If you own an apartment building, you are likely accustomed to having tenants move in and out of units. When someone moves out of a unit, you know it is important to get the unit ready for rent for the next potential tenant as quickly as possible. This involves cleaning and making sure there are no damages to the unit. However, it should also always involve rekeying the locks to the unit. This is true regardless of the size of your building or the location of your building.
Why Is It Important for Apartment Building Locks to be Rekeyed?
Even though you might trust your former tenants, you do not want there to be keys to the apartments in the hands of someone who does not live there any longer. There is no telling just where these keys could end up and who could get a hold of them. Even if the former tenants handed back all of the original keys, you never know how many spare keys they had cut. The new tenants are certainly not going to feel comfortable if they discover there are other keys to their apartment in the hands of other people.
What could happen if one of the tenants that you had was evicted and did not want to leave, or held a grudge against you or the complex? You would certainly not want them to have a key and access to the building. Always make sure you are rekeying the locks to the units as soon as someone moves out of the building.
There may be some smaller apartment building owners out there who do not bother with rekeying on their own, and tell their tenants that they can change out the locks if they wish. However, that can be a big problem. Landlords or property managers may need to enter the unit in the event of an emergency. If they do not have the keys to the unit, the landlords will still have to find a way to get into the unit.
One of the other things to consider are all of the other areas in the complex that require keys for access. This could be the front gate, the pool area, the laundry room, a game room, or any other areas that might be at the complex. While you can’t rekey these locks every time someone moves out, you can schedule to have the locks changed up at least once a year to ensure previous tenants do not have access to the building. This can also be done with a master key system, read our blog post about master key systems and how they can benefit you.
Why Rekeying Is a Good Option Compared With Changing Out the Locks
Some apartment complex owners and managers choose to remove and change the entire lock on their doors whenever a client moves out. While this might solve the problem of needing new locks, it tends to be expensive and time consuming. Consider the number of units that will need new locks each year. You will find that it can often be a much better option to have the existing locks rekeyed.
This process will allow you to keep the same locks, although they will have their pins changed. In addition, the keys will have their shape changed, so old keys are not going to work in the lock. This is a faster and cheaper option than changing out all of the locks in the apartment complex.
Why Use a Professional for the Rekeying?
Instead of attempting to rekey the locks on your own, which can be an exercise in frustration, it is a better option to work with a professional. The pros can make sure the job is done right the first time, and they can take care of it faster than you could do on your own. The professionals can help you to keep everything properly organized, as well. A good locksmith company can make organization easier by stamping the keys with the unit number to make them easier to identify. They can also help with security.
One of the problems that some apartment complex owners have run into with rekeying randomly, whether on their own or with a letter quality locksmith company, is having some interchangeability between some of the keys in the complex. This could be a serious security problem. A high-quality locksmith company will ensure that the keys will only work with their correct units.
