Post Office–Forwarded Mail Address Needs to be Renewed

The Rancho Post Office on Exposition has one window just for Palisades residents.

After the Palisades Fire, the entire Pacific Palisades Community was declared an evacuation Zone, and off-limits to residents.

Nearly 7,000 structures, homes and businesses were destroyed. Although the Palisades Post Office was left standing, no one was allowed into the town. Residents were told that all of their U.S. Postal Mail had been taken and would go to the Rancho Park Post Office located on Exposition Boulevard between Sawtelle and Sepulveda Avenues.

When people went to pick up mail, it was like a “homecoming” as neighbors met and saw other neighbors. People chatted and found out whose homes were still standing and shared the mutual pain of seeing their community burn to the ground.

As people found apartments and other places to stay, they had their mail forwarded. Today at Rancho Park, there is still a devoted window for residents. This editor asked the clerk how long mail had been forwarded and she said, “six months.”

Now that it’s more than seven months after the fire it would explain as one resident wrote, “Now we know why we weren’t getting our mail.”

One only has to fill out a card at the Rancho branch, and one’s mail will be forwarded for 18 months. The clerk said there was no charge to extend the forwarding. CTN had been told there was, the clerk thought maybe online you might have to pay, but if you stop by, no charge.

The clerk also knows that many people in Palisades don’t know that it was a six-month window – unless you fill out another card. She said she’s holding some of the mail for a short time instead of sending it back, in case people stop by. This editor picked up one letter today from July 15. The clerk was exceedingly helpful and sympathetic.

CTN had tried to fill out a forwarding card at the Venice branch, closer to where she now lives and was told by a supervisor, it needed to be done at the Palisades Post Office. When told that Post Office was not open, yet (projected for September), the supervisor told this editor to go to the place where I initially had filled out the form, hence the trip to Rancho.

Another reader wrote that their mail had been forwarded to Redondo Beach, but when it stopped coming said, “You can go into any post office and just fill out the forwarding forms again.”

One reader wrote, “We forwarded our mail to my dad’s house in Phoenix immediately after the fire. There was an option to pay extra and have it forwarded for up to two years. Most first-class mail gets forwarded. The downside is that the post office helpfully gave our banks, the DMV and just about every major institution we deal with our new address and now all of our credit cards and bank accounts were changed to the new address without us authorizing the change. We even got new checks from our bank with my dad’s address on them. We had a sizeable check and a registered letter from State Farm disappeared in transit.  How does a registered letter disappear?  I thought the whole point of a registered letter is that it’s tracked.  (Editor’s note: Many people in Council District 11 had their voter status change with the new address. If you want to vote in Los Angeles for Mayor and Council District, check your voter status. You can request that voting stays here, despite where you are now living. https://www.lavote.gov/home/voting-elections/voter-registration/register-to-vote/register/)

Another reader wrote, “I let my mail forwarding lapse because there was too much delay to San Diego, and received a LAFD non compliance notice!  My Informed Delivery resumed but the mail was not delivered to Palisades address. I reported it through Informed Delivery but it was never located. I was told to contact senders to get the mail re-sent. During that time, I had notice from CA Franchise Tax Board and they do not re-mail!

“I reached someone at CA Franchise Tax Board, and I apparently had some CA State Tax penalty. An agent entered the LA County Fire code, and the fine was removed. Not 100% clear as we have until October to file . .. I will update you when I can see the notice.”