Illinois Supreme Court Finds All Postal Marks are Not Created Equal
On Thursday morning, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in Huber v. American Accounting Association. As briefed, Huber presented the question of whether a postmark was sufficient proof of timely mailing to trigger Illinois’ limited mailbox rule. But in the end, in an opinion by Justice Mary Jane Theis, the Court held that the plaintiff didn’t have the prerequisite to present that question: a postmark. Our detailed summary of the facts and underlying court decisions in Huber is here Our report on the oral argument is here.
The problem, the Court held, was plaintiff’s mailing envelope didn’t contain a postmark. The Court defined a postmark as an official Postal Service imprint reflecting the location and date the Postal Service assumed control of the piece, and cancelling the affixed postage. What the plaintiff called a postmark was in fact a postage label from an Automated Postal Center (APC). An APC is a self-service kiosk, generally located in post office lobbies, which enables customers to mail letter and packages, buy postage, look up zip codes and access assorted other services. But the APC label is not a “postmark,” the Court found – on its face it shows a “date of sale,” not the date on which the piece was turned over to the postal service and the postage cancelled. Thus, it doesn’t matter if Rules 373 and 12(b)(3) might permit proof of mailing by a legible postmark, since plaintiff didn’t have one – the APC label indicated that the plaintiff might have mailed his envelope on April 3, but nothing more. Since plaintiff neither provided the certificate or affidavit required by Rule 12(b)(3) or even a valid postmark, the mailbox rule didn’t apply, and his notice of appeal was untimely. Therefore, the judgment was affirmed.
Anyone can buy postage through an APC. Nothing says you have to use it that day. So in a sense the judges are correct as the piece was not postmarked therefore cannot prove that it was mailed timely. However there are other ways to prove it may have been mailed timely. In this case it is too late to change decision. If something needs a postmark take it to the window.
No news here. The date printed on the mailpiece should be no more proof of mailing than a postage meter date. Both can be printed, yet neither proves the mailpiece was ever truly dropped in the mail.