As a rental property owner in Portsmouth, you recognize that your residents consistently keep understandable qualms about their personal safety. As new residents set foot into a rental home, they may bring forward bids about changing the locks to be assured that ex-residents or other individuals with keys to the property will absolutely not be able to gain entrance into the residence. In particular places, local laws do not command a landlord to change the locks between residents, and a small number of property owners may look at this sort of expenditure as immaterial.
If the resident asks, do you have to change or re-key the locks?
The unmistakable reply is no, you are quite possibly not entailed to change the locks upon request. But it is critical to bear in mind the resulting effects of discounting to do so.
As the property owner, you are duty-bound to serve your Portsmouth residents with the strategies to guarantee the safety of the home. When residents sign a lease, you endow them with keys, garage door openers, or passcodes to render them a way to be admitted to the property plus impart them the ways and means to make safe the property, too. Residents have a liking towards making a number of copies of their keys for family members or even neighbors, and when they depart from a rental home they may not all the time be thorough to reclaim and properly eliminate these copies.
If you don’t change or re-key the locks, and someone wrangles a deceitful way to enter the residence, you could face a court action and be held liable for damages. Notably in cases of domestic abuse, divorce, or family issues, or even if a prior roommate is a lingering concern changing the locks between residents is a salient step in keeping yourself from legal liability.
Unquestionably, the locks are only one item of a rental home’s system. Garage door openers, keypads, and other access devices are also eventual risks. Residents may impart entry codes to babysitters, repairmen, or others who require a way to be admitted to the home when they are not at home. Conscientious management of passcodes, remote controls, and so on should be a segment of your property management strategy, together with changing codes or replacing remote controls as commanded to help see to it the safety of your residents.
At Real Property Management Seacoast New Hampshire, we intend to ensure that the only people who have means of entry to your rental properties are your residents. For that reason, we count lock changes among residents as a vital part of our property management services. Our manner of management is drafted to shield you and your properties with the best practices in the industry. Please contact us online or call us at 603-343-2202 to have more of your questions answered.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
