Keeping Your Tenants Safe
As a real estate investor that owns rental properties, who are your most prized customers? Why, the tenants, of course! Just like a business strives to keep its customers happy, so should you. However, there is one added element of responsibility when it comes to land lording: SAFETY!
Avoiding any negligence that could later become grounds for a lawsuit is crucial as a landlord. One potential risk that could easily be overlooked on a busy day is changing locks between tenants. Isn’t it tempting to just hand over the keys from the former tenant to the next?
While a tenant is in possession of keys, you have little control over how many copies he or she makes. What happens if you don’t change or re-key the locks between tenants and there is a break-in by someone with non-forced access (a.k.a., they have a key!)? Even worse, imagine the sinking feeling when it’s discovered during an investigation that YOU didn’t change the locks!
I am not a lawyer, so be sure to consult with one about any legal specifics, but with the too hot coffee in lap settlements of our day it’s not hard to imagine that you could be found at least partially at fault for the break-in. And if any injuries or death are sustained during the break-in, your liabilities will only grow, not to mention the personal remorse you would feel.
The point: change or re-key locks between tenants because you never know who has copies of the keys! The cost of replacing the locks is usually under $20 if you do it yourself, and even less if you have locks that can be re-keyed or keep a few on hand that can be rotated to different properties. Your customers and peace of mind are WELL worth the money!
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