If you’re in a building where management might come into your unit at random times, getting an electronic lock is a good idea. If they have a key to a regular lock, they can come and go without you knowing. But an electronic lock can send you a notification whenever they go in. Give them a code rather than a key. If the lock supports multiple codes, create a unique one for management so you’ll specifically know it was their code which opened the door.
Although this doesn’t pertain to the OP, if you’re renting and your unit has a traditional keyed lock, you might be able to replace it with an electronic lock from the same manufacturer and have it keyed the same as your existing lock. This allows management to use their existing keys but you’ll have a new e-lock. For instance, if your lock is a Schlage, get a Schlage electronic lock and have it keyed to your existing key. Hardware stores that sell the locks can frequently re-key it for you right then. If you have a Kwikset lock, then you can actually rekey an electronic Kwikset lock yourself. Kwikset has a feature called SmartKey which allows you to re-key your new lock to your old key all by yourself.
How does that work? Does it dynamically adjust the positions of the pins?
Edit: Oh cool, it’s kinda like one of those set-your-own-combo programmable locks. Their specialized tools help in the reprogramming, but you can also just take it apart and do it manually with your fingers: https://youtu.be/aQjXl78DdUA?si=4YBY0KTN-mTOk7EZ&t=138 (starting around 2:18)
That’s pretty cool that you can literally re-key it by hand. That may actually be a more useful trick than you might expect. I speak from experience. I put a Kwikset e-lock on my daughter’s apartment door and keyed it to the old lock. When she moved out, I re-installed the old, normal lock and boxed up the Kwikset I had bought. However, I forgot to re-key my Kwikset lock to the keys that came with it. I boxed it up still keyed to the original apartment lock. Later on when I wanted to install my Kwikset on a different door, the keys I had didn’t work in the lock (the new keys that came with the lock). Without a working key, I couldn’t re-key the lock. Luckily, we happened to find an old key from the original apartment lock and I was able to re-key my Kwikset back to the keys that came with. It’s good to know that if I can’t find a working key, I can still re-key it to a new key by hand.
Before you give anybody access to your condo (ie keys or access codes), read your association by-laws and any covenants, conditions, and restrictions. They may not have the right to ask for it, and if they don’t, I would tell them in the politest way possible to go pound sand.
Just a few comments. Our town requires annual inspection of smoke detectors. The condo management asks for permission any time they might come in. One curious thing about this setup is that the hot water is provided by the condo, part of the monthly fee, while we pay separately for cold water. There are separate shutoff valves for the hot and cold water.
I am not at all concerned with security. You need a fob to enter the building and a fob to go by elevator or stairs to any floor above the ground. I am much more concerned about emergency entrance.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will decide soon.
Maybe just remove the lock? Or switch it out to a low security lock where it’s cheap and easy to make extra keys, and give some to building management? It leave the lock but never activate it, and just leave the door unlocked.
I’ve never heard of Medeco, but I do have a steel security door with a Mul-T-Lock lock and bars on all of the windows of my 3rd-story condo (the building isn’t flammable, so fire isn’t that much of an issue). I live in a good neighborhood, so this is just considered standard practice in my area - but you can understand why I consider changing the locks a no-brainer.
Local fire departments hold the master key(s) to all boxes in their response area. Which IIUC is pretty much always the same key for all the key boxes in the response area although there may be exceptions. One key rules them all…
Yes, AIUI there have been issues with authorized master key misuse and cloned master keys but it’s the best worst solution that’s been agreed upon.
Medeco locks are high-security intended to be difficult or impossible to pick, and the keys are special blanks that need special cutting machines to duplicate. They’re supposed to be stamped “Do Not Duplicate” and an authorized locksmith must see a signed certificate that matches their records to duplicate such a key.
The problem here seems to be that the original owner never transferred that certification to the OP. If they had, there wouldn’t be an issue. One possibility would be to get a Medeco-authorized locksmith to change the keying on the lock(s) and give you a new set of keys and a proper ownership certificate. We had that done at a previous house with Medeco locks when someone lost their key, and out of an abundance of caution we had the locks re-keyed and new keys issued.
Other interesting use cases for the Kwikset smart key system - likely not helping the OP with his situation, but perhaps helpful for others reading.
I have it installed at my father’s condo. We had to fire his live in aide, and I changed the locks because I couldn’t be sure the previous aide didn’t have a copy. The new locks are smart key based, so if I have to do this again for some reason, I can just change the key.
I also recently rekeyed all the locks in my house. I opted to change them to the same key as my best friend’s house - she and I were carrying each other’s keys anyway. One less key on my key chain. I think my sister has a physical key to my house so she could get into my friend’s house now, but she doesn’t know it’s the same key. Friend and I discussed this and agreed it was fine.
Another friend of mine just recently started parking her car in the garage, and realized that the door from the garage to the house was keyed differently than the front door. I swapped the garage lock out to a smart key lock, and set the key to be the same.
One other thing I ran into with all this: Three of the deadbolts I changed were August smart locks - you replace the inside part, and leave the keyed part the same. There is a little plastic adapter that you need to install to compensate for different brands of locks. I had installed these ages ago..and have no idea where the other brand adapters were any more. Likely thrown away. And I was changing brands, and needed a different piece. So I had to order some parts from August. Not a big deal, but something that had to be done to make it all worjk.
I never directly answered OP but this is my advice, too. Go through the trouble of formal ownership transfer with the dealer. It probably win’t be too bad, this happens all the time. With OP’s secured building, I’d consider removing the entire lock to bring (with all known keys) to the dealer for a couple hours to help smooth the process. Medeco is one of those brands you can count on and it’s a durable asset, an enhancement to to dwelling, worth the investment IMO.
Another unfortunate truth is that the trade of locksmithing is littered with shades of bogus nonsense, scammers, thieves, incompetents, first-timers, among the actual professionals. Some mean well but the worst prey on or take unfair advantage of the desperate, usually simple vehicle lockouts (ie breaking & entering). OP’s first challenge will be finding a legit Medeco service provider. The second challenge will be writing the check, lol.
I used to manage a condo which used Medeco locks for most of the non-public access areas. Electrical closets, roofs, etc.
Each key was stamped with the name of the local locksmith shop that cut them. Because that was the only locksmith on Earth who had the records of which people could order a new key cut from that lock group. There’s no need to stamp “do not duplicate” on a Medeco key. Every locksmith allowed to own Medeco tools or buy Medeco blanks knows they must comply with the duplication restrictions; it’s in their license agreement w Medeco.
So the OP should have no trouble locating the correct lock shop.
The hurdle, such as it is, is updating the shop’s records to replace the old owner with himself, whether the old owner wants to play nice or not. Obviously there is a procedure for this since an analogous situation arises when the old owner becomes incapacitated or deceased and can’t cooperate in the rights transfer.
I’ve only used Medeco in commercial, public safety, institutional settings and I’ve never, ever seen local branding on the keys. Local contact stamping is probably a practice used by entry access pros for residential customers which, for Medeco, are mostly in big buildings like yours.
I’d suspect in that setting the institution has a maintenance department and those folks include a locksmith and appropriate Medeco tooling & banks right within their organization.
That was well below the scale of us with 2 buildings and a few dozen doors with a simple 3-level mastering scheme.