Should Landlords Be Required to Change Locks for New Tenants?

Imagine the excitement of moving into the apartment of your dreams in Santa Monica or Sherman Oaks. Now, imagine the nightmare of discovering that a complete stranger has a key to your apartment’s lock and can pop in for a “visit”  whenever he likes. This shocking scenario may sound like it’s straight out of a Stephen King novel; unfortunately, it’s an all too real a threat for apartment tenants living in California and locksmiths from Los Angeles to Riverside think it’s time for a change.

It’s mindblowing for any professional locksmith to believe that in a state that is as heavily regulated as California there is no legal requirement for landlords to automatically replace or rekey locks for new tenants. Current legislation (Civil Code Section 1941.1), is weak and unclear. It states that the landlord’s habitability obligation is to ensure that all doors and windows be secured with proper locks. Locks must be rekeyed only if failing to do so would raise a safety issue. For example, a new tenant may be at risk if the prior tenants damaged the existing lock or did not turn in all the keys. The only problem is that it is impossible to verify prior tenants turned in all the keys, replacing the locks would insure only the new tenants have keys.

The professionals at Fidelity Locksmith urge every renter in California to join us in demanding that our state legislators strengthen legislation and require the mandatory rekeying of apartment locks whenever there is a change in tenants. Until this legislation is passed, tenants should ask potential landlords if they will agree in writing torekeying the rental unit’s lock prior to your moving in. If they say no, but offer you the option of doing it on your own, contact Fidelity Locksmith for a professional installation. If the landlord is totally unwilling to change the locks, we highly recommend looking for another apartment.