Can a snowbird rent a village mail box?
 

My landlord doesn’t have a village mailbox I can use for a few months. Can I rent one on my own?

Go to the Post Office in Wildwood or Fruitland Park or UPS Store.

Also Coleman, might be closer for some.

You can not rent a mail box in any of the neighbor mail stations, but you there are a number of places that you can rent a mail box on a monthly basis. Besides the post offices, most of the strip shopping centers within The Villages have stores that provide that service. These stores are Pack-n-Ship, SafeShip, and UPS Store. These stores allow you to rent a box for mail and also allow delivery of packages, both from the US Post, FedEx, UPS, and Amazon Prime. Suggest you check the shopping center near to where you are staying and see if there is one of those stores. That is what we used when we were renting and it worked out great.

We went to the village mail station and talked to the postal person. They held our mail addressed to the rental and gave it to us. We just needed to go when they were there. Worked for the 9 months we rented while waiting for our build to finish.

I bet the landlord would not have been happy if they knew. They didn't give you a key for a reason. It was so that you would not get mail addressed to the home. Multiple issues can arise if a renter has the ability to receive mail at the home address. You were supposed to make other arrangements for mail, packages, etc.

By law, a renter is supposed to have the same rights and privileges as an owner. That would include use of the mailbox assigned to the rented home.

Well if renters have the same privileges they need to have the same obligations too, pay the lawn company, utilities, property tax etc. unless these are already included in the rent. No such thing as a free lunch. Lol. In my northern city there are rental contracts, some parts are standard but another part is an agreement between the renter and the landlord on the rules. If future renter does not like the contract nothing says they are obligated to rent the place.

Interesting-We sold our property in another state, several years after moving to the villages we were called for JURY DUTY. First of all I could not serve in a state where I was not a resident. Clearly they did not check to see the property was sold. I tossed the notice. Then I got a nasty note they were going to arrest me. Perhaps, they wanted an excuse to cover airfare and hotel to see Disney. OP said nine months. I would wonder if you could receive a Fla Drivers, License, Plates, Lower insurance rates etc etc etc to a po box.

Clearly, there is never a shortage of OPINION. Owner or renter, I would ask an attorney.
Not allowing a renter to use the mail box should appear in the contract with the renter.
An owner may not want a tenant access to the mailbox because of private matters that might arrive ie financial stuff, family stuff etc. "By law, a renter is supposed to have the same rights and privileges as an owner." Is simply not so. Example try as a renter getting a second mortgage on the home. No shortage of other examples.

Um, those things are typically included in short term (and many long term) rentals...

Thanks for the help
 

I will check out UPS store. I’m sure they can help.
P.S. our landlord is great. We each just assumed different things.

Yes. It should be in the contract. Regarding not wanting a tenant access to the mailbox because of private matters, there is also the possibility of having ALL the mail (yours and the renters) forwarded with address change notices sent to original senders when the renter moves and changes their mailing address. Not worth the potential headaches that would cause. Renter getting a mail box at the PO, UPS Store, SafeShip, etc is just part of renting. If you are a landlord, find the nearest mail store and/or PO and put them along with contact info in the contract.

When they rent they are paying for that, included in monthly weekly daily rent fee. If not the owners losing money.

The mailboxes are not owned by The Villages or the homeowner. They are Federal property, owned and operated by the USPS. They are paid for by the postage fees. So, The Villages and the homeowner really have no control over who uses the mailboxes, and whether or not a renter can use them.