Tl;dr Person who lives at a house I sold five years ago opened mail addressed to me and cashed a check from a family trust. Do I have a civil case against them?
Location: Colorado US
An elderly relative accidentally mailed a check to an old address recently. It appears the person who lives there now not only opened mail addressed to me, but also cashed or deposited a check. The check amount falls under a class 2 misdemeanor in Colorado (it’s hard for me to understand if this is considered check fraud or something else, so correct me if this is wrong).
I understand that the police and postmaster general are the first contacts I should make here. The issuing bank is already aware.
From what I can tell, this person:
Committed mail tampering (by opening my mail)
Committed forgery (by endorsing a check not made out to them)
Committed check fraud (by accessing funds fraudulently)
Again, I’m no expert, so tell me if I got this wrong.
So, the postmaster general is on the hook for mail tampering charges. I think the issuing bank would be the party to pursue charges for check fraud. I’m not sure where forgery falls.
All this is to say, am I able to bring any charges against this person personally, or does all this need to be addressed by police and USPS?
Comments
> am I able to bring any charges against this person personally,
No.
> does all this need to be addressed by police and USPS?
Yes. You report it. They deal with it as they see fit.