In the Matter of the Petition by               June 16, 1993


 BENJAMIN ISRAEL
 President
 Architectural Solar Products, Inc.
 P. O. Box 1512
 Horsham, PA  19044-6512

 Termination of Post Office Box Service         P. S. Docket No. 40/131

 APPEARANCE FOR PETITIONER:                     Benjamin Israel, President
 Architectural Solar Products, Inc., 
 Pro Se P. O. Box 1512
 Horsham, PA  19044-6512

 APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT:                     John F. Ventresco, Esq.
 Consumer Protection Law
 United States Postal Service
 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
 Washington, DC  20260-1147

On April 27, 1993, Respondent Postal Service filed an Answer And Motion For Summary Judgment pursuant to 39 C.F.R. § § 958.3(c) and (d). By order dated May 5, 1993, the undersigned Administrative Law Judge granted Petitioner ten (10) days from receipt of the order to file a response to the Motion For Summary Judgment. A Domestic Return Receipt (P.S. Form 3811) shows that Petitioner received a copy of the order on May 10, 1993. Petitioner's response was therefore due on May 20, 1993. Petitioner has filed no response to date.

The petition and answer filed herein present no genuine or material issues of fact requiring an evidentiary hearing. Disposition of the case pursuant to § 958.3(d) is, therefore, appropriate.

1. On February 9, 1993, Petitioner Benjamin Israel filed an application for post office box service (P.S. Form 1093) on behalf of Architectural Solar Products, Inc. (sometimes referred to as "A.S.P."). Petitioner listed himself as president of the corporation and indicated that he would not be using the box for soliciting or doing business with the public. Petitioner listed the address of A.S.P. as 415 Sargon Way, Unit F, Horsham, PA 19044.

2. On March 17, 1993, Postmaster Eileen Wilkinson sent a letter to Petitioner stating that she had determined that the address Petitioner had supplied on his box application was not the address at which he operated his business. The Postmaster indicated that in her prior conversations with Petitioner he had stated that he simply stops by this address and picks up supplies. The Postmaster notified Petitioner that service to A.S.P.'s post office box would be terminated effective twenty-one (21) days after receipt of the letter, since he refused to provide a current address for the company or an address where one of A.S.P.'s corporate officers resides, verified by a driver's license.

3. On March 18, 1993, Carol Ann Staudenmayer, a property manager with Heffernan and Partner, the management company that manages the business complex located at 415 Sargon Way, wrote a letter to the Postmaster stating that Architectural Solar Products, Inc., was no longer in business at 415 Sargon Way, Suite F.

4. On March 31, 1993, Petitioner responded to the March 17th letter from the Postmaster stating that Architectural Solar Products, Inc., was incorporated in 1988, and that since that time it has maintained a registered address at 415 Sargon Way, Unit F, Horsham PA 19044. Petitioner further indicated that A.S.P. is in the process of reorganization but still maintains the above address and that when a new corporate address is available, the Postal Service would be informed immediately. Petitioner added that he wished to appeal the Postmaster's determination to close the box.

5. In a follow-up letter dated April 21, 1993, Property Manager Carol A. Staudenmayer reiterated that Architectural Solar Products, Inc., was no longer in business at 415 Sargon Way, Suite F. She stated that the locks on the front and rear doors at that address had been changed on or about March 5, 1993.

6. The Postmaster forwarded Petitioner's March 31st letter and petition opposing her determination to the Recorder, pursuant to 39 C.F.R. § 958.3.

1. In his March 31st letter and petition opposing the Postmaster's determination that box service to A.S.P. should be terminated, Petitioner failed to deny that the company is no longer actually doing business at 415 Sargon Way, Suite F. Petitioner also did not deny that he has failed to alternatively provide the Postmaster with a verified address for one of the corporation's officers.

Accordingly, Petitioner has failed to meet the requirements of Domestic Mail Manual ("DMM") § 951.153 and § 951.141.^1/ The Domestic Mail Manual also provides that "[a] Postmaster may close a post office box when the box customer has . . . [v]iolated any regulation or condition relating to the care or use of the box." DMM § 951.82.

2. The violation is not avoided or excused by Petitioner's claim that A.S.P. has long maintained a "registered address" at Unit F, 415 Sargon Way. The fact that the Sargon Way address is maintained on an unspecified register by A.S.P. does not show that the corporation is actually doing business at that address. Petitioner's statement that A.S.P. is being reorganized and that he will provide a new address to the Postal Service as soon as one is obtained is similarly unavailing.

3. Since Petitioner has violated the above-cited regulations, the Postmaster was authorized to close the box for Architectural Solar Products, Inc. The determination is sustained.

                                        Judith A. Dowd
                                        Administrative Law Judge

1/ DMM § 951.153 states in pertinent part as follows:

When any information required on Form 1093 changes or becomes obsolete, the box customer must file a revised application reflecting such changes.

DMM § 951.141(a) provides in pertinent part:

Furnishing false information on the application or refusal to furnish required information may be sufficient reason for denial of the application or discontinuance of service.