North Knoxville apartments not receiving mail after new mailboxes installed

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — People living at an apartment complex have had to travel to their local post office to pick up their mail for more than a month. Residents said they don’t understand why their mail isn’t being delivered.

The whole issue has to do with a master lock and key. Last month, the landlord at a North Knoxville apartment complex installed cluster mailboxes as the old ones were in bad shape.

To open their mail slot, each resident will be given a key. The mail carrier will then use a master key to open the cluster box to deliver letters. However, the post office does not have that master lock and key yet.

Darius Williams said he hasn’t received mail at his apartment complex since mid-August. He lives at Dutch Valley Apartments in Knoxville. 35 families presently live in the community. The landlord told 6 News, that he dug up and removed old mailboxes on August 17. He then installed new cluster boxes in four different locations around the complex. The landlord was required to follow strict post office guidelines.

“Once we got the new boxes, we weren’t receiving any mail. The only thing that comes through here are packages that go to the exact door,” said Williams.

WIlliams and other residents pick up their mail at the Fountain City post office. It’s nearly two miles away from their apartments.

“We got to go get it. We have to go up to the Post Office,” said resident Isim Sujud. “We got to go up there on certain days to see if they have it for us, hoping that it hasn’t been sent back.”

Each resident will eventually be given a key to open the lock on their mail slot. The post office has those keys right now, not the residents. Rick Carr said he talked with a postal supervisor in Fountain City. He said he was told the post office is supposed to supply the master lock and key, but neither has arrived yet.

“I think the Post Office said something about they are waiting on these to send the keys. So it has been just a big runaround,” said Carr.

Once the post office delivers the lock and key, the postal carrier will then open the main door to deliver mail to the individual slots.

“The Post Office says there is a lock on there that the postman uses that opens up the entire box. They have to put their own lock on it. The lock that came with it is not sufficient. The locks are on backorder,” said Dutch Valley Apartments landlord Brent Watson.

6 News contacted the Post Office. A spokesperson told us: “Local postal officials have taken immediate steps to address this specific situation. Post Office leadership has made it a top priority to resolve this issue as swiftly as possible for the residents.”

Until that master lock and key arrives and this decal is removed. Dutch Valley apartment residents will continue to pick up their mail and packages at the Fountain City Post Office.

When the landlord purchased the cluster boxes, he told us they came with a master lock and key. However, postal regulations require individual post offices to supply and control the master lock and key for security purposes, which is understandable.

But for three dozen families, it’s inconvenient for them to go to the post office every day to retrieve their mail while waiting for the master lock and key to be installed. A post office spokesperson apologized for the inconvenience.

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