Mark Noakes

Hi folks! Just a reminder to keep your posts related to the title. This got a little off track.  Thank you!

36 minutes ago, sandsys said:

I thought all rural route addresses went away with the beginning of the 911 system. I know my Dad's address changed after about 50 years of living there and he gave me the 911 system as the reason why. It's no longer RR 8 Box 412.

Linda

According to the post office, the manage around 49 million rural route mailboxes Nationwide and that number is growing. Looks like they're still going strong.

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

If you were in Livingston, TX you would find that pretty much all financial organizations understand the law & related banking regulations, and they work with fulltime RV folks on a frequent basis. Unfortunately, the reach of the Escapees seems to be pretty limited in distance because we are too small a part of the the financial market. Polk Co. TX is a rural area with a small population so the Escapees are a very significant market there.

 

The final ruling in the Customer Identification Program (CIP) section 31 C.F.R. § 103.121(b)(2)(i) (adopted as part of the US Patriot Act) that addresses opening accounts states the following. (Note that it does not exclude any US citizens (or full-time RVrs)who are citizens of the US. By definition, a very large number of us live in rural areas and do not have a physical residential or business address. The ruling specifically points to a location which can be a rural area. According to the ruling we can use a roadside mailbox number so that the bank knows our approximate location. This should suffice as required information for the bank so that we can open bank accounts freely without violating the law is set forth by the act.):

3 hours ago, dblr said:

If a credit union would work, I would suggest that if they are in what's called the Shared Branch system to use that one as then you can use other credit unions in the system while traveling. We use one now that we have at home and works out well, but you do have to look ahead to see what might be available where your headed.

Thank you. Helpful information, the search goes on!

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

If you are a member of Escapees RV Club and using their mail service, let me suggest that you call the business office (Phone 936-327-8873) and get help & advice there. Changing what you call your box number will do nothing for you as businesses use a USPS data base to verify all addresses and no matter what you write down the bank will know that you use a PMB andare trying to hide that. There is an alternative allowed in the baking laws that set address requirements and the Escapees have dealt with that many times. As an alternative, you could change to the TX Escapees address as the businesses in the Livingston area are very familiar with those alternatives and have no problems dealing with them. 

I not only called the business office but I submitted an email request to the executive team. They appear to have no stomach for attempting to make this workable for South Dakota members. Citing the patriot act as the reason. Well I used to work in banking and know that act like the back of my hand. Had to take tests every year related to it. Nowhere in that act does it say it is mandatory to have a physical residential address. It's simply says you need to be able to be located, whether that be through next of kin, another contact or even a rural mailbox. This is clearly addressed in the CIP of the Patriot act. Banks and credit unions are simply overreaching and eliminating the ability of full-time RVers, homeless people, transients (of which we are defined as being by the mere fact, we don't have a physical residential address), for the purposes of excluding this entire community of people in the US from being able to utilize financial services. They're using the patriot act as an excuse. And are fully aware of what they are doing but care not. I'm sure someone out there has figured out how to get around of this. And I would love to hear from them on this forum!

11 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

And you don't have a PMB. You rent a suite from Escapees. A very small suite, but a suite. The bank software may still trip on the address, but don't hamstring yourself at the gate by calling it a PMB, a mail box, or box number.

Actually the banks are well aware of escapees mailboxes. It's in their database. They know their PMBs even if you don't put PMB on the address when you try to apply. Been there done that. Thanks anyways, appreciate the info.

13 hours ago, lappir said:

Why change your bank accounts? Just keep the ones you have and change your address to your South Dakota address. I've been on the road for over 10 years and still have the same accounts as I had before I started. Well, I did change banks but not the town the banks were located in. 

Rod

 

Already tried that. They instantaneously identified the South Dakota address as a PMB and denied opening the account. Thanks for the advice though.

Been on the road now for nearly 4 years. Have not figured out how to get a bank account in South Dakota given the Patriot act and what seems to be every bank and credit unions bias toward full-time RVers. Has anyone figured this out in South Dakota and in particular, if you have the standard Escapees PMB address? Is there a bank or a credit union in South Dakota that is willing to allow anyone in the full-time RV community to open a bank account - personal or business? As an example, I would love to start a business but cannot find a bank or credit union in South Dakota willing to work with full-time RVers that have a PMB. I'm sure I'm not alone. There must be a whole lot of people looking for this same ability. Would love to hear what you have found out, especially if you were successful.

Been on the road now for nearly 4 years. Have not figured out how to get a bank account in South Dakota given the Patriot act and what seems to be every bank and credit unions bias toward full-time RVers. Has anyone figured this out in South Dakota and in particular, if you have the standard Escapees PMB address? Is there a bank or a credit union in South Dakota that is willing to allow anyone in the full-time RV community to open a bank account - personal or business? As an example, I would love to start a business but cannot find a bank or credit union in South Dakota willing to work with full-time RVers that have a PMB. I'm sure I'm not alone. There must be a whole lot of people looking for this same ability. Would love to hear what you have found out, especially if you were successful.

On 6/21/2022 at 1:53 PM, pjstough said:

Mail from any particular business, or type of mail that is missing?

Always 1st class. We had medical bills lost by escapees and located in the wrong mailboxes (17 pieces to date), other bills lost and never found, and according to the mail admin if the envelope is a "hand written address" the automatic sorter will reject it. This then requires a person to physically set it aside for manual processing. One such piece of our mail sat in limbo for a month until we initiated a search. Once found we requested it be scanned so we could read it. This apparently could not be done. Which makes me wonder what happens to hand written envelopes if no one complains that it is missing? We've had one billing that almost went to collection due to it being misplaced at escapees and misplaced toll billings (2 bills for the same tolls) that resulted in penalties. All in 2 years.

We have been experiencing lost inbound 1st class mail to both our SD and TX Escapees mailboxes over the past year. Has anyone else been experiencing this issue? If yes, is lost mail becoming more or less frequent over time?