Mailbox Lock Replacement in Westchester: Who to Call

Who replaces a mailbox lock depends on who owns the mailbox. If the Post Office owns it, as with many cluster boxes, the local Post Office handles the lock: you ask there, bring ID, fill in a form and pay a fee. If your building or homeowners association owns the boxes, the property manager or the owner arranges it. If the box is a curbside mailbox you bought and put up yourself, it is yours, and a locksmith can help. In every case, never drill or pick a mailbox lock yourself.

Ownership decides everything

A mailbox looks like any other small lock, but who is allowed to touch it is not obvious. There are three common cases in Westchester.

Post Office-owned cluster boxes

Cluster boxes are the metal units with a bank of small locked doors, one per address, and larger parcel lockers. Some are owned by the Postal Service. For those, the Post Office handles the lock. If you lose your key or move in and want a new lock, go to the local Post Office that serves your address, bring ID, and fill in their request form. There is a fee. A locksmith should not change the lock on a Post Office-owned box.

Boxes owned by the building or the association

Many apartment buildings have a bank of mailboxes in the lobby or vestibule, and many housing developments have cluster boxes that belong to the association rather than the Post Office. In both cases the property manager, landlord or association is the owner of the tenant doors. If you rent and lose your mailbox key, ask the landlord or management office. If you sit on a board or manage the building, arranging new tenant locks is your call, and you can bring in a locksmith to do it.

A curbside mailbox you own

A mailbox on a post at the end of a driveway, or one mounted by the front door, is usually the homeowner's own property. If it has a lock and the key is lost, or the lock is broken, worn or seized, the homeowner decides what happens to it. A locksmith who does residential locks can help with a box you own.

How to tell who owns your box

Do not guess from the look of the box. A cluster box owned by the Postal Service and one owned by an association can look almost the same.

• Renters: ask the landlord or the management office. They will know whether the building owns the boxes.
• Condo, co-op or association members: ask the board or the managing agent.
• Homeowners with a curbside box: if you or a previous owner bought and installed it, it is yours.
• Still not sure: ask your landlord, your board or the local Post Office before anyone touches the lock.

Leave the lock alone

The worst thing to do with a stuck mailbox lock is improvise. Do not drill it, pick it, pry it or force the door. There are two reasons.

First, the box may not be yours. A tenant door in a lobby belongs to the building, and a cluster box may belong to the Post Office. Damage it and you are paying for someone else's property.

Second, even when the tenant doors belong to the building, the master door does not. The master door is the large panel the carrier opens to sort mail into every box at once, and it belongs to the Postal Service. Nobody but the Post Office should touch it.

If your key is stuck, broken off or just will not turn, stop and call whoever owns the box.

Port Chester's multifamily buildings

Port Chester has a lot of dense multifamily housing, and plenty of buildings put shops at street level with apartments above. In those buildings, the mailboxes for the apartments are often a small bank on the wall inside the street door. The tenant doors usually belong to the building, and the carrier's master door belongs to the Post Office.

That split matters at move-in. A typical call from a new tenant is not about the apartment lock at all: the previous tenant handed back one mailbox key, and nobody knows how many copies exist. The person to ask is the landlord, because the landlord owns that lock. Our Port Chester locksmith page covers the rest of the work we do in the village.

What a landlord or manager should do at turnover

If you own or manage a small building and the building owns the mailboxes, treat each tenant mailbox lock like any other lock the last tenant had a key to. When a unit turns over:

1. Collect every mailbox key the tenant had.
2. If you cannot account for every copy, change the tenant lock for that box before the new tenant moves in.
3. Give the new tenant their keys at the same time as the apartment keys.
4. Write down which key fits which box.

Our guide to rekeying locks between tenants covers the door locks at turnover. Tenants in shared buildings can also read our post on apartment locks in Eastchester and Tuckahoe for who to ask before changing anything.

What a locksmith can and cannot do

A locksmith can help when the box belongs to you or to the building you manage: a curbside mailbox you own, or the tenant doors on a bank of boxes the building owns. A new lock, a lock that has seized or a lost key on a box you own are all reasonable calls.

A locksmith cannot help with a Post Office-owned box. For those, the Post Office handles the lock. And nobody but the Post Office should go near the master door on any mailbox bank.

Larchmont Locksmith NY serves 12 Westchester towns, Port Chester among them. Service starts at $125, and the price depends on the lock and the box, so ask for the total before any work begins.

Frequently asked questions

Can a locksmith change my mailbox lock?

If you own the box, or your building owns it and the manager arranges the work, yes. If the Post Office owns the box, the local Post Office handles the lock. Ask your landlord or the Post Office if you are not sure who owns it.

I lost my apartment mailbox key. What should I do?

Ask your landlord or the management office first. If the building owns the boxes, they decide whether to give you a copy or change the lock. If the Post Office owns the box, go to the local Post Office with ID.

Can I drill out my own mailbox lock?

No. The box may not be yours, and the master door on a bank of boxes belongs to the Postal Service. Call whoever owns the box instead.

Who owns a curbside mailbox?

Usually the homeowner. If you or a previous owner bought and installed the box on its post, it is yours to repair or replace.

If you own the box and need a new lock, call (914) 255-6611.