Lock Replacement After A Tenant Moves Out
Rekey between every tenancy, not replace. Returned keys tell you nothing — copies cost a few dollars at any hardware shop and nobody has to declare them. Rekeying costs a fraction of replacement, takes 15 to 25 minutes a cylinder, and is the single clearest thing a landlord can point to if a break-in is ever disputed.
The tenant hands back two keys. The lease said two keys. Everything balances.
Except keys are not currency and the count proves nothing. A copy takes four minutes and three dollars and leaves no record. The outgoing tenant may be entirely honest — the boyfriend from eighteen months ago is the one you were never told about.
Rekey, not replace
| Rekey | Replace | |
|---|---|---|
| Old keys stop working | Yes | Yes |
| Cost per door | Lower | Higher |
| Time per door | 15–25 min | 30–60 min |
| Hardware stays | Yes | No |
| Worth it every turnover | Yes | No |
| Fixes worn hardware | No | Yes |
Replacement only makes sense when the hardware is genuinely finished — wobbling, pitted, or stiff on both keys with the door open. Detail in rekey vs replace locks.
The liability angle
This is the part landlords underweight.
If something happens to a new tenant and it emerges that the locks were never changed between tenancies, “they gave the keys back” is a weak position. A dated invoice for a rekey on the turnover date is a strong one.
It is not expensive insurance. It is one line item per turnover.
Build it into the turnover, not after it
The pattern that works: rekey booked for the same day the property is cleaned, before new keys are cut and handed over.
What does not work is doing it when the new tenant asks, because by then they have moved in, they have already had keys for a week, and the gap you were trying to close has been open the whole time.
Master keying, if you have more than a couple of units
A master key system means each tenant key opens only their unit while one master opens everything. Set it up once and each turnover becomes a change to that unit alone.
The practical benefit is that you stop carrying a ring of forty keys, and you stop the small disaster where a maintenance contractor is handed the wrong one. More in master key systems and property management locksmith.
The honest caveat: master systems are worth setting up properly or not at all. A badly planned hierarchy is worse than no system, because you end up rekeying the whole building to remove one person.
The doors landlords forget
- Back and side doors on single-family rentals
- Communal doors, if a tenant had a fob or key to one
- Mailboxes — post is how identity theft starts
- Shed, gate and laundry room
- Any lockbox left on the property during viewings
Kenner specifics
Rental stock around University City and Loyola Tract turns over often, and hardware there gets more cycles than an owner-occupied house ever will. Cylinders wear out faster simply from use.
Add salt off the lake and the summer humidity, and a Grade 3 cylinder in a rental has a genuinely short life. If a lock is stiff on both keys with the door open, rekeying it is throwing money at something that is about to fail — that is the point to replace, and to go up a grade while you are there. Lock grades explained.
What to tell us when you book
How many units, how many exterior doors each, and whether you want them keyed alike per unit or on a master system. If it is a regular turnover schedule, it is usually worth setting the whole thing up once rather than handling each one as it comes.
Ranges are on the prices page. If you are the tenant rather than the landlord, changing locks after moving covers your side of it.