So I live in an apartment with 4 other guys and one day I noticed my key to the entrance to the apartment was not on my fob. I retraced my steps and could not find the key. So now I have to either pay management 100 dollars as a fee for losing it or I could try to copy one of my roommates’ key. I believe it does not say do not duplicate on the key to the entrance of the apartment. So I believe I could copy it, but I have to return it at the end of my lease otherwise they charge me 250 to replace all the locks. Do you guys think they would notice it is a copy if I buy the same brand? Should I copy a roommates key or just pay the 100 dollars to get a new one from management? It says nothing about copying keys in the lease except for the fee for losing my key.
Just copy your roommate’s key. Lots of us lose keys and the overwhelming majority of the time they show up again.
PS. Make two copies in case you lose another one.
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try; but some “Do Not Duplicate” keys are on blanks that most consumer-level key cutting facilities won’t have (key duplicator kiosk, regular hardware or home-improvement store service counter, etc.) And although the disclaimer doesn’t have any legal weight, a lot of chain type places will honor the restriction out of an (over)abundance of caution.
A locksmith is more likely to have the resources and the independence to do it.
should you pay your apartment complex a $100 for a copy of a key? seriously? ummm… no.
that’s their way of saying don’t lose your key & don’t bother us if you do.
home depot will charge you under $5 total to make one.
i worked apartment maintenance & we got $50 personally (the complex got nothing) for nighttime & weekend unlocks with new key.
not recommending this but I’ve seen people break a key (not the key, a random key) off in the locks & then we’d have to replace the lock set no charge, because “they just found it that way, they didn’t do anything wrong. we (the complex) apparently need better security”.
and if your key fob had your key physically removed from it, I’d be looking into who the hell did that. that shit would piss me off.
When you and your buddies all move out, I should HOPE they would change the locks in any case! That’s a fairly standard for apartments to do, for obvious reasons. It’s not something they should charge for. I don’t know why it would even matter if you turned in any keys, but they always demand that anyway.
Ding. At least one lock manufacturer created proprietary blanks and machining systems, specifically for their locks, in order to control the security of the system. Medeco is the big one my google-fu found, but there are several others. For those systems, Ace Hardware or the MinuteKey at Menard’s simply CAN’T duplicate the key, even if they wanted to (and the penalty for patent infringement without the appropriate licensing is crazy). If it’s just a “Do Not Duplicate” stamped on a key, then, correct, there’s no legal weight enforcing it.
The OP said the key does not say “Do Not Duplicate.” So he can make as many copies as he wants.
And another vote that the management should be rekeying all the locks at the end of the lease anyway.
Unconscionable …
The real locksmiths that post here may correct me, but it only took me fifteen minutes to change locks after a tenant moved out using a tumbler kit … same lockset, different key … and I did so after every tenant, no exceptions … and I wouldn’t hesitate changing locks during a tenancy if the tenant asked me, and at no charge …
The overhead costs is trivial compared to the opportunity to materially demonstrate that tenants’ personal safety was my top priority … as that’s an extremely profitable reputation to have …
Check with the local tenants’ rights advocates and find out if your applicable laws have language in it along the lines of “reasonable costs and fees” … because charging [sup][/sup]100 to have a [sup][/sup]2 key made is outrageous … drag the bastards into a court of law, see if the judge will refer the matter to the District Attorney’s office for the [sup]$[/sup]250 charge to change locks between tenants …
It was a particularly brutal rape and murder, the landlord testified that he saved [sup]$[/sup]10 by not changing the locks before the victim moved in … I can’t remember how many years the landlord spent in prison over that incident …
Did that key have a serial number or other markings on it? If so, Management might still charge you the $100 for it when you leave. Their reasoning would be that they have no idea how many copies you may have made and/or given out to friends and relatives, and the $100 wouldn’t be for the $2 key-it would be for the $100 lock change on your door.
It’s not hard, and doesn’t even require a locksmith, just someone with a bit of handiness. I did the opposite: replaced a door hand set but reused the old tumblers and cylinder. Removed the cylinder et al from the old (damaged) lockset and grafted it into the new (same brand) lockset. 20 minutes, and about 10 of that was research.
As you say, unconscionable. Money is behind a lot of “unconscionable”.
What is the charge for making all those new keys for all the tenants?
They’re not just going have to make a copy of the key. They need to change the locks and give everyone new keys. A locksmith would be required.
You wouldn’t want a stranger to have a key to your apartment, would you? Even if that doesn’t bother you, the management could conceivably be liable is someone found your lost key and figured out how to get into the apartment.
It won’t hurt to try, because it’s only an appartment key. But some “do not duplicate” keys are recognisable security keys, and some locksmiths will call the cops on you.
Just mentioning.
How are they going to know that? A lost key could fit a huge number of doors–unless the OP had his address attached to the key.
Most decent landlords will change the tumbler part of the lock when tenants move out. That’s the center part where the key goes in. It is replaced with a different one, with different keys.
But the old tumbler isn’t thrown away!
The landlord keeps that (and the key(s) that open it) in a box in his maintenance closet with a bunch of other ones from various other apartments in the building. These are re-used a few months or years later when a different apartment needs the locks changed. So that’s why the landlord wants the keys back: 1) he doesn’t want extra keys to his apartments floating around, and 2) he can re-use the keys when he re-uses that lock on a different door.
This means that if someone keeps their key after they leave the apartment, it is likely that in a few months or years that key would work to open another apartment somewhere in that landlords building(s). But you can’t tell from looking at the lock, so you would have to try the key in all the apartment doors in all the landlords building(s) to find the one it opens. And it might not even be in a door – it could still be sitting in the box of spare locks the landlord has stored.
Since the OP is asking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
locksmith required? that’s hilarious. that’s roughly the equivalent of flying Martha Stewart to your house via helicopter because you want to put some icing on a cake.
I’ve personally worked at multiple apartment complexes in maintenance. we had key machines. we had key blanks, pennies each. we had bulk ordered deadbolts that come with 2 new keys, less than $10 each. we had the used deadbolts that we would remove on move outs & install in another unit elsewhere on the property at some point. we had pin kits to rekey locks, pennies.
wanna know what we never had? locksmiths. ever.
wanna know what else we never had? people suing us over deadbolts.
I’m curious, do you ever go to home improvement stores (home depot, lowes, ace, etc…)? ever seen all the locks they sell there? you think people are hiring locksmiths to install them once they buy them? hardly to never.
also, regarding the security that locks provide. unless you get good locks, you’re just keeping honest people out. i can pick, rake or drill out the thru screw’s in a kwikset or defiant lock almost as fast as someone can use their key.
Google lock picking on YouTube, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
I kept a BIG pipe wrench around …
The 'key" here (hahahaha) is that tenants are usually poor or broke … they don’t have much worth stealing … or the landlord isn’t charging enough rent …