Tenant lost keys - wants lock replaced

[Jennifer Ndunda]

I have a tenant in northern VA that lost keys to the apartment. I came by and gave her copies of the keys and did not charge her for it. She is now asking for the locks to be changed as a result of her losing the keys. Who is responsible for paying for the change in locks? If the tenant is responsible can I deduct this from her security deposit or add it to rent? Thanks!

[Greg Weik]

Quote from @Jennifer Ndunda:

I have a tenant in northern VA that lost keys to the apartment. I came by and gave her copies of the keys and did not charge her for it. She is now asking for the locks to be changed as a result of her losing the keys. Who is responsible for paying for the change in locks? If the tenant is responsible can I deduct this from her security deposit or add it to rent? Thanks!

 Hey @Jennifer Ndunda, I agree with @Matt Devincenzo that this is a tenant responsibility (new locks).   I think there are two takeaways here though:

1) Make sure your lease clearly addresses this scenario, as it's not uncommon, and 

2) I highly recommend installing DDL's (Digital Door Locks) and giving tenants only a user code and no keys.  We started doing this about 10 years ago and we've never looked back.  We change codes between tenants, and there are never lockouts and never rogue keys.  We keep the master key in our office in case the lock fails (which is rare.)