In Washington State, from the day a safe deposit box renter goes delinquent on their rent, we make 3 attempts in 12 month from the day of delinquency to notify the customer their rent is due. After 12 months, we give the customer another 30 day notice before their box is drilled. A scenario we're running into is when we send out the notices, they are being returned because the person is no longer at that address. The State says in order for us the drill the customer's box, they have to be notified (this means the customer must be receiving the notices), but in this case, they can't because they have moved and didn't notify us. After 12 months and the 30 day notice, would it be safe to say we can drill the box because we have tried sending multiple notices and even looked them up in the white pages online?

Are your notices being sent certified mail, requiring a signature/receipt? We send out normal (automated) notices via mail at 10, 20 and 30 days past due. With no response and upon hitting the 60th day, we send out a certified letter (returned receipt required). We list the drill date as 30 days past the date on the letter. If the letter is undeliverable due to bad address, the entire envelope is returned - and retained as proof we tried to contact the customer. I would recommend something like that if not already done.