Businesses Beware: A Stack of Mail Can Be a Stack of Liability

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

It appears that “pandemic” should be added to this famous, unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service. COVID-19 has reportedly caused “only minor operational impacts” to USPS’s ongoing delivery of mail. FedEx and UPS also continue to make deliveries with limited interruptions, despite the spread of the Coronavirus.

Even during this surreal time of national emergency, when many companies embrace social distancing and remote work, they still need to remain vigilant about their mail and deliveries. Unless instructed otherwise, carriers will continue to do their part in keeping our economy moving. Businesses must take measures to ensure that any legal notices are regularly opened, reviewed and timely addressed or provided to counsel, as they could contain important legal deadlines.  These deadlines are ignored at a business’s peril:

• Contractors that miss a construction defect notice may inadvertently waive their opportunity to repair, and also face sanctions in any subsequent litigation;
• Landlords that neglect a written demand for verified lease provision pursuant to Florida Statute 713.10, may open their property up to liens by their tenants’ contractors;
• Associations that fail to comply with requests for record inspections could be liable for damages; and
• Generally, any party to a contract could miss an opportunity to cure a notice of default.

Despite the interruptions to daily life, legal deadlines will be largely unchanged, especially when the courts remain open.

If mail is being ignored or neglected, companies could discover days or weeks too late that the stack of mail that had been piling up is actually a stack of liability.