Homeowners in a Copperfield neighborhood said they’re caught in the middle of a dispute with their homeowner’s association and the United States Postal Service over who is responsible for replacing their damaged cluster mailbox.
Several homeowners in the Southcreek Village neighborhood said they received a letter from their Copperfield post office saying unless their neighborhood replaces the mail receptacle by Feb. 15, USPS will start returning their mail to its sender.
Don Johnson, a homeowner on Echo Point Lane, said it’s been more than two months since mail has been delivered to their cluster mailbox.
“Our mailbox was taken out by a driver in November,” Johnson said.
Since then, Johnson and his neighbors have had to drive more than 10 minutes to the post office for their mail.
“You literally have to go down in person with your driver’s license to get your mail,” he said.
Last November, the Southcreek Village HOA told KPRC2 replacing the $1,500 mailbox was the responsibility of the USPS, while the USPS said it was up to the HOA and the homeowners.
“Why not just pay for the replacement mailbox, alleviate your homeowners suffering, and continue your fight however righteous it might be with the USPS?” asked homeowner Stephen Plainte.
The USPS said due to an ongoing string of break-ins to cluster mail units, they no longer replace the units. Delivering more bad news, the Copperfield location notified the homeowners by letter that they would no longer hold their mail past Feb. 15 unless the mail receptacle is replaced.
Plainte said the homeowners are even willing to split the cost amongst themselves but haven’t received much guidance from the USPS regarding the logistics involved.
“From the homeowner’s perspective, this is a community space and community spaces in a homeowners association or in a deed-restricted community are the responsibility of the homeowners association,” Plaite said. “But if we’re pitching in are we also allowed to manage or at least dictate what security measures are in place to prevent this from happening again?”
Plaite said after a neighborhood meeting last Thursday, some homeowners are even considering legal action if the situation isn’t resolved.
“I don’t want to speak for everybody but it’s possible we might take legal action against various individuals or various organizations,” Plaite said.