Getting keys to rental unit

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

My girlfriend just moved to Somerville and her landlord has been a bit squirrely in providing a full set of keys to her house. Basically, she received the front door key from the tenants moving out, but they didn't have a key to the basement or back door.

Upon requesting keys to the back door and basement door, the landlord simply said that they don't have/provide them and that my girlfriend would have to pay for a locksmith to change out the cores. When asked why they don't provide keys (with a couple of reminders when he didn't respond) to the back door, his response was "I've never had a tenant request this and I'm [at] a loss for words," and then repeated that he can give her a locksmith's # for her to use (and pay for).

Given that she just moved in, she'd like to avoid any kind of legal fire-fight, but this seems ridiculous. She doesn't need the keys to get in, but it would be convenient; she stores her bike in the back, and it'd be nice not to worry about possibly being locked out of the basement.

Has anyone run into this situation before or have any advice? Thanks in advance!

Edit: In addition to the basement door, there is a door to a back hallway and a back door to the apartment. She doesn't have any of these keys (3 total)

Comments

not legal advice

[balsamicdragon.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the problem is that the landlord does not have the key himself? That might be a problem for fire codes, if nothing else. Also, if the lease gives the tenant the right to store things in the basement, clearly the landlord must provide her with a key, or it is not a meaningful right.

Re: not legal advice

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's a good point! we'll check the lease for storage permission.

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify, the key to the backdoor is the backdoor of her the apartment and not a back door to a hallway? It is a different key than the front door? I'm fairly certain he has to provide her with key to the apartment and that he cannot make her pay to have them changed.

As for the basement, I've lived in apartments where we were not allowed to store anything, so I'm not entirely clear on that.

Really have her look at the lease, there may be a provision in it regarding the basement. Otherwise, have her communicate via certified mail, because I doubt the landlord is going to provide this for her without a legal fight.

Are there any other apartments in the building? Could she possibly get a copy of the back door/basement key made from another tenant?

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

I also wanted to add, that the apartment where we were not allowed to store anything in the basement, there was only one copy of the basement key at first. I lived on the first floor, so we were 'in charge' of it, however after it being nearly lost a couple of time, we made copies for each of the floors, plus a spare that was kept in the front hallway.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

Cost for a new lock is one of the few things a landlord can charge a fee for, as it happens.

Not giving a key is a problem. I think you may need more than one egress to be up to code, but I'm not sure. If I were that landlord, I would just have changed the lock and collected the fee before lease signing.

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your response. I posted the clarification above: there are a total of 3 keys that she doesn't have: back door from yard to back hallway, back hallway to apartment unit, and back hallway to basement.

Don't think any of the other tenants have the keys as well.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

It does sound like the landlord doesn't have keys to those locks.

She could try replacing the lock cores and deducting it from the rent/submitting the receipt. Seems only fair, though I don't know if the landlord would agree.

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

We're guessing that he doesn't have the keys. We thought about that second option, but it seems like a quick way to have a bad tenant-landlord relationship and a legal fight... but who knows, that might be where this is headed anyway. ugh.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Well, your girlfriend might have to just eat the cost on this one. It would be better than going apartment hunting again so soon. Getting those cores changed isn't too terribly expensive if you find the right locksmith. In fact, you might find you have a friend who knows how to do it, and all you'd pay for is the hardware.

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

Replacing a lock isn't all that difficult. I've done it and I am not particularly mechanically inclined. You can probably just buy the necessary locks at a hardware store and DIY.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Might he be willing to go halves on it?

[arinamay.livejournal.com]

I had a wacky situation where the landlady wouldn't provide keys to our front door (didn't open to the street, but opened to a hallway with another apartment). We used the health code to convince her to give us keys. It states something to the effect of it being the landlord's responsibility to prevent unlawful entry to the apartment, which includes having locks that work. Since we couldn't lock the door except from the inside, it meant we couldn't lock our apartment when we all left. It was crazy.

I don't know if that would apply in this case, but maybe having keys counts as part of being an operable lock? Here is a link with a summary of the health codes we used: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm?PHPSESSID=1042ab75e577a9fcbeb39f4f3010de28

The part we used is described as "All dwellings must be secured against unlawful entry. [410.480(A)] Entry doors to the dwelling and the dwelling unit and every opening exterior window of a dwelling must be secured against unlawful entry and fitted with a functioning locking devise. [410.480(B),(D)&(E)]"

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

Hm, we looked at that and had the same question as to whether a key is integral to having an operable lock. Again, we didn't want to escalate it to Code citation level, but it's good to know someone had success with that method. Thanks!

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

If it's a deadbolt that can only be locked (without a key) from inside, but only WITH a key, from outside, then, yes, I would say it is integral to the lock being operable.

That being said, changing keys is something a landlord is allowed to charge for.

[arinamay.livejournal.com]

Good point. My landlady did have the keys, she just didn't want to give them to us. She didn't have to have the locks changed, just had to hand over the darn keys.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Do you have any access to the basement from inside? (It's not clear if this is simple a key to an exterior basement door, or any access to the basement.)

If you don't have access to the basement at all, and there are utilities located there (such as your circuit breaker panel), that might be a problem for both of you. Unless your landlord wants to come out to flip the breaker every time you happen to run the microwave and the waffle iron at the same time.

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

Doesn't matter if you do it, or the landlord does it, or who pays, unless you can account for the keys get the locks changed. You have no idea who has a key to those doors. If you later find out the landlord should have paid, work it out with him (or just swallow the cost if you want to avoid a legal fire-fight).

As a nice side effect of addressing the safety issue, it'll mean you can tell the locksmith which doors you want to open with the same key. Especially if you're the only tenants, having multiple doors open with the same key is a nice convenience factor.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

yeah, really. a lot of new construction, the keys and/or master keys have multiple copies floating all over the place. heck, possibly in the dirt outside.

change the locks! buy your own, and do it yourself if you can. save the old locks. when you move, change them back and smile :)

in the mean time, be happier knowing that only you have the keys, and nobody else, like the previous tenant, the previous tenant's EX, the guy who lived there two years ago and stashed drugs/$$$ in the floorboards before he went to prison and he's getting out next month and he's really looking forward to trying out his key at 3am ;)

#

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

If you had the last tenant give you the key, I'd definitely consider just paying out of pocket to have the front and back to the apartment changed so that one key opens them both, then you know you're the only one with a key. As for the back door/basement, ask the other tenants (of other apts in the building) if they want to pitch in to get them changed out so it's not a security issue, as I'm sure the back door to the outside may get left unlocked on occasion if no one has a key. I had to do something similar in an apt elsewhere, mostly due to an absentee landlord and really not trusting the people who had lived in my apt. previously :)

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

I am a landlord and am amazed that this is such a big issue for the landlord. You can bring the lockset to home depot and they will re-key it for you for $5, plus they give you 2 new keys.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

In my experience, the guy at Home Depot can only rekey a lock if you provide the original key. The lock has to be unlocked for it to be rekeyed, and he won't/can't pick the lock.

But a locksmith can do it. Commonwealth Lock in Porter Square charged me $10 to rekey a core I brought in without the old key.

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

Home Depot in Everett re-keyed a lockset I had without the original key, I guess YMMV.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

My experience was at the Watertown Home Depot. The Somerville location told me they didn't have anyone who could rekey a lock.