I have searched and found a few threads about this but some are pretty old so I wanted to ask again - Our postmaster made it seem like we did not need a form 1583 and then even said we could not have one for our cluster box. The mail service has been going great so far and I really didn’t want to rock the boat too much. We are considering expanding our offerings and starting to offer scanning/mail forwarding for an additional cost. I know many of you use office RND. We had a demo with piloto mail recently and just looking for feedback. Mail sphere is another service that doesn’t integrate but it also seems like regardless of which app we use piloto mail requires members to have a separate app and I wonder if the integration is that helpful.
Also did anyone go through the CMRA process and was it possible with a cluster mailbox or did you need to change the way you received mail?
According to the official USPS rules, if you are receiving mail on behalf of another individual or company, you are supposed to register as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agent by filing a 1583-A form with the USPS and each recipient is supposed to fill out a USPS Form 1583. There are quite a few postmasters and post offices who are unaware of these regulations and/or choose to turn a blind eye towards them, so it doesn’t surprise me that your postmaster gave you that feedback.
However, with the changes to the CMRA regs last year, and the newly established CMRA database, the Postal Service (as a whole) is paying more attention to CMRAs and it is likely that your postmaster will change his/her tune sooner or later. As a result, I recommend following the CMRA regs, even if your postmaster says you don’t have to.
The exact location where your mail is delivered - whether in a mailbox or directly to your front desk - shouldn’t impact your 1583 compliance requirements. If you are receiving mail for others, you should follow the USPS CMRA guidelines (https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Commercial-Mail-Receiving-Agency-CMRA).
Feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] if there is anything I can assist you with.
Transparently, we used to be loosey goosey with our mail handling but learned the hard way that once you start that way, it’s VERY hard to unring the bell especially as you get bigger.
We took the pandemic closure/re-opening as a chance to reset those expectations, and in a way the CMRA compliance process has made it easier for us to avoid the pains that came from it being too easy for members to use our address.
Flip side: compliance is undeniably a pain in the butt, so I def recommend working with a platform that helps handle/automate that process. That CMRA database that @njansch mentions alone makes me glad we have a partner platform that’s incentivized to help us streamline the CMRA process and even take it off our hands entirely for a nominal fee.