Re: the legality of using someone else's place as a mail drop, IANAL, but if placing your
own property at someone's door was illegal, then I guess people who hang flyers on door handles would be criminals. Also, it seems many people pick up their own
misdelivered packages from doorsteps w/o issue.
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One problem is if there's little/no sign of the house being unoccupied (which is exactly what you want) despite it being in a tax auction listing or obit, then how do you confirm that it actually /is/ unoccupied. door knocking is not reliable if the occupant has odd hours.
If there's a storm door protecting the entry door from weather:
- Dab talcum powder/flour on the underside of inside handle where it won't be visible, but will show if someone grabs it or cleans it up; maybe with oil to help it stick
- Piece of invisible scotch tape at top of door near hinge side, partially cut so it'll tear when someone opens the door
- Matchstick variation of the Death Note paper trap, on hinge side of storm door
if there's no storm door:
- Color a piece of gum similar to the handle color and flatten it on underside of handle, where it /probably/ won't be seen from a distance, but will be felt if someone grabs it. If a neighbor is nosy enough to see and pick it off, then it's probably not a great location anyway
- Print up a bogus flyer (e.g. "we pay cash for house!!" lol) and stick it in a weatherproof door-hanger designed for the purpose. If it gets removed within a few days, either it's occupied or has meddlesome neighbors.
Setup a bunch of candidates at once, then check back in a few days.
Print out an alternate mailing label to cover the original (use sleight of hand or a magic trick involving a 2nd box), so it'll look like it was delivered to wrong street (rd/ct/dr) if a neighbor approaches you. That's deceptive though. Technically,
if this isn't illegal then you could just explain what you did, walk away and don't do it there again.
I would avoid impersonating the resident by using their name on your package. couriers know people sublet / rent out rooms to others, so it's not suspicious if the package has different name. But if you want to be tricky you could use a similar-looking last name