# How does the locksmith know it's your house?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 9, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563 "2010-04-09T18:35:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/21 "2010-04-13T19:34:43Z")
> [@md2000](#):
>
> A friend of mine lived in a high-rise where apparently the thieves’ favourite method was to put their foot on the frame beside the door, their butt on the other side of the doorframe, and push. The walls were metal 2x4 construction, so the whole frame bowed enough to allow a normal door latch to pop open.
> After that break-in he put an extra-long deadbolt on the door.
This is why good locksmiths try to sell you good locksets and double-locking deadbolts(needs a key on both sides). That Kwikset crap you buy at Home Depot is cheap for a reason. A small child could kick your door in with a Kwikset lockset on your door. People are really stupid about their home security until something happens. Got glass panels in your front door? You need a double-locking deadbolt. And don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside. That door chain? Useless. Anyone with a coat hanger can pull that right off(no I’m not going to tell you how).
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/22 "2010-04-13T20:09:44Z")
There was a house around here a few years ago that had its roof removed (the shingles). Homeowner returned home and called the cops. Turns out a roofing contractor had turned up at the wrong address and began work.
I cannot find the info for the local case, but it happens often enough that I found a number of references! In the local case, the roofer wanted the homeowner to pay a portion of the bill and the homeowner said no way.
[Roofer removes roof from wrong house.](http://www.madisonrecord.com/news/216821-roofer-removed-shingles-from-wrong-house-suit-claims)
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/23 "2010-04-13T20:13:10Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> …[A]sk questions like… “You’re **sure** you don’t have your keys on you?” stuff like that. That second question may sound like a strange thing to ask, but trust me, on at least a couple of jobs the person actually **did** have their keys in a back pocket, or sitting on their car seat or something…
My Aunt Jody, a dear lady but a little scatterbrained sometimes, called the police one hot summer day many years ago because she’d locked herself out of her car with her baby still inside. The cop looked at her, walked around to the other side of the car, and opened the unlocked door there. 😃
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/24 "2010-04-13T20:21:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> My Aunt Jody, a dear lady but a little scatterbrained sometimes, called the police one hot summer day many years ago because she’d locked herself out of her car with her baby still inside. The cop looked at her, walked around to the other side of the car, and opened the unlocked door there. 😃
At least it wasn’t a convertible. 😉
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### Author:  [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/25 "2010-04-13T20:25:53Z")
I’ve been following this thread…and to reply to the OP, I recently was directed to Self-Park to open a car whose owner accidentily lock the keys inside.
(I am trained and authorized to use specialized tools to open a locked car…I’m not going to explain how.;))
Before I ever start I _always_ ask “This car is registered to you, right”?
He says, “No, it’s my sister’s.”
:dubious:
“Where’s she?”
“_Home._”
:mad:
“Sir, I can’t break into a car that dosen’t belong to you…I need security to come figure this out”
I call security for two reasons: one, to give some extra authority to my desicion because, after all, I’m the low man on the totem pole; and two, a guy who probably lost all his money at the casino and freaking out because he locked his keys in the car is liable to get violent if he dosen’t get his way.:eek:
Security agrees with me…the car isn’t registered to him, we can’t break into it.
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### Author:  [@Best\_Buy\_Lock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Best_Buy_Lock)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/26 "2010-09-08T23:44:42Z")
As a locksmith I can tell you that I am not sure who you called but they should have ID’ed you before they let you in the place … Thanks , Martin.
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### Author:  [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/27 "2010-09-09T09:33:22Z")
I locked my keys in the car once and called a locksmith for help. He showed up, unlocked the car, asked for no ID, got paid and left.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/28 "2010-09-09T13:34:44Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> > [@md2000](#):
> >
> > A friend of mine lived in a high-rise where apparently the thieves’ favourite method was to put their foot on the frame beside the door, their butt on the other side of the doorframe, and push. The walls were metal 2x4 construction, so the whole frame bowed enough to allow a normal door latch to pop open.
> > After that break-in he put an extra-long deadbolt on the door.
>
> This is why good locksmiths try to sell you good locksets and double-locking deadbolts(needs a key on both sides). That Kwikset crap you buy at Home Depot is cheap for a reason. A small child could kick your door in with a Kwikset lockset on your door. People are really stupid about their home security until something happens. Got glass panels in your front door? You need a double-locking deadbolt. And don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside. That door chain? Useless. Anyone with a coat hanger can pull that right off(no I’m not going to tell you how).
Those double locking deadbolts are a code violation for residential buildings in lots of places, or at least every place I’ve lived. True, there’s nothing stopping you from installing one yourself, but given that I’ve got young kids, I’ll take the break-in risk over the dying-in-a-fire risk.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/29 "2010-09-09T13:44:36Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#):
>
> I locked my keys in the car once and called a locksmith for help. He showed up, unlocked the car, asked for no ID, got paid and left.
How does one ask for no ID?
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/30 "2010-09-09T13:45:01Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> And don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside.
Why not? I don’t do it for security, I do it because it’s the one place I will remember to grab them before going out, but I’m curious: what’s wrong about having them there?
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/31 "2010-09-09T13:52:51Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> > [@Dereknocue67](#):
> >
> > I locked my keys in the car once and called a locksmith for help. He showed up, unlocked the car, asked for no ID, got paid and left.
>
> How does one ask for no ID?
“Excuse me, do you have no ID?”
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### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/32 "2010-09-09T14:17:28Z")
Hijack question for the locksmiths: How do you become one? Is there a school?
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### Author:  [@EristicKallistic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EristicKallistic)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/33 "2010-09-09T14:24:19Z")
It was at that point that the Locksmith became enlightened.
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### Author:  [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/34 "2010-09-09T14:41:06Z")
With AAA, they offer a discounted locksmith service for when you are locked out of your car. My boss locked his keys in his trunk one day, so we called the locksmith who asked for the AAA card, but no other ID. In other words, if I had found a random AAA card, I could have just used that to get a locksmith to unlock any random car, at least in this situation.
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### Author:  [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/35 "2010-09-09T15:30:06Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> > [@DCnDC](#):
> >
> > And don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside.
>
> Why not? I don’t do it for security, I do it because it’s the one place I will remember to grab them before going out, but I’m curious: what’s wrong about having them there?
Read the sentences before the one you quoted:
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> Got glass panels in your front door? You need a double-locking deadbolt. And don’t leave the key in the lock on the inside.
Because a thief will be able to see the key through the glass panel before he breaks the glass panel to let himself in.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/36 "2010-09-09T17:06:18Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#):
>
> Hijack question for the locksmiths: How do you become one? Is there a school?
There are trade schools, places like Lincoln Tech or whatnot. Some shops, like the one I worked at, run their own training program; in fact my company didn’t even hire people who had worked as locksmiths before, they only trained new ones.
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### Author:  [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/37 "2010-09-09T17:31:29Z")
Sorry if I have posted this before.
Back in the late 1980s, I was living in Pacoima, California. At the time, there was large gang presence in the area.
My wife and I drove an old car, and she had locked her keys in it a few times. The hood could be opened from the outside only, and so I had placed a bent coat hanger inside the engine compartment for those emergencies. I got pretty good at opening the door.
One day, I went to the store and locked my keys in the car. No problem, I thought. I grabbed the coat hanger and went to work. Fifteen minutes later, I was making no progress. I looked up and saw a gangbanger watching me with a bemused look on his face.
This guy looked like he was out of Central Casting for a “typical” Hispanic gang member: chino pants, patent leather shoes, white T-shirt, plaid outer shirt buttoned only at the top, hairnet, and teardrop next to his eye. As I am Caucasian in what was a predominantly Hispanic area, I was a little nervous.
He walked over to me and said, “You having problem?” I told him that I was, and handed him the coat hanger. He straightened it out and refashioned it, and then poised it next to the door.
Then he stopped and looked at me and said, “This your car?”
I laughed and told him it was, and that I would should him the registration when he got in.
He said, “Just checking,” and had the car opened within 15 seconds. He handed me the coat hanger and walked away.
I still remember his politeness as he asked me if it was my car.
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### Author:  [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/38 "2010-09-09T17:42:10Z")
Keep a spare car key in your wallet. It’s saved me many times.
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/39 "2010-09-09T18:16:44Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#):
>
> … a gangbanger … walked over to me and said, “You having problem?” I told him that I was, and handed him the coat hanger. He straightened it out and refashioned it, and then poised it next to the door.
>
> Then he stopped and looked at me and said, “This your car?”
>
> I laughed and told him it was, and that I would should him the registration when he got in.
>
> He said, “Just checking,” and had the car opened within 15 seconds. He handed me the coat hanger and walked away.
That’s professionalism, that is, 'cause if it wasn’t your car, then he was gonna ask for some sort of cut :). It’s like when you inquire about custom jewelry settings and the first question they always ask is “are you in the business?”.
ETA: That, or he suddenly thought he might be getting baited in some strange new sting operation. 🙂 🙂
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-locksmith-know-its-your-house/535563/40 "2010-09-09T18:32:17Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> > [@RandMcnally](#):
> >
> > Hijack question for the locksmiths: How do you become one? Is there a school?
>
> There are trade schools, places like Lincoln Tech or whatnot. Some shops, like the one I worked at, run their own training program; in fact my company didn’t even hire people who had worked as locksmiths before, they only trained new ones.
I think I just figured out what I want to do after I retire.
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