As a rental property owner in Southfield, you understand that your tenants regularly possess earnest fears about their personal safety. As new tenants proceed into a rental home, they may bring up requests about changing the locks to make sure that previous tenants or other individuals with keys to the property will, on no account, be able to go into the residence. In different places, local laws do not necessitate a landlord to change the locks between tenants, and several property owners may perceive that sort of charge is superfluous.
If the tenant asks, do you have to change or re-key the locks?
The easy response is no, you are potentially not exacted to change the locks upon request. But it is imperative to observe the would-be outcomes of neglecting to do so.
As the property owner, you are accountable for giving your Southfield tenants the manner to protect the home. When tenants sign a lease, you present them with keys, garage door openers, or passcodes to impart to them entry to the property along with extending them the practice to preserve the safety of the property, too. Tenants have a proclivity to make countless copies of their keys for family members or even neighbors, and when they leave a rental home they may not constantly be heedful to take back and rightly get rid of these copies.
If you don’t change or re-key the locks, and someone gets unlawful entrance to the residence, you could face a case against you and be held accountable for damages. In particular, in cases of domestic abuse, divorce, or family issues, or even if an earlier roommate is a hassle, changing the locks between tenants is an important step in safeguarding yourself from legal liability.
Needless to say, the locks are only one factor of a rental home’s system. Garage door openers, keypads, and other access devices are also probable risks. Tenants may present entry codes to babysitters, repairmen, or others who necessitate admission to the home when they are elsewhere. Heedful management of passcodes, remote controls, and so on should be a thing of your property management strategy, aside from changing codes or replacing remote controls as needed to help check the safety of your tenants.
At Real Property Management Metro Detroit, we aspire to guarantee that the only people who have admittance to your rental properties are your tenants. Thus we comprise lock changes among tenants as a critical part of our property management services. Our style is mapped out to shelter you and your properties with the best practices in the industry. Please contact us online or call us at 248-808-6550 to discover more.
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.
