USPS cancels six-month mail hold on Annapolis resident

Maggie Rauh has lived at the same home in Annapolis since 2017, yet the United States Postal Service stopped delivering her mail in April.

Rauh noticed the silence immediately, describing a drop from receiving 30 to 40 pieces of mail daily to receiving nothing at all. She visited the Legion Avenue post office roughly six times to fix the issue, but staff told her they lacked the authority to reverse the status of her address.

Bank statements and bills from BGE began bouncing back to senders with stamps reading “Moved, Left No Address” and “Unable to Forward.” Rauh argued she had never filled out a forwarding address. Her friend, consumer protection attorney Peter Holland, reviewed the returned envelopes and noted the confusion over who initiated the hold and how to reverse it.

The pair filed a complaint with the USPS Office of Inspector General in August. The OIG referred the matter to USPS Delivery Control, but the problem persisted until the media outlet WMAR-2 News contacted the agency. A USPS spokesperson confirmed that a Return to Sender order took effect on April 7 and was cancelled on October 20.

USPS stated it continues to investigate who placed the order and why it was not caught sooner. The agency explained that such orders typically return first-class mail to the sender but do not affect marketing flyers or catalogs. Carriers can initiate these holds without customer confirmation if they believe a property is vacant or mail is left in a box too long, a condition Rauh says did not apply to her home.

The error impacted Rauh's mail-in ballot, which was returned for the same reason. She requested a replacement vote but expressed concern about having to cast a provisional ballot. Late fees on missed bill payments were waived during the dispute. USPS apologized for the inconvenience and confirmed her current mail will now be routed to the local office for delivery.

Rauh also recalled a specific incident in April when a carrier told her she had the ability to make her mail disappear for six months. A note appeared in her mailbox the next day stating she would get her mail. Rauh does not know if that confrontation caused the hold, though USPS has not identified a connection.