Came home from vacation and my mailbox lock has changed & has someone else's name on it -

[gotbristow 9]

Hey all
I came back from holiday and the mailbox I was given at the time of my apartment handover has someone else's name on it, and the lock has been changed. The HV claims to have no work order for this and hasn't given me any answers.
Does anyone have any advice about how best to handle this to get it resolved quickly? I just got legal insurance but there will be a waiting period of a few months before I can use it. I'm concerned that someone has up to a month's worth of my mail, the key to the mailbox is also the key to my front door, and the HV are claiming that it wasn't a work order from them (although I am still waiting for an official reply from them about what happened). I'm also not getting any mail at the moment as the issue hasn't been resolved.
I'm curious about any legal recourses or just general advice how to get the HV to take this more seriously.
Thanks for any feedback.

[LeonG 14,797]

It's fairly serious to steal someone's mail.  Tell the HV that you are filing charges with the police.  Then file charges with the police.  They will figure it out.

[Dembo 499]

That, plus if this is someone who doesn't live there, then clearly they're using it as a fraudulent address.

[Rushrush 286]

What is the "HV"?

 

I'm curious how they got access to your mailbox without a key

[BayrischDude 2,071]

3 minutes ago, Rushrush said:

What is the "HV"?

 Hausverwaltung

What is curious is how the mailbox was opened with a key.  If a locksmith opened it, they are to ask for proof of residence - renter or landlord.  This should be mentioned to the police when the report is made.  I would also recommend you check with the Post to ascertain the status of your mail.  Has someone placed a forwarding address card to the Post or had your mail canceled?

[fraufruit 41,963]

You could put a letter in the mailbox asking the new "owner" of it how it happened.

 

Is their same name on a doorbell? Pay them a visit.

[AlexTr 19,722]

It's your mailbox. Stick a screwdriver in it and turn. The lock will break. You can buy a lock at any hardware store. Mailbox locks are not sturdy.

 

This is a scam of some sort, but you do not have to play along with it.

[snowingagain 5,205]

22 minutes ago, AlexTr said:

It's your mailbox. Stick a screwdriver in it and turn. The lock will break. You can buy a lock at any hardware store. Mailbox locks are not sturdy.

OP says the key for mailbox is also the house key.  So could this be something more sophsticated and secure than the rattly mailboxes most have?  And if it is a bank of mailboxes, how do you decide it is "your's"?  They were weirdly random the last apartment block I lived in.

[AlexTr 19,722]

4 hours ago, snowingagain said:

OP says the key for mailbox is also the house key.  So could this be something more sophsticated and secure than the rattly mailboxes most have?  And if it is a bank of mailboxes, how do you decide it is "your's"?  They were weirdly random the last apartment block I lived in.

 

If the HV did not approve the lock change, then the person who changed the lock would not have had access to the master key to match the cylinder to the front door. Otherwise, the HV would have to change the front door lock and all of the mailbox keys and lock. That's a big enterprise. Occam's razor indicates that someone changed just this lock and it is likely just as I described it. In this case, the OP could just do the same in order to access his mail.

The person whose name is on the mailbox at this point either 1) should have been found to be a new tenant who has done the wrong thing or 2) is some scammer. In either case, the HV has to find the issue right away as door security is involved. The OP's key still works int he front door and the stop-gap solution is to reaccess his MB just as I said.

[Santitas 587]

3 hours ago, snowingagain said:

OP says the key for mailbox is also the house key.  So could this be something more sophsticated and secure than the rattly mailboxes most have?  And if it is a bank of mailboxes, how do you decide it is "your's"?  They were weirdly random the last apartment block I lived in.

Yup, our key opens up the apartment door, building door, mailbox and the trash 🫢

[optimista 5,840]

Cannot answer OPs query. However, I had a similar weird expérience in Munich years back. Lived in a semi detached house but we had two mail boxes as the original one was too small for packages. Someone rocked up, removed the lock, left the door swinging on its hinges, came back next day and installed their own lock. 

I reported it to the police who came round and declared it to be a professional change of lock. We never found out who did it. Landlord did not do it. AFAIK no mail was ever left there. The name plate was not changed. We moved out shortly afterwards so did not pursue it. One of life s mysteries.

[gotbristow 9]

5 hours ago, snowingagain said:

OP says the key for mailbox is also the house key.  So could this be something more sophsticated and secure than the rattly mailboxes most have?  And if it is a bank of mailboxes, how do you decide it is "your's"?  They were weirdly random the last apartment block I lived in.

I bought the apartment earlier this year and it was given to me at the time of my apartment handover. The key to the mailbox is also the key to my front door/building door.

[gotbristow 9]

6 hours ago, fraufruit said:

You could put a letter in the mailbox asking the new "owner" of it how it happened.

 

Is their same name on a doorbell? Pay them a visit.

I did. The name isn't on the front door and the name is not on any of the doors in the building.

[snowingagain 5,205]

9 minutes ago, gotbristow said:

I did. The name isn't on the front door and the name is not on any of the doors in the building.

That does sound definitly like a scam then, rather than a mistake.

[Dembo 499]

Was it someone who knew you were going to be away for a while...

[fraufruit 41,963]

Have you reported it to the police yet?

 

Our HV would have been on it immediately. We, as landlords, would have been on it immediately. Rip the name off of the mailbox meanwhile.

[snowingagain 5,205]

5 minutes ago, fraufruit said:

Have you reported it to the police yet?

 

Our HV would have been on it immediately. We, as landlords, would have been on it immediately. Rip the name off of the mailbox meanwhile.

Absolutlely.  What is the name?  J Schmidt?  

[fraufruit 41,963]

So where is your mail going?

[gotbristow 9]

14 hours ago, fraufruit said:

You could put a letter in the mailbox asking the new "owner" of it how it happened.

 

Is their same name on a doorbell? Pay them a visit.

I don't see that they live in the building - they're not on the buzzer or on any of the doors in the building

 

3 hours ago, fraufruit said:

So where is your mail going?

No where at the moment! I'm missing about 5 weeks of mail at this point

 

 

[catjones 1,658]

I just can't fathom why someone would go through all this trouble for no reason.  He knows it's going to be found out and fixed, so what is the thinking?