Editorial: Private mailboxes create controversy

Friday, July 9, 1999 | 9:15 a.m.

The overwhelming majority who use private mailboxes, such as those at Mail Boxes Etc., are aboveboard. But some have used private mailboxes to run scams, such as establishing dummy corporations. They also have been used in identity theft, where someone rents a mailbox in another individual's name and then applies for credit cards. The U.S. Postal Service wants to crack down on this fraud, stiffening the requirements for businesses and individuals who use private boxes.

The rules also aim at those who engage in deception by using misleading words in their addresses, such as "suite" or "office." Instead those using private mailboxes will have to use the moniker PMB -- and the Postal Service won't deliver mail to their address without the PMB tag. But some businesses say the PMB rule will cost them exorbitant sums to notify all their customers to use the PMB label by October, which is when the the rule may go into effect. A few also complain their privacy rights are being violated, because anyone who rents a private mailbox will have to forward to the U.S. Postal Service his home address.

The Postal Service's policy of cracking down on rogue businesses is correct, but small-business owners do have a legitimate complaint that the changes could cost them a sizable amount of money. The Postal Service should delay implementation for at least a year, providing enough time to prepare for this dramatically new way of doing business.