Adventures in Property Management

Wednesday War Story - Lesson Learned

System - Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Property Management Blog

A resident calls their manager to let them know that they need the locks changed on the apartment. They have broken up with their significant other and they keep coming back into the apartment. (the boyfriend is not on the lease agreement) The manager, arrives with a new lock in hand and while changing out the lock asks the tenant, how the BF is getting into the apartment.

"Oh, I gave him a key to it when we were going out"

The tenant was very upset to find out that the bill to change out the locks was their responsibility.

The lesson learned here is a tough one. Do not make copies of keys and give them out to people not on the lease. It can put you, as a tenant, in a bad situation if something goes wrong. If someone needs to access your apartment when you are not there, be sure to get the key back from them. And, when it comes to changing the locks it is the financial responsibility of the tenant to pay for the mistake.