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How long to keep Certified Mail Return Receipts?

I work for a subcontractor in Jacksonville, FL, and part of my job is to send out Notice to Owner letters via Certified Mail with Return Receipt – PS Form 3811, or “green card.” My question is this; once we have received the signed Return Receipt, how long should we keep them? Thanks in advance for your time!

4 replies

Jun 16, 2021

Under 489.124, a Florida licensed contractor is required to keep records for 3 years. There may be other reasons to maintain documents longer such as IRS reasons or the fact that the matter is in litigation for any reason.

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Jun 16, 2021

Thank you, Christopher - I appreciate you responding to my question so quickly. Thanks again for your help and I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Jun 17, 2021

Just occurred to me - this would be 3 years from the project close, or the date of substantial completion, correct?

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Jun 17, 2021

"All contractors who are registered or certified pursuant to this chapter shall maintain complete financial and business records for the immediately preceding 3 years". As a painting contractor - you may not have the 3 year obligation under Chapter 489 - which is only for licensed contractors. The statute does not have a requirement so the records would be likely from creation. There are many other reasons to hold records longer. Statute of limitations periods are 4 years and 10 years on repose (i.e. hidden defect issues). IRS guidelines require another time frame. Document destruction can also be frozen if there is a claim and "document preservations" demand. The best thing to do would be to create a document retention policy and you can then destroy documents in accordance with that policy. Electronic storage makes storage easier so just consider what the documents are and why you need them.

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