Unless you get mail delivered, your address does not exist

After I first moved back to rural Oregon I went through the process of changing my address with all of my accounts. The only one that gave me problems is my Bank of America account. They require a physical address for my main identity even though I cannot get mail at my physical address.

Now for those who have never lived in rural America, not everyone gets mail delivered to their house. In my area you have to have a PO Box in order to receive mail. There are a few rural route mail deliveries, my sister for example gets mail at her house on Mon., Wed., and Fri.; all other days she has to go to pick her mail up at the post office. My sister, while only three miles down the road, is technically in Lexington who offer the rural route mail deliver. My parents house, where I now live, is in Ione where no one gets mail delivered to their home, even if you live within the town limits.

It is this little fact that has cause me a problem. After going online two weeks ago and changing my BofA address to what I know to be my physical address, I went online yesterday to see that it still has not changed. After doing an online chat with a helpful BofA agent, I am told that the address was not changed because USPS does not recognize the physical address I provided as a legitimate one.

The city slicker in me said "Uh whaaat?"

Fortunately the benefit of a small town is that I am on a first name basis with the town postmaster. I called Darcy and presented her with my dilemma. She informed me that if mail is not delivered to a physical address then USPS does not recognize it as a legitimate address. Gee, how nice to have such power! Darcy then offered to find out what other options I have. A short half hour later and the postmaster called back with the solutions. She said she just had to file some papers for me and in a quick four weeks (!) my problem would be solved and USPS will add my physical address to their master database.

In the world of rural life, four weeks is fast. Trust me. I am really happy to live in a town where people find the answer and take care of it!!