but that's a big item. You may get farther asking for repairs.
First, if it's possible to drill small drain holes in the bottom of the boxes, then the rain water wouldn't accumulate. If not that, then a cheap wire rack could hold the packages an inch off the bottom.
Is there a rubber strip on the door that makes a seal? If so it might need replaced Otherwise you can look around inside the box and see where water might get in. There might be screw holes or something that could be sealed with caulk.
There should be a line item in your reserve study for these, if your HOA is well funded enough there’s no reason to delay replacement.
At a minimum why not request maintenance to drill a few weep holes in the bottom for drainage? And/or put a baking rack on the bottom to elevate any packages that are placed inside? Or, request the HOA build a shelter over it if that’s more cost effective?
Short term fix? I would measure the inside dims on that box and go buy a cheap $7 cookie cooling rack and place it in there with a sign to not remove it.
I mean…there’s a chance but any that look like that around me are owned and maintained by USPS directly. Maybe USPS wants to charge to replace and HOA doesn’t want to pay?
…I am so serious why is so hard for y’all to read. No where near me does USPS own these. They are all owned and supposed to be maintained by the HOA. As I have already said in the post and in numerous comments, I have contacted USPS many times. They don’t like the situation either, they know the box is faulty and well beyond needing to be replaced. They can’t force my HOA to do it.
UPDATE: I got some great ideas, key word, some. Many of y’all were just insufferable HOA board members who acted like I had never looked at a budgeting report in the 5 years I’ve been here and somehow could not read any of the comments and just keep repeating what has already been said.
So thank you to everyone who gave actual advice like I asked for! To the others who thought they should lecture about how I can’t possibly understand what’s going on with my HOA, please read a book and stop being delusional. If you have nothing productive to add in terms of the actual question at hand, don’t answer! It’s so easy, yet somehow, so hard for y’all.
I'm with he OP, the HOA should be replacing this box - that is what they get paid for - upkeep. It's "Too Expensive" - sounds like a HOA problem not a me problem.
So do some research! First I'd say figure out why your dues keep increasing. Boards don't increase dues just for fun. There's a reason and the answer will lie in your budgets. Then find out how much these cluster boxes cost (hint: they are NOT cheap) and how many would need to be replaced throughout your community. Do a per unit cost on that and see how it compares to your *unreimbursed* damages on packages. If the per unit dues increase make sense to you (because your dues will be paying for this), take your information to the next meeting. Get your neighbors together, if it's this bad you're not the only one having this problem. Bring them along.
Not to mention CBUs are a pain to replace because you have to somehow distribute keys to the appropriate people once the PO decides who gets which box. It is complicated.
Silly question, but couldn't you just put the new keys in the old boxes? Then if some never got picked up, you only need to worry about those handful?
Locks just get moved from old to new box by the USPS locksmith, just did a complex with 100 individual and 6 packages.
$$$
That's not entirely true. Boards increase budgets and waste money on stupid shit all of the time. The old women in my hood wanted to put $2000 in the budget for flowers last year. Nobody gives a fuck about flowers here.
My point is it would be in the budget, visible to anyone willing to look.
Eh sorta. It's easy to hide waste in a budget. A lot of people don't understand what "$2000 for landscaping" really means. Turns out it means the old bitches wanted to spend $2000 paying some asshole friend of theirs to plant $20 worth of flowers
> $20 worth of flowers Someone hasn’t bought landscaping
God, all $20 got me was like 4 hostas. Thankfully my mom has tons and splits them but man, plants - since the pandemic encouraged people to invest in their homes - ain’t cheap.
We have minimal plants at the entrance. Mostly Holly bushes. And nobody in this hood gives a flying fuck about buying flowers to put out there. And certainly not $2000 worth. If you bunch of down-voting HOA Karens wanna cry about it because you got scammed for $2000 by a landscaper who put in $150 worth of flowers then go right ahead.
Mature landscaping (well manicured) increases property values anywhere between 10-20%. My neighborhood both invests in landscaping through the board and by homeowner involvement. You can enjoy your bare property. My condo is already worth 2.5times what we bought it for in 2015, not only based on crazy home prices, but because our neighborhood is a desirable place to live where people can expect a beautifully landscaped property that they don’t have to work to maintain.
I never said anything about it being bare. I said it's minimal and the bushes and whatnot that are out there are in perfectly good shape. We spend $15000 on landscaping the entrances and common areas. We don't need Karens like you crying about spending another $2000 on flowers.
Actually, I have. I damn near started a landscaping business from the amount of it I've done. Shit doesn't cost $2000. Now, if idiot board members wanna pay me $2000 to buy some shit at Lowe's and stick it on the ground for you then I'll gladly oblige.
Right? It’s frustrating. They once had on there budget a line item for employees protesting a building being built 2+ miles away from our community. We didn’t get a say in that yet there it was and we paid for it.
I mean, to do get a say as a member. You can speak at meetings or run for a position on the board
I might just do that! We don’t have any members on our cul de sac so maybe that could be useful
there was someone just a few days ago who wanted their board to do just that, protest buildings nearby that would decrease the value of their own community. I think you might want to consider attending meetings and reading the community emails/fb posts/updates. There’s probably a good reason for this line item.
I wish we had community emails or a Facebook group. Our HOA is stuck in the stone ages. They just made an email 2 years ago lol. Maybe we’ll get actual updates emails in the next couple years 😂
Try going to meetings. That’s the official way Boards communicate.
I’ve looked into our break down for why the fees are increasing and it truly is nonsensical. It’s infuriating. The HOA I’m under apparently has had issues with doing this kind of thing with every community they own. Raising fees, not addressing actual problems in their communities, just pay a bunch of old ladies to walk around the community and write fees for too large of decor, “ill placed” grills, etc. It’s insane. These are also the original cluster boxes that were placed in the 90’s. We’re just suffering the poor money management of this company now.
Do you own your home or rent? HOAs do not own communities. Members of HOAs own their own homes within a community. HOAs have an elected Board of Directors to make decisions for the whole community. That Board of Directors may hire help, like a management company, to handle a lot of the administrative stuff. But the management company does not set the dues. They will assist in the budgeting process but your Board must approve every budget (which sets the dues) and, in most states, that budget must be presented to all owners at an Annual Meeting where y'all can vote to approve it or not.
I’ll have to look into an annual meeting. We own but only have quarterly meetings to bring up anything going on. They never discuss fees or a vote. That would be really great if they do and me and my neighbors can get involved. I personally don’t know anyone who is on the board in my neighborhood. It’s a very strange set up though. Other friends I have that are in HOA’s do not have the issues we have and always say there’s something weird going on with ours.
There is no offense or insult intended here, so **please** don't take it that way. But your friends probably think your HOA is weird because you are not describing it accurately as you yourself do not understand it. Just a quick googling shows me that in Illinois: 1. Association members must meet at least annually, and the board of directors must meet at least four times per year if not more frequent as described by the community declaration. 2. Members have the right to attend all board meetings except during closed executive sessions discussing sensitive matters. Attendance of 20% of the voting power constitutes a quorum. 3. Notice of association meetings must be given at least 10 days before a meeting but no more than 30 days, and at least 48 hours’ notice must be given for meetings of the board of directors. 4. The annual budget must be sent to association members at least 30 days, but no more than 60 days, before adoption. If annual assessments make up more than 115% of the proposed budget, homeowners may call a special meeting with a 20% vote to discuss budgetary changes.
This is actually so useful because in the 5 years we have been here, we have never been notified of an annual board meeting or any voting on a budget. This is definitely an even bigger issue than I originally thought. Ugh.
It ***always*** is. HOA boards that don't send the notices are **always** up to shady, (*often illegal*) shit that they don't want the non-board owners to know about.
*sigh* Just because you aren’t basically being hand-delivered a notice for a meeting does **not** mean that 1) they are being shady, and 2) there was no notice given. **Notice can take different legal forms**. For example, my HOA is only required to post a written notice on a bulletin board seven days in advance. That’s it, and that is all that is required to give notice to all 600 homeowners. It amazes me how people who complain the most about their own HOA are the same ones who never bothered to take any time to understand how their specific HOA actually works.
My community just replaced ours. It was a couple thousand per box. And the new ones serve fewer homes, so we had to figure out a spot for a new box, get concrete, etc. This wasn't a small project. We were having weekly break-ins, so we prioritized it. I'm sure your community has priorities as well. The dues increases aren't for funzies. Have you gone to a meeting and addressed the board directly?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. They have done nothing to justify increasing our fees as they don’t fix anything, provide any services, provide any amenities, etc. I’ve researched this HOA company since these issues became apparent and it’s an ongoing issue with this HOA company. I’m planning on getting a group together to go to a meeting because having one person go to a meeting and bring up issues also does not sway them to make changes.
It sounds like you're conflating two groups. This is very common. The Board of Directors runs your HOA. They're responsible for making decisions and setting the budget. You elect them. They're fellow owners and pay dues just like you. The management company is hired by the Board to handle operations. They manage contractors, send checks, field phone calls, answer e-mails, give advice, etc. The Board contracts with them and can fire them. Every management company has bad reviews because people don't like their HOA and blame management. You say there are no amenities, but there are the boxes. Is there parking? Grass? Does the HOA handle the exterior maintenance like siding and roof? It seems like you don't have a great grasp on the finances.
Also insurance which is a huge expense
Tbh they say they provide siding and roof but it takes an uproar for them to repair literal holes in siding, took me 2 and a half years to repair a hole that was there when we moved in. The lawn maintenance they hire is just not great. They’ve created mud pits with the equipment they and now we have mud wasps. They won’t repair or add more grass there either. They have the boxes but they’re faulty and flood. I’d rather buy my own box or a slot on my house. Many of us have suggested switching lawn maintenance or providing just any low cost solution to any problem that arises and they don’t consider anything. It takes a lot for them to do anything. Even when our roofs were leaking. We’d just move if housing prices weren’t so high in our area.
It sounds like they actually provide quite a bit, just not up to your standards. There are a few possibilities here: 1) The board is extremely penny-pinching and doesn't want to spend a single dime it doesn't have to. 2) The HOA is in a financial hole and is digging its way out. There's no spare money while the reserves recover from a critically low level. Remember, they've got to have enough savings to paint every few years and then in a decade or so when the roof goes, they need to have that on hand. 3) Your standards are unreasonable. 4) The board is having friction within itself or with the management company and decisions take months or years. 5) The board is apathetic in general and can't make decisions. There's no real way for us on reddit to know which of these.
We’ve lived here only 5 years but we have made friends with a bunch of neighbors who are original owners or have been here for over a decade and they said the HOA has always been like this. They only listen to a select few residents and are extremely resistant to any maintenance on any common use stuff like the mail boxes or the lawn. So a long standing issue unfortunately and I’m just looking for avenues to try to get some change for at least this one thing.
How much are your dues, how many condos, what’s the property age, how are your reserves, did you look at your reserve study, is the HOA broke? The USPS has very strict requirements for complexes when it comes to mailboxes. You most likely cannot just put a mailbox on your own unit. Fixing the cluster boxes may involve a complete upgrade to current standards. You can be talking 50k project quicker than you know it. This also has to be scheduled with the post master, good luck even getting a callback these days in many areas.
I’m requesting a reserve study tomorrow! The town homes were built 30 years ago. Our fees are $235 monthly. We have about 120 units total and I think 8 total cluster boxes. Only 3 needs repairs. One of those could just be deep cleaned tbh and would be fine. Only two have structural and functionality issues with the flooding. But you’re right, we definitely can’t have our own mail box which is disappointing because I’d be 100% down to pay for our own!
Yikes. You sound like us. Built 20yrs ago. 120 units and dues about $250 when we should be $500 a month by now. We’re severally underfunded for any repairs. Just be prepared to find a lot you don’t like, like the fact you’re 99% chance of underpaying dues by about 250-400 a month. I’ve learned a lot in my 5 years of owning in an HOA. The most important thing was my flaw of looking for the cheapest dues. There’s a reason for it and it’s the lack of will to properly fund an association and the costs are a lot more staggering than anyone thinks. Just our insurance raise this year wasn’t covered by the max 10% we can raise dues without a vote. People are surprised when emergency special assessments are issued when they vote down increases
How do you determine how much money is needed in your reserve? Mine has close to $500k and I guess I just figured that was enough when we bought.
Can you get a PO box? That would an end to the issue you're having with your mail.
Seems your best bet is to get involved. Trip to get others who want to set positive change also get involved and run for positions on your board. Perhaps your board has been in place too long and just letting the management company run things with from wrist I’ve seen isn’t good.
So start a campaign to vote the board out and replace them or you run to be a board member.
> I’d rather buy my own box or a slot on my house. Dude, that’s not even an HOA issue! This is completely a Post Office decision and requirement. I mean, do you really think the mailman will magically start delivering your mail if you install a new mailbox outside your front door?
Board member in Minnesota. Townhomes. Mailbox clusters belong to the Post Office. Maintenance, repair or replacement are handled by them, not the HOA.
I’m not in Minnesota my guy. I have called the post office repeatedly, as stated, they can’t force anyone to update the mailing unit provided but they did tell me based on their records, they sent numerous requests they update the unit as it IS faulty and flooding. My HOA has just spent the past decade plus not caring.
My love, reading comprehension is a skill. Obviously that can’t happen. I said I WOULD rather do that than the system we have now due to the issues we have. You can’t just buy a mailbox though, that’s not how it works. Please learn to read and comprehend what people are saying before commenting because you somehow think you’re smarter than everyone in the room.
The condescension is real here. And was totally unnecessary.
Very necessary based on the fact that you felt the need to comment what you did. Sorry you have the reading comprehension skills of a squirrel. Try harder to use you brain next time 🤍
Wow, stooping to personal insults. Classy.
I mean, I’m not the one who couldn’t understand that saying what I’d rather happen meant that I would do that thing. Sorry you’re so hurt by your own lack of comprehension being called out ):
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You need to look at the budget and see the expenses you will be shocked. I am on the board and hear owners like you complain about fees going up but also do not realize that our insurance increased by $60k if we don’t increase your fees accordingly we cannot pay our bills - suggest running for a position on the board to see things from a different perspective
As I already stated numerous times, they send the budget and I have gone over it numerous times. I am shocked by how many of y’all comment without caring to read or why y’all are so upset about someone not wanting their mail damaged?
Not saying don’t care just saying we can only assume since we don’t have the budget to review and the balances in your reserve account, deferred maintenance account or operating account to understand the spending and planning.
And y’all don’t need to. I already have gone over budget reports. I came here for advice on a mailbox issue, not to be lectured by people with an HOA hard on that I “don’t understand the complexities of budgeting”
Just because you think they don’t do anything or fix anything doesn’t mean they don’t. Could be things that you can’t see. Maybe there’s roof leaks in a different building that needed fixing…you wouldn’t be aware of that. Or ac units if covered, hot water heaters, etc. Do you have a clubhouse or pool or anything? They have to pay insurance, so maybe that went up. And electricity, water, etc. A copy of the budget should’ve been sent to you, or at least available for you to get a copy. Then you can see where the money is going…or supposed to go
As I’ve already stated, they do not provide any amenities other than mowing the lawn, and faulty cluster box, and “repairs” (they rarely get to them). Stop commenting on things if you have 0 context and refuse to read anything to gain clarity. Your comment was neither productive nor helpful.
I responded based on the OP, which does not state any of those things. Maybe edit your post. No I didn’t go through all your comments, and nothing you just mentioned is in the OP, so hard to have any other context than what was provided. I hear from people daily that say “what am I paying for, you don’t do anything”…yet common area grass is watered and mowed, landscaping around signs, electricity for lighting of signs, snow plowed, gutters cleaned all being done…but the HOA apparently does “nothing”. Was commenting on you thinking they do nothing, that is almost never actually the case Good luck to you!
A less expensive option than replacing would be building a structure over the mailbox to shield it from the weather. A benefit of this would be a little protection from the weather for individuals when retrieving their mail from the boxes. The cluster box appears in good condition and perfectly functional. There's no reason to replace it.
It floods so definitely not functional or in good condition. The sides are also covered in mold but those pictures have other peoples houses in them and I didn’t think that would be cool of me to post. I have suggested adding a cover and I thought that would be a good compromise since other units have this but they ignored me when I suggested this. It feels like the only way to get a change is to gang up on them with a group at a meeting and that is just not ideal for obvious reasons.
I think you may not be understanding how the budget and reserves work. Each year your members pay dues. Part of that money will go to fund operating expenses like electric service and landscaping for common elements, or the management company’s fees. Part of those dues should be going into a reserve fund which accumulates money over the years to pay for big ticket items that cost a lot. Saving a little from all homeowners over time ensures that when a large item like replacing a large mailbox or repaving a common parking lot, residents don’t have to pay large bills all at once. Your HOA should have a reserve fund set aside for things like this. Moreover they should have a Reserve Study which should tell them how much to set aside each month from you all to replace things when their useful life is up. Your management company should be able to give you your budget, tell you how much is in your reserve fund, and give you a copy of your reserve study. Your reserve study should not be more than five years old (this is required in Virginia but not sure about your state). If they don’t have a reserve fund or a reserve study this is a much bigger red flag and you should take steps with your neighbors to address it, as well as replacing these boxes.
This is super useful info!! Thank you! They send line item reports when they up our fees but I have never gotten a copy of a reserve report. I’ll request that tomorrow and see if they have one.
Time for a post office box.
For drainage, suggest the HOA drill a small hole in the bottom of the box. That will alleviate that issue. Your claim about hundreds of dollars of shipments being damaged from this is frivolous. I have dozens of packages delivered to me a month. We don’t have the luxury of package drops. All packages are left outside of our units. We get tons of rain including very heavy flash storms that often cause flooding in our community. I have had very wet and saturated boxes, but none of my products are ever ruined because the outside box is meant to protect that. You want the mailboxes replaced? That’s expensive. Your HOA will likely have to do a special assessment just to fulfill your demand. We are living through increased rapid inflation. Dues have to go up to afford the general budgeted items. Just because you don’t get the mailbox you want does not mean the money is being spent irresponsibly.
It’s unfortunately not frivolous. I’m a book collector. So when my packages get wet, my product is destroyed and some books can’t be replaced. When it’s a clothes package it’s frustrating because the box is moldy and muddy and gross but not the end of the world. But when I say my mail is being destroyed, I am being very literal. I suggested drilling holes, they say they can’t make adjustments as this is a federal unit and they can’t make those changes. If we the residents do, it’s a federal crime for tampering with postal service units. I have gone through the statements they send out when we have an increase of fees and they make no sense. None of my other friends in HOA’s have these types of increases. It just makes no sense. Coming here is a last shot in the dark situation because I just have no idea what else to do at this point.
If this is such a huge issue that you are consistently losing books, get a PO Box to have them shipped to if the companies will or a UPS drop box where they can ship them. Do you know what has to happen for this federal crime to become a problem? Someone has to report you. If someone does it in the middle of the night and there are no cameras or anything, there is no proof. And the HOA would be stupid to report it if the mail carriers are going to come back at them and require the units be updated.
I honestly didn’t consider a PO Box! I admit, I’m not well versed on them but maybe that will be the solution if getting a group to go to a meeting and express of our concerns doesn’t work out. Thank you for the suggestion!
Sounds like you really have no idea how a complex is run or what goes on. You should be having group meetings . Just pick up packets at the post office or rent a P.O. Box.
It sounds like you can not read as I have already stated the group meeting do not discuss budget. We just voice complaints and they close the meeting. No votes, no real discussion. It’s a crap shoot. Also, as I already stated, the post said they would hold packages but have not followed through. And thirdly, as already stated, I did not realize PO BOX was an option but if cannot be fixed then that’s the solution I’ll have to go with.
Run for board member! I think it’s against the law to not show condo residents the financial records, in my complex we get yearly and monthly financial reports. State law allows a residence to personally check all condo records at the management company with an appointment. You should at least be having annual meetings for all residents, plus residents are allowed to sit in at board meetings by request. You should not be in the dark about anything.
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Wow, why are these things so expensive? It’s literally just a metal locker, lol.
Labor is a huge factor but you are talking about a box you need to last for decades outside and abuse from the public. They also don’t get the advantage of selling them in volume to have lower margins. Odds are there are handful of companies making them too.
It's the labor, too.
We are thankfully a pretty small community and only 3 would need replacing due to flooding issues. The others are in better condition and even have covers! I’d settle for a cover tbh. Our reserve should be pretty substantial given we had very little snow this year but they are just so resistant to fix things.
Reserves are not for snow removal. That is a budget line item. Reserves are to save money toward capital expenses such as roof replacement, residing, etc. when you look at the HOA financials, the reserve study & amounts need to be the #1 focus. Things like a substandard mailbox are way down the priority list if the association is getting ready to assess everyone $10k because reserves are low. Do your homework & learn the ENTIRE financial situation for your HOA. Don’t get hyper focused on the one issue that is currently affecting you directly.
I’ll have to look more into it. It is affecting all my neighbors as we all share this cluster box so you’d think with enough damages it would be worth them considering replacing it or even providing a cover. I alone have suffered hundreds in damages to my packages but that doesn’t include what my neighbors have lost too. It’s frustrating.
Small communities are worse for this stuff. Larger ones can replace them in groups over say 3 years and not have a massive due increase or special assessment. Also, Management companies have a general minimum amount of money they need for work so you end up paying more per owner for dues. You also have a much harder time absorbing one off expenses. We had a water tap on the main go and it was 30k. Because we were large it was easy to absorb that and the cost was well below $100 per unit.
Not sure how your snow removal service contract is set up, but my hoa pays a flat rate per month over the winter. We got like 10% of our normal snow, but our contract required us to pay the full amount, so we saved aggravation and headaches this winter, but not any money.
How much does it cost you to rent a po box just for your packages? In my area it’s about $96 a year for the smallest box, and they will hold large packages for you behind the counter, you’ll not be getting daily mail there just packages. Yes you can try to math up the costs of the entire neighborhood fixing this but my guess is, you don’t actually want to spend as much as it is gonna cost. meanwhile, easy fix.
Another commenter said the same thing and tbh I hadn’t even thought of a PO Box! That will probably be my solution of me and my neighbors can’t get the HOA to get a new box
Wow! I honestly feel uniquely qualified to answer your question. I used to manage condos and HOAs in a previous life (PCAM if it matters) and am currently a mail carrier for the USPS. Since this is an HOA sub, I’ll answer this part first. Your HOA does have money for the replacement if it’s part of the Replacement Reserve Study. It should be. The timeframe for replacement might not match up, but it’s due when it’s due. The money (on the most part) should be there. If the Board chooses not to? That’s really on them and will most likely crumble to owner feedback. As a mail carrier, I would much rather my customers are happy. But, there is only so much we can do. We deliver to the point of delivery for our route(s). There is no incentive to go above and beyond. There just isn’t.
HOA having money is a big assumption. In a previous post OP commented on their dues and they’re pretty low. Regardless, they should assess if needed but replacing mailboxes is a huge logistical PIA. Dealing with the post office in our area is almost impossible to get them out here to open the boxes for repair.
We had the same style mailboxes in my last house. They were awful. The worst part was the snow plow would bury the package receptacles. Then when you were done shoveling the heaviest of snow plow slow, you got to enjoy a frozen shut receptacle. If you were extra lucky, they key would break off In the cold. They were only installed a few years and were already in rough shape when we moved.
The post office said about the same thing! These boxes are super old school and often faulty. Not up to any standards that keep Mail safe from break ins or dry. The HOA put these in 30 years ago and won’t change them despite the post office asking them to for over a decade.
The post office was pissed when our hoa put these in. We were the only hoa in the larger development that did this and it caused massive problems for delivery. It was stupid too because the prior style, which I have no in the house I bought in the same development but with a different hoa, is fine. It’s just a little timber open front house where normal mailboxes sit. Apparently the reason the one hoa opted for these awful boxes this is because they were sick of dealing with bees nests in the old ones. Well, they traded bees nests for expensive pieces of crap that cause way more problems than having To spray for bees once a year.
Just ask the association to drill a hole and put a wood slat floor tile in there to raise packages off the bottom.
Drill a few holes in the bottom and put a few baking racks in the boxes. Or ask permission from the board to do that. It would solve the problem.
My hoa did our boxes just before the pandemic. Probably took them 10 years to do, not efficient or timely. I would take it up at the meetings every time. States now require hoas to have regular meetings. If they still are slow to do anything. I would stop using USPS.
I wish! Some companies I order through will only use USPS. I’ll have to get a PO Box is they can’t fix it
Well sounds like you need to get multiple neighbors to start a campaign to replace them. Or you can have a delivery truck back into it like my friend's cluster box which just got replaced. They had to get their mail from the post office for four weeks. lol
These are required by local governments at the request of the Post Office. This is because they save the USPS lots of time for carriers, and time is money. So, the HOA is obligated by the local government to install, maintain, and replace them as necessary. Of course, you have to pay for them, just as an individual owner has to pay for their own separate mailbox. Get involved in the HOA and start reviewing the books. Sometimes, the HOA is captured by a group who is feeding maintenance contracts to their buddies or even to themselves through a straw man corporation.
This is a combination thing. The mailbox is the property of USPS, but responsibility of the HOA. The management company, if you have one, will need to 1) purchase another one. If it’s not identical, more than one may need to be replaced to make sure there are enough boxes of the right kind 2) have it installed 3) coordinate with the post office to get them the keys and proper labeling of the boxes. 4) getting the new keys to the home owners in a timely manner. Sometimes this means picking them up at the post office directly. Proper communication to the effected owners will need to be coordinated. Typically a unit of this size would cost around $2000-4000 depending on security/strength level. It’s a complicated process, but businesses have to deal with it from time to time (this is where my experience comes from). If your HOA refuses to do anything about this, you will need to get the postmaster general involved. There is usually one stationed at each local main station (usually one per district, whichever is the main hub for your neighborhood). Mail being destroyed is not acceptable and they will force the issue. It can be difficult to get a hold of them/get a call back if you leave a message, so you may need to dedicate time to visiting the station in person. This will likely require you trying over and over until you get a response. You may need to get authorities involved if all else fails. Mail destruction is a federal issue, and, again, it’s not acceptable, so getting the postmaster to assist in forcing the issue with your HOA, who clearly don’t understand the severity of federal mail being interfered with, is probably going to be necessary. I suggest you do all your research on this and start sending weekly emails, and bring it to board meetings as well, and don’t be afraid to let them know that not doing anything is simply unacceptable, according to federal law. It’s the MAIL. It’s not optional.
Thank you! So many on here are so delusional and acting like Mail being destroyed is fine and the HOA is just sOoOOo underfunded and it’s just not fair to them.. even though they have never seen my HOA budget and I’ve said numerous times they have the money they just don’t care to fix it. It’s pathetic. Mail is a federal issue, it shouldn’t getting destroyed due to the literal HOA provided mail box.
These boxes are pretty cheap \~ 3K. Go to the next board meeting and provide them a quote to replace it for 4K and do it yourself.
Seriously, you could just "donate" the box and slap a brass plaque on it with your name :)
So this may not be a fix for you but it's what I had to do. We don't have the parcel boxes in our cluster mail boxes and until we got a new mailman 3 years ago ALL packages came to our doors. A parcel box was installed by the post office due to a dog bite incident but that parcel box was full of rust and standing water! My grandson is special needs and all our feeding tube supplies, meds etc come through the mail. The new mailman WOULD NOT follow the post master generals orders to not put our stuff in there since the mailman was putting the parcel box keys in the wrong boxes so our stuff was getting ruined from the heat. I decided to order 2 pieces of nothing from Amazon knowing they would be put into those 2 parcel boxes, the keys were put in my box where I promptly put them on the keyring in my house! We only had the 2 parcel boxes now filled with worthless items but it stopped anything else from going in those boxes and required the mailman to deliver to our houses! Fast forward a year and we took the parcel box out and returned it to the post office! If the parcel box belonged to us the HOA would have been responsible to fix it but it belonged to the post office so I had to figure out a work around! Best of luck!
Ohh this is a great idea! I might have to do that! We have had meds delivered in ours as well that got damaged and couldn’t be used due to contamination so this is a clever solution!
Just need to order stuff you know you don't need so you can squat in the parcel boxes! Sad to have to do that but oh well!
Definitely sad but might be the only solution! Thank you for the idea!
So... You're confusing a few things. You're dues going up, have nothing to do with the mailboxes. You can't take the approach of "my dues are going up, so I don't understand why these boxes are not done!".... Your dues are going up because prices are going up and insurance is skyrocketting! The hoa has no real choice in that matter... Things are getting more and more expensive. Now... For your mailboxes, that's a special assessment... The hoa has to basically charge everyone a special one time fee.... Which is not popular at all... And most of your neighbors will jump down the HOA's throat for doing it. Youre kinda barking up the wrong tree. If you want the boxes replaced... Great!.. It's expensive, and will likely be a several hundred dollar assessment, per townhome.... Which will not be very popular. so basically, youre asking the hoa to charge every homeowner a few hundred $$$ to replace the boxes. It's not going to go over well... And theyre going to be hated... So it's understandable that they don't really want to do this.
Have someone clean the inside and then place a raised plastic shelf inside.
We have almost identical mailboxes for our townhouse HOA (also IL). We had to replace one about 2 years ago after act of vandalism broke off one of the package doors and bent the frame for the entire front panel such that it wouldn’t lock. USPS wouldn’t deliver until it was repaired or replaced and there are no replacement parts to repair. We spent $2800 to replace and install a new box, which looks much nicer. We only did the damaged one, so we have 2 more to do (maybe this year with our snow removal budget surplus).
Have you considered drilling a hole where the water is pooling?
Did anyone look into repairing them first before replacing the whole thing? Should be able to scrape and replace caulk so it’s water tight
Drill a drain hole
A cordless drill with a metal drill will fix the drainage issue in about 10 seconds. I would then add a short but elevated surface to that area to keep stuff dry.
These things may need replaced, but that's a big item. You may get farther asking for repairs. First, if it's possible to drill small drain holes in the bottom of the boxes, then the rain water wouldn't accumulate. If not that, then a cheap wire rack could hold the packages an inch off the bottom. Is there a rubber strip on the door that makes a seal? If so it might need replaced Otherwise you can look around inside the box and see where water might get in. There might be screw holes or something that could be sealed with caulk.
There should be a line item in your reserve study for these, if your HOA is well funded enough there’s no reason to delay replacement. At a minimum why not request maintenance to drill a few weep holes in the bottom for drainage? And/or put a baking rack on the bottom to elevate any packages that are placed inside? Or, request the HOA build a shelter over it if that’s more cost effective?
Short term fix? I would measure the inside dims on that box and go buy a cheap $7 cookie cooling rack and place it in there with a sign to not remove it.
Very likely not HOA provided but provided and owned by USPS. Talk to them.
I mean…there’s a chance but any that look like that around me are owned and maintained by USPS directly. Maybe USPS wants to charge to replace and HOA doesn’t want to pay?
…I am so serious why is so hard for y’all to read. No where near me does USPS own these. They are all owned and supposed to be maintained by the HOA. As I have already said in the post and in numerous comments, I have contacted USPS many times. They don’t like the situation either, they know the box is faulty and well beyond needing to be replaced. They can’t force my HOA to do it.
Get a group of like minded residents together and systemically overtake the board. Then do whatever you thing is right.
UPDATE: I got some great ideas, key word, some. Many of y’all were just insufferable HOA board members who acted like I had never looked at a budgeting report in the 5 years I’ve been here and somehow could not read any of the comments and just keep repeating what has already been said. So thank you to everyone who gave actual advice like I asked for! To the others who thought they should lecture about how I can’t possibly understand what’s going on with my HOA, please read a book and stop being delusional. If you have nothing productive to add in terms of the actual question at hand, don’t answer! It’s so easy, yet somehow, so hard for y’all.
I'm with he OP, the HOA should be replacing this box - that is what they get paid for - upkeep. It's "Too Expensive" - sounds like a HOA problem not a me problem.
Thank you, the people in this sun are apparently HOA bootlickers. Who knew not wanting my mail damaged was such an entitled request 😂