USPS facility lease management puts costs at risk

An investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General has identified risks in the agency’s management of facility leases. The Postal Service leases approximately 23,000 of its 31,000 properties nationwide, incurring annual costs exceeding $1 billion.

The report found that management practices put costs at risk due to unreliable data, including leases listed with no value in reports provided by a third-party contractor. Additionally, the Postal Service lacked a mechanism to verify financial and operational information regarding questionable contractor commission-related costs for the 2024-2025 period.

Other issues identified include payment irregularities for leases in holdover status during fiscal year 2025, insufficient documentation, inconsistent methods for determining rental rate proposals, and non-centralized storage of lease records.