certified mail

[bobbygedd]

what exactly does the certified mail prove? it does NOT prove, the contents of the envelope. all it DOES prove, is that the mail man most certainly did in fact, deliver an envelope to the recipient. what's to stop the recipient from saying, " sure, he sent me a certified envelope, but, there was nothing inside it. i've never seen that notice /bill, whatever, in my life." what does sending a letter certified, actually prove?

[promower]

It proves you spent $3 to send a letter that proves nothing except the fact you could have saved yourself $2.61

[proenterprises]

Proves nothing, and I rarely do it. When I do, I make a copy of the envelope, recipt and all together and keep it just in case. I have never had to defend myself in that way.

[bobbygedd]

my lawyer always says, "send it certified." my accountant always says the same. i always do, send serious issues by certified mail. but, i'm thinking, does it actually prove, you sent anything, but the envelope? i think not

[dcondon]

If it's sent that way and you take them to court for any reason you will see the difference. :gunsfirin

[bobbygedd]

If it's sent that way and you take them to court for any reason you will see the difference. :gunsfirin
sure, cus i havn't had anyone yet say, "your honor, i never recieved a bill, or notice . i did however, recieve this empty envelope, on jan 25th."

[geogunn]

...does it actually prove, you sent anything, but the envelope?

of course not.

"certified" means "certified delivery", not "certified contents".

most of the world knows only a dumass would pay to certify the delivery of an empty envelope.

GEO :dizzy:

[olderthandirt]

2 people, 1 in a truck/car with a camera videoing the other with a microphone hand deleivers envelope works the best. Usually a copy sent to the offender saves the trouble of setting a court date. And it works if there not home just as well payup

[lampeslawnservice]

wonder if they mean notarized and wonder if you can have an envelope notarized saying you sealed it front of a notary and then send it certified mail?

[topsites]

my lawyer always says, "send it certified." my accountant always says the same. i always do, send serious issues by certified mail. but, i'm thinking, does it actually prove, you sent anything, but the envelope? i think not

I learned something over time... This doesn't happen a lot, but the recipient is not required to sign or accept a certified letter, and by simply pretending they're not home or just flat out telling the mailman 'no thank you' they avoid the entire hassle associated with these letters... So they never received it, and not only are my hands tied for 15 days as I have to wait the customary waiting period before I can take further action, but my whole plan just got blown to smithereens... They never got the letter!

The last time this happened, I realized how bad I felt as I brooded for over a week wondering if they honestly forgot or maybe they 'were not home' intentionally, not to mention I still had not gotten paid.

Nowadays I take the letter, stick it in a plain, unmarked manila envelope, and tape it to their front door (one piece of tape, please). It never fails, they always read it, and I love it. This works because I get a phonecall as it makes them really angry (further proof they were attempting to evade me? Who knows, but)... In most cases the situation is bad to begin with, I already have certain assurances I am not getting paid... Sure enough, leave the letter on the door and I get an angry phone call but guess what: Bingo, you just proved to me you got the letter AND you know the contents !!!

[topsites]

sure, cus i havn't had anyone yet say, "your honor, i never recieved a bill, or notice . i did however, recieve this empty envelope, on jan 25th."

Yeah there was nothing in it, but that would be lying under oath. I'm not saying people don't lie in court, but if someone lies under oath then they can be reminded that they have been sworn, and should they decide to tell anything but the truth, there are consequences far beyond the court room for telling an outright lie under God (you can make some shiver if you say it right).

The problem is what if they never get the letter, what if they never sign for it?
And, you still waste time in court over money that was owed for work already performed.
Man, I want my money before it goes to court.
Matter of fact, I'm not going to court over money.

By the way, I have seriously considered starting a collection agency (not for here, but local to me) but have yet to try some of my methods for other people (where the money is not owed to me direct).

[jeffex]

when you send the letter certified have it marked restricted delivery to the person intended. It requires the signature of the addressee only. they still can refuse delivery or simply not pick the letter up from the PO if they weren't home when delivery was attempted. The PO offers signature confirmation mail now that can be tracked online but still the adressee can refuse to sign.

[TURFLORD]

Everybody is missing the point here. When you send a letter "certified", that's exactly what you get. Even scammers have to get SOME mail. The Post Office being a legal government entity RECOGNIZED by the court can legally attest that a specified individual or individuals live at a specific address. You and the court as the "plaintiff", tried to contact the individual. Doesn't matter if the envelope is empty, the letter will have the county seal printed on it. A recipient of a certified letter has a legal responsibility to respond to that letter. If the letter is "undelivered", the court says to itself, This person lives there because the P.O. says so, they waived their rights when they did not respond, judgement for the Plaintiff.

[bobbygedd]

topsites, someone willing to STEAL from you, is certainly very likely to lie under oath. and remember, you have to PROVE they are lying, before anything can be done. and as far as taping the letter to the front door...ok, you do that, they call you, that's proof to a judge that this confrontation ever took place? how so? if they are willing to steal from you, they are certainly willing to say, "note? taped to my door? phonecall? no sir, i;m sorry, i don't know what he's talking about." i've yet to have anyone deadbeat, who was summonsed to court, lie or try to twist things. they are usually so terrified, they just want to pay, any amount of money, just to get out of there. WHAT DOES THIS SHOW? it shows that "good, " or those that are viewed as "respectable" people, are thieves too. they certainly won't knock off a liquor store, rob a bank, or holdup a gas station. but, when opportunity knocks, to take advantage of a seemingly helpless individual (the lawnguy), they take advantage of this "sure thing." THE ONLY THING that gets them to pay, is when the notice to appear arrives at thier home. they are otherwise considered very good people. they won't take it further, by twisting the truth in court, making up lies to counter sue, etc. no, they are decent human beings. they have respect for the law, respect for the neighbors, respect for thier families, respect for themselves. the only thing they can't bring themselves to respect, is the lowly lawnboy. i've never taken any "thugs" to court. amoung the people i've taken to court, are doctors, city councilmen, men with good jobs and families, and sweet little old ladies. yup, they are the kind of people that society recognizes as "good" and "respectable". when they get the letter from the court, now, all of a sudden, we don't have a theft, we have a "misunderstanding" that can be resolved. too late smith, you got my blood pressure up, we going to see the judge. but once again, i wonder if any repient of the certified mail, ever said, there was nothing in the envelope. seems easy enough

[DUSTYCEDAR]

gedd has a point most of the people that try to scam u r so called good people
so court scares most but some of the hard core jerks will take it to court like a council man or big biz owner
however if u make a phone call to the local paper and leak out that so and so will be drug into court that adds a big amount of presure to just settle rather then have more bad press

[dcondon]

sure, cus i havn't had anyone yet say, "your honor, i never recieved a bill, or notice . i did however, recieve this empty envelope, on jan 25th."


Just take the shovel to them............ What are you bitc$ing about?? it's only 2$ and something.

[bobbygedd]

gedd has a point most of the people that try to scam u r so called good people
so court scares most but some of the hard core jerks will take it to court like a council man or big biz owner
however if u make a phone call to the local paper and leak out that so and so will be drug into court that adds a big amount of presure to just settle rather then have more bad press
CHA CHING...... we have a winner. originally quoted by the councilman i took to court: "ARE YOU CRAZY, i am up for re-election in a few months, if this makes the paper, i'll be finished......". well then, no problem, just give me the $63.60 you owe me, plus $50 for my trouble, and i'll call off the dogs

[TurfProSTL]

To properly send "certified", get some forms from the PO. They have the certified receipt number printed right on them. Make sure to reference this number right on the letter itself.

A copy of the letter (with the certified # on it) and the actual receipt are generally accepted evidence that the addressee actually received the correspondence.

Also, just use your return address on the envelope, not your company name.....