Use Of Incorrect ZIP Code Destroys Presumption Of Proper Service By Mail

The Ninth Circuit has concluded that service of a hearing notice was never made because the serving party used an incorrect ZIP code. Busquets-Ivars v. Ashcroft, 333 F.3d 1008 (9th Cir. June 24, 2003). The sender used certified mail with return receipt service, but could not produce a receipt. Relying on a Supreme Court case from 1884, the court noted that mail is presumed to have been delivered if properly addressed, but it found that use of the wrong ZIP code rendered the notice improperly addressed. The dissent argued that “a plethora of cases” hold that error in a ZIP code does not render an address insufficient for delivery.