The Importance of Mailroom Compliance in 2024: What Office Evolution Members Need to Know

In the world of business, compliance is not just about following rules—it’s about ensuring the safety, security, and integrity of your operations. For businesses that receive and handle mail, particularly those operating within a coworking space like Office Evolution, mailroom compliance is crucial. As we move into 2025, understanding and adhering to U.S. Postal Service regulations is more important than ever. Here’s what you need to know about mailroom compliance and how it impacts your business.

Why Mailroom Compliance Matters

Mailroom compliance is essential for any business that receives and manages mail on behalf of others, or Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs) . This is especially true for coworking spaces, where multiple businesses might use the same address for mail delivery. To comply with U.S. Postal Service regulations, businesses must ensure that the identities of all mailbox renters are verified. This is where the PS 1583 Form (Application for Delivery of Mail Through an Agent comes into play. 

Understanding CMRAs, PS 1583 Forms and Their Role

A Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) is a private business that accepts and manages mail from the Postal Service on behalf of recipients. This might involve holding mail for collection in a private mailbox (PMB) or re-mailing it to another location. If your business is within Office Evolution, completing a PS 1583 Form is required.. Not only does this ensure compliance with federal regulations, but it also adds credibility to your business by reducing the risk of fraud and ensuring all parties receiving mail at your workplace address are who they say they are.

New USPS Requirements for CMRAs in 2024

As of 2024, the U.S. Postal Service has implemented new requirements for Certified Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs). These changes are designed to reduce the high levels of mail fraud that can occur through CMRAs. One of the significant changes is the requirement for all PS1583 forms and ID verifications to be filed online with the USPS. 

To ensure this process is handled efficiently and securely, Office Evolution Front Range, CO has partnered with PilotoMail, a service that facilitates the collection and submission of these documents. This partnership allows us to maintain compliance with the new regulations, ensuring that all necessary forms and IDs are properly filed. It’s important to note that if we do not have valid IDs and forms for each person and company we accept mail for by the end of the year, we will be required to return their mail to the sender or risk being shut down as a CMRA.

Key Compliance Requirements

To meet mailroom compliance standards, Office Evolution members who handle mail must adhere to several key requirements:

  1. Verify Renter’s Identity: Each mailbox renter must complete the PS Form 1583, which authorizes a CMRA to receive mail on their behalf. This form must be signed in front of a notary or a center representative who witnesses the signature, verifies the identification presented, and confirms that all required information is completed accurately. Via PilotoMail we are able to do this remotely.
  2. Two Forms of Identification: Renters need to provide two forms of identification: one to verify their identity (photo ID) and another to verify their address. It’s important to note that the same ID cannot be used for both purposes. For instance, you cannot submit your driver’s license as both a photo ID and an address verifier. The U.S. Postal Service provides a specific list of acceptable forms of ID, which include:
    • U.S. State/Territory/Tribal Driver’s or Nondriver’s ID Card
    • Uniformed service ID
    • Passport
    • Certificate of Naturalization
    • U.S. Access Card
    • Matricula Consular
    • U.S. Permanent Resident Card
    • U.S. University ID Card
    • NEXUS Card
    • University ID
  3. Keep Records Updated: Completed forms must be sent to the Post Office, and ID’s must be updated as they expire.

How Office Evolution Supports Compliance & Your Security

At Office Evolution, we understand the complexities of mailroom compliance and are here to support our members in meeting these requirements. With the new USPS regulations, our partnership with PilotoMail ensures that the collection and submission of PS1583 forms and ID verifications are handled seamlessly, keeping your business compliant and secure. You can fill out the information in the office with us to support you, or from the comfort of your own home. Either way, we have staff available to assist you with any questions that might come up while working through the identity verification.

Our partnership with PilotoMail also provides you with a secure way to receive scans of your mail. No longer do you have to worry about email security – you can now access your mail scans from your secure PilotoMail portal and even tell us which ones to trash or forward to you right from your computer. Scanning and Forwarding are provided as add on services**Additional fees may apply.

PilotoMail ensures top-tier security and reliability across its platform with a comprehensive approach to data protection, system availability, and incident response. Access to sensitive data is tightly regulated; engineers have read-only access to file storage and databases, while only senior engineers can write to the databases, all under the protection of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Different teams are granted specific read-only permissions to relevant platforms and logs, ensuring data is accessed appropriately.

User authentication is managed through JSON Web Tokens, which are set to expire after a week, providing secure and controlled access to the platform. Data stored within PilotoMail is housed in a MongoDB Cluster, managed by MongoDB Atlas, and secured with AES-256 encryption both at rest and in transit via TLS. Further, sensitive information such as passwords and API secrets is encrypted using bcrypt and AES-256-CBC algorithms.

PilotoMail boasts a remarkable 99.999% availability rate, achieved through a highly reliable infrastructure supported by automated backups, multi-region, and multi-cloud capabilities. In the event of an incident, whether a service outage, degradation, or data breach, PilotoMail’s well-defined response protocol ensures swift identification, impact assessment, and resolution, with continuous communication throughout the process.

The platform’s infrastructure, built on trusted services like Vercel, AWS, and MongoDB Atlas, guarantees industry-standard performance and availability, enabling PilotoMail to maintain the highest levels of security and reliability for its users.

Ensuring Compliance with Ease

PilotoMail offers an efficient way to manage compliance by automating the onboarding process. This service helps new users programmatically confirm their identity, fulfilling a crucial part of CMRA compliance. PilotoMail also maintains records of compliant renters and sends reminders to those who need to complete their verification.

Compliance is not just a legal obligation—it’s a cornerstone of trust and credibility in business operations. For Office Evolution members who handle mail, adhering to mailroom compliance standards ensures that your business runs smoothly and securely. By following these guidelines and utilizing tools like PilotoMail, you can easily meet compliance requirements, protect your business, and maintain the integrity of your coworking space.

Ready to streamline your mailroom compliance? Contact Office Evolution today to learn more about how we can support your business needs in 2024 and beyond.