What Landlords Should Do When a Tenant Moves Out

Landlords really don't expect much from their tenants. All you really want is for your tenants to pay their rent on time, abide by any rules that might apply, and generally look after the place. When these elements are in place, a bond of trust exists between you as the property owner and your tenant as the property renter. However, that trust largely ceases to exist once your tenant moves out.

Being Cautious

While you will presumably have trusted your tenant to keep the property secure during their rental period, upgrading the property locks is simply erring on the side of caution. This is why, regardless of how trustworthy your tenants might have been, you should make some changes to the locks when they move out.

Duplicate Keys

You don't know what might have happened to the keys that were issued when the tenants moved in. Even though there wasn't malicious intent behind it, those keys might have been copied without your knowledge or consent. Your tenant may have wanted a spare set of keys for their own use, or they might have had a houseguest who required a set. You can't be entirely sure that the keys weren't copied, despite the fact that this was not permitted.

Three Little Words

Perhaps you thought it was impossible for your tenant to copy their keys. After all, they had an anti-duplication warning recorded on their surface (saying do not copy, do not duplicate, or something similar). These words are simply a request and are not legally binding. There's little to prevent a copy from being made. In short, don't rely on those three words to have stopped copies from being made.

Upgrading the Locks

When a tenant moves out, you should call a locksmith. The outright replacement of your locks (including all supplemental locks, such as the garage, windows, and letterbox) won't be especially expensive or time-consuming, but this will immediately remove any duplicate keys from the equation. It may not even be necessary to change the locks, and it's quicker and less expensive for a locksmith to rekey the locks, changing the configuration of the lock's internal tumbler so that the lock will no longer accept the old key. 

Your rental property is an investment, and changing or rekeying the locks when a tenant moves out is a means to rigorously protect your investment. It's not a matter of trust and is more a matter of giving you peace of mind with regards to the security of your investment.

Reach out to a local locksmith if you need help.