Package Stolen From Porch? What to Do First, and Who Pays

If a package was stolen from your porch, do three things today: tell the seller who shipped it, file a police report, and, if the Postal Service delivered it, report it to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service too. Who pays you back depends mostly on the seller's own policy and how you paid, not on the delivery company. And whether the thief faces a felony depends a lot on which side of the Potomac your porch is on.

In Virginia, stealing a package off a porch is a felony at any value. In Maryland, a $90 package is a misdemeanor.

That gap is real, it is written into state law, and almost none of the advice pages that rank for this question mention it. Below is what to do, in order, and what the law in Maryland, Virginia and DC actually says, taken from the statute pages themselves as they read in November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Package stolen from porch: what to do in the first hour?

Work through this list before you assume the worst. Some "stolen" packages turn up.

1. Read the tracking page closely. Note the exact time it was marked delivered and any delivery photo. Save a screenshot; the page can change later.
2. Check the near misses. Side doors, behind planters, the mailroom or front desk if you rent, and the neighbours on either side. A wrong house number on the photo is a delivery error, not a theft, and that is the seller's and carrier's problem to fix.
3. Pull your own video, if you have any. Doorbell or neighbour camera footage with a time stamp is the single most useful thing you can give the police.
4. Contact the seller, not just the carrier. The seller chose the carrier and usually has the relationship with it. Many sellers replace or refund a missing order; what they owe you depends on their written policy, so read it and quote it back.
5. File a police report. You may need the report number for the seller, your card issuer or an insurance claim.
6. If it came by USPS, report it to postal inspectors as well. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes reports at uspis.gov or 1-877-876-2455. Its own page says inspectors arrested almost 9,300 suspects for mail and package theft from 2019 to 2024.

If the package never showed as delivered at all, that is a different problem. Our guide to orders that never arrived walks through it.

Who is responsible for a package stolen from the doorstep?

This is the question people most want answered, and the honest answer is: it depends on the seller's policy and on your payment method. There is no single federal rule that says "the seller always pays" for a theft that happens after a delivery scan, and you should be wary of any page that promises one.

What you can lean on:

• The seller's written policy. Big marketplaces and most stores publish what they do about "delivered but not received." Your first request should cite it.
• Your credit card's dispute rights. The FTC explains that the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute charges for things you did not accept or that were not delivered as agreed. You write to the card issuer's billing-inquiry address so the letter arrives within 60 days of the first statement showing the charge. The issuer must acknowledge your letter within 30 days and resolve the dispute within 90. Whether a porch theft counts as "not delivered as agreed" is decided in that process, so send your tracking screenshots, photos and police report number with it.
• Any shipping insurance or signature service that was bought on the parcel.

Debit cards, cash apps and gift cards do not carry that same credit-card dispute process, which is one more reason to pay by credit card for anything you are having delivered.

Is porch piracy a felony in Maryland, Virginia and DC?

Here is the part that surprised us. The three places nearest our customers treat the same theft very differently.

A few things worth knowing about that table:

• Virginia's law covers private carriers too. Its definition of a "postal service" includes delivery companies as well as the Postal Service, and "mail" includes a package that has been delivered but not yet picked up. That is why a Virginia porch theft does not depend on who brought the box.
• Maryland tried to close the gap and has not, yet. A 2026 bill called the Porch Piracy Act of 2026 (HB 786) would have made package theft a felony with up to five years in prison. When we checked the General Assembly's page this week, it still showed the bill at its February committee hearing, with nothing recorded after that. So in Maryland, the value of what was stolen still decides how serious the charge is.
• Maryland and DC both care about totals. In DC, two or more thefts within six months that add up to $1,000 can be charged as first-degree theft. Repeat offenders face tougher limits in both places.
• The federal law is about the mail. Section 1708 covers things taken from the mail, so it fits packages the Postal Service delivered. A box from a private carrier generally falls to state law.

None of this gets your package back, but it does explain why police in one county may treat a report very differently from police across the river.

How do I stop packages being stolen this holiday season?

The Postal Inspection Service's own advice is short, and it works for most carriers' equivalents:

• Bring deliveries in promptly. The less time a box sits outside, the smaller the window.
• Arrange another drop point if you will be out, or use the Postal Service's Hold Mail service while you are away.
• Ask for "Hold for Pickup" so the parcel waits at a post office instead of your porch.
• Ask for signature confirmation on anything valuable.

Two more ideas of our own. Send expensive gifts to your workplace if your employer allows it, rather than to an empty house. And for large or costly items, consider buying from a local seller where you collect the item yourself, so there is no doorstep step at all. If you shop with us, the FAQ explains how pickup and delivery work, and you can browse what is in stock on Buy Now or bid on Auctions.

What about a "your package is held" text?

Package theft season is also fake-delivery-text season. Be wary of any text saying your parcel is stuck and needs a small fee, with a link to pay. Our guide to USPS texts explains when the Postal Service really does text you. Check tracking by typing the carrier's address yourself, never through a link in a message.

The bottom line

If a package is stolen from your porch, document it, contact the seller and file a police report the same day, and add a postal inspector report if it was a USPS delivery. Pay by credit card so you have a dispute route. And know that in Virginia the thief has committed a felony no matter what was in the box, while in Maryland and DC it depends on the value.

If a neighbour just lost a package, send them this. It might save them an afternoon of guessing.