Community mailbox in NE Harris Co. has not received mail for nearly half a year, neighbor says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- For half a year, some residents in a northeast Harris County neighborhood say they haven't been receiving their mail. It all comes down to the mailbox itself and who's responsible for it.

Cristal San Miguel said her community mailbox hasn't been receiving mail since April.

"I tried to go and check for the mail, and there's no mail at all, and then a week goes by, and I went to go check again and again, no mail," San Miguel said.

What should be a short walk for San Miguel to her mailbox in the Sunrise Pines neighborhood is now a 20- to 25-minute drive to her nearest post office.

San Miguel said she reached out to the post office and her local homeowners association for answers.

She said she was told repairs were needed, but she got mixed signals about who was responsible for doing them.

"They point fingers at each other, and we're just like basically stuck in the middle, and we don't know what to do," San Miguel said.

ABC13 reached out to the USPS and the Sunrise Pine HOA.

While the HOA has not responded yet, USPS said the current condition of the mail receptacle does not allow for secure mail delivery.

USPS said more than a dozen homes were affected, and local postal management is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. However, they didn't provide a timeframe for when those repairs would be complete.

USPS only said it "can depend on the current supply of replacement parts."

But the delay ultimately costs San Miguel, who said she's still waiting for insurance checks she was supposed to receive months ago to pay her dentist.

"If you don't bring the checks, you have to pay out of pocket," San Miguel said. "I want to say almost $4,000, and I don't have that. I just have two checks right now. So it's just frustrating."