Package theft in apartment buildings: prevention and reporting

If a package goes missing in your building, report it right away: to the carrier or seller for a replacement, to the police for a report number, and to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service if it was mail or a USPS package. To keep it from happening again, have deliveries held at a pickup point or locker, and push your building to fix the basics the law does require: locked entrance doors and working mailboxes.

Why apartment buildings are hard

In a walk-up or a building without a doorman, carriers often leave boxes in the vestibule or lobby, or on the stoop when no one buzzes them in. Anyone who gets through the street door can pick them up. Buildings with a package room, lockers or a front desk have fewer losses, but those are amenities, not universal legal requirements.

What your landlord is and isn't required to provide

Mailboxes: yes, through USPS rules

Under the Postal Service's own rules (Postal Operations Manual section 632), the customer (in an apartment house, the owner or manager) is responsible for buying, installing and maintaining approved mail receptacles. New or remodeled apartment houses can only install USPS-approved centralized (4C) mailboxes, and must include at least one parcel locker for every five mail compartments. The manual also says owners of buildings with obsolete mailboxes should install currently approved ones, and should replace them when the building is substantially renovated or the box location changes. If your building's mailbox lock is broken, tell management in writing and let your local Post Office know.

Locked entrance doors and intercoms in many NY buildings

New York's Multiple Dwelling Law § 50-a requires Class A multiple dwellings (most apartment buildings) built or converted after January 1, 1968 to have automatic self-closing, self-locking entrance doors, kept locked except when an attendant is on duty, and buildings with eight or more apartments to have an intercom at the lobby door that lets each apartment talk to visitors and release the lock. Older buildings must have them when tenants in a majority of apartments request or consent in writing. A door that doesn't latch or an intercom that doesn't work is a repair you can demand and, in NYC, report through 311. See locks, keys and peepholes: NYC tenant rights.

Package rooms, lockers and doormen: usually up to the building

Whether your building accepts packages, has a package room, or offers smart lockers is generally set by the lease and building policy. If the lease or the listing promised a package room or doorman, that is a term you can hold the landlord to. Before you sign, ask how deliveries are handled and check the lease; our guide to lease clauses to watch covers what to look for.

Ways to stop package theft

Prevention tips from the Postal Inspection Service

• Don't leave letters and packages in your mailbox or at your door for any length of time.
• If you can't be home for a package, make another arrangement or use the USPS Hold Mail service.
• When you ship something, choose Hold for Pickup so the recipient collects it at a Post Office.
• For important mailings, consider Signature Confirmation.
• If an expected check or card doesn't arrive, contact the sender.
• When you move, file a change of address and tell your banks (see our change of address checklist).

Two building-level habits also help: don't buzz in anyone you aren't expecting, and don't prop the street door. If neighbors are losing packages, a tenant association can ask management for a locker or package room together; see tenant association rights.

If a package or mail is stolen: what to do

1. 1

   Check the obvious places first

   Look in the lobby, the mailroom, with the super and with neighbors. Check tracking for a delivery photo and the exact delivery time.
2. 2

   Contact the seller and the carrier

   Report it as delivered but missing and ask about a replacement or refund; the seller can open a claim with its carrier. For a USPS package with tracking, use the USPS “Where is my package?” inquiry; for letters or untracked items, “Where is my mail?”.
3. 3

   Report mail theft to USPIS

   For stolen USPS mail or packages, report online (USPS points to mailtheft.uspis.gov; USPIS also lists report.uspis.gov) or call 1-877-876-2455. If a check was stolen, call your bank first. If you suspect a postal employee, contact the USPS Office of Inspector General.
4. 4

   File a police report

   Report the theft to your local police (in NYC, the NYPD). Keep the report number; sellers, credit card issuers and insurers often ask for it. Call 911 only for a crime in progress.
5. 5

   Tell your landlord in writing

   Describe the date, time and where the package was left. Ask whether there is camera footage and whether the entrance door and mailbox locks are working.
6. 6

   Check card and insurance coverage

   Your credit card may offer purchase protection. Renters insurance covers theft of your belongings, often even away from home (NY DFS), but a claim only makes sense if the loss is bigger than your deductible.

Where to report what

When thefts keep happening

Repeated thefts usually trace back to a door that doesn't lock, a broken intercom, or deliveries left in an open vestibule. Put repair requests in writing and keep copies. In NYC, a broken self-locking door or intercom is a building condition you can report to 311, and the building's complaint and violation history is public on Roofy's building lookup. If you are apartment hunting, ask how deliveries are handled before you sign; our apartment viewing checklist includes it.