Tenants Lock Themselves Out
Compared to some of the situations that have been discussed on this board, I think I've been really lucky with my tenants so far. But I'm starting to get a little annoyed with getting calls that someone has locked themselves out of their apartment. It's not one specific tenant. It's been several tenants in different properties. It's not a major thing, but I also don't think that I should be the spare key holder for the tenants. I hold the keys for my use not for the tenants. Dropping everything and running to let a tenant back into their apartment feels like I'm dealing with a bunch of kindergarteners. So my question is do you think there's something I can do to get the tenants acting a bit more responsibly in this situation without me appearing to be too petty? Thanks all. 
[addsig]
sugest they hide one some where, or chare them the same as a lock smith. Its your time and gas
John
I have always had a clause in the lease which stated that during business hours M-F 9:00-5:00 we charge $25.00 for lockout (cash only),and after hours and weekends $100.00 (cash only). In 25 years as a landlord,I have only had 3 lockouts. 2 afterhours and 1 during business hours.
What about installing a "non-locking" knob with a keyed deadbolt lock. That way, the tenants have to have their key to be able to lock their door. Just buying my first property and this is my plan because I am 40 minutes away from the property and don't want to have to provide "lockout" service.
Since I drive by my rental on the way to work and home from work...I say if you are locked out I will be by at 5pm today to let you in. I have also had a tenant (a graduate student) call me and say she is locked out. She came by my office, walked home, unlocked the door and came back with the key (about an hour latter). My time involved with that lock out, abou 1 minute. I have it cited in my leases that I charge for lock-outs. Never imposed it. I can deal with the every 6 months that I locked my keys in the apartment. Gives me an excuse to go there and look around.
In my day job as a property manager , the apartment complex I work for instituted a no after hours lock out policy. If someone does lock themselves out after hours they gt refered to a locksmith who will (for $80) unlock thier door. it is amazing how suddenly the lock out calls have gone down since instituting this program!
I give my tenants an extra key and suggest they hide it somewhere good so they won't get locked out. I also give them the number of the locksmith who will let them in for around 75 dollars. Finally, I tell them that they can call me and if I am available, then I can save them 35 bucks by doing it at half the cost of the locksmith.
If it is convenient for me, I can then make $35 dollars for 15 minutes of work and look like the good guy doing it.
Note that this is only an opinion, BUT as a landlord, I would not give the tenant an extra key and suggest that they hide it somewhere.
WHY? Because then, if on the off chance that someone used that key to "break in" and steal things (even if it was the tenant's drunk brother in law), guess who can become liable. Yep, you the Big bad landlord that told the little ol' tenant "you'd better hide this key in a good spot because it's the only way you're getting in if you lock your keys in the house." (Funny sounded much nicer when you were saying it before, didn't it?)
Much better to have a policy in place for this situation (such as $75 per occurance) and then it is your option to enforce that are not.
Roger
Lockouts will happen but I've noticed even the HUD office charges substancial fees for it.
$40.00 for me though
Ed 8-)