Tenant changed the locks, but sent us the keys?

Question

A tenant recently locked himself out of his apartment (for the 2nd time). He wanted to avoid paying the fee for us to drive out to his apartment and let him in, so he changed the locks and mailed us the new keys. Its very clearly written in the lease that the tenant cannot change the locks without written permission from the Landlord. We don't want to evict him, but not sure how to react. I sent him a formal notice that he had broken his lease.

I now need to make sure the keys he sent me are really for his apartment, and track down the maintenance guy to give him a new set.

I'm a pretty new property manager/owner, and just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and how you handled it.

thanks,

Vida

I now need to make sure the keys he sent me are really for his apartment, and track down the maintenance guy to give him a new set.

I'm a pretty new property manager/owner, and just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and how you handled it.

thanks,

Vida

Michele Fischer · Answer

How much do you charge for replacement keys?  We charge $5, which doesn't begin to cover our costs and inconvenience, but that seemed standard in other agreements I saw.

Unless your fee is high, they spent more rekeying the place than your fee.  Make it clear that they need to know their lease, what they agreed to abide by, but also focus on a good relationship with them where they feel comfortable contacting you.

Otherwise make an appointment for a maintenance inspection, and make sure the keys you have fit all doors and look for anything else suspicious in addition to any current or upcoming maintenance needs.

Thomas S. · Answer

Teach them a lesson. Inform them that because you must now test the new keys and pass a copy to your maintenance man you have the same amount of time and effort involved as if you have simply gone out and let him in. Charge him the same fee...$100.

Corby Goade · Answer

I would give the tenant a warning and modify your lease- make a mention in there that tenants are no to rekey locks and it's a violation of the lease terms (thanks for the post, I am going to add this to our leases now!) If they are a good tenant otherwise, I'd change the locks back and maybe give your tenants one free door opening per year?

We use a master key system for our rentals, so having a tenant change a lock would definitely be a problem for me.

George P. · Answer

Drive to the property when the tenant is there and make sure the keys are working ))

Vida Dillard · Answer

Thanks, Michelle and Rob.   I have in my leases that there is a $100 unlock fee for coming out to unlock the door if a tenant locks themselves out.  The first time I came out, was his first night in this unit.  He just moved in on May 15th.  Since it was his first time, I charged him $50.  Mostly because it was 10:30 at night and I live 20 minutes from the building.  I wanted him to be really careful not to lock himself out again.  I did make it clear that it would be $100 if it happened again.  I think he was trying to avoid the fee.

So, I ended up sending him a formal notice to abide by the lease today, and tried to call him.  We ended up texting back and forth.  He said he was worried about his security in the condo, that he changed the locks and reinforced them.  Glenwood Springs is a pretty safe town, and it seemed to me that the locks were fine.  He had never complained about them before, and neither had any other tenants.  Although I would have had them upgraded if I knew he thought they were a concern.  I ended up explaining that I need him to know that he has to follow the lease we agreed on, or he could get evicted.  I also explained that I'm willing to work with him on problems he's having with the apartment.  But, like you said, there wasn't much else I could do.

Rob Jones · Answer

@Vida Dillard  What did you do the first time this individual locked himself out?  Why did he think it was okay to defy the lease and get the locks changed himself?  Has there been previous non-compliance that you let slide?

I'm not quite sure if there is anything that you can do now that the tenant has already changed the locks.  Seeing that this is now the second time he has locked himself out, I would set up some guidelines in the event that this happens again.  Make him fully aware that, even though he is just changing the locks, he is violating his lease and all violations, regardless of how large or small, are grounds for eviction.  Make him aware that an eviction will be on his record for quite some time.  Is it really worth it to have that stain on his record over something as simple as changing a lock?

Tenant changed the locks, but sent us the keys?

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