I'm so glad to live in places where you don't have to lock doors
I just have security cameras.
I don't even think about my safety or home when I have 5 cameras indoor and outdoor
Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
71–80 of 367 posts
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#72smart locks are useful when you airbnb your apartment. otherwise I don't see the use for it.
Running? I don't like carrying keys
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#73Good Having an internet connection up is less essential than, you know, being let into your home. Smart locks are "acceptable" (with caveats) as long as they have a physical key override . People forget how reliable old solutions are. Maybe they will remind after getting locked out a couple of times.
The fun part is that being locked out isn’t a disincentive for the landlord who installed the lock.
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#74When I was last renting (in the UK) I changed my locks the day I moved in, then swapped them back to the original cylinders when I left. I thought it was pretty good practice not to have a door with an unknown number of previous tennants, cleaners, letting agents, landlords etc with access.
Is this legal? At least here in Germany, the apartment owner is allowed to enter your apartment using his key in emergency situations. [0] I can imagine that you can be held liable if, for example, a fire breaks out in your apartment, the apartment owner notices it, tries to enter your apartment to extinguish it, cannot enter because of changed lock, and the building burns down. [0] as others have mentioned below, th…
A little bit of googling tells me that in Germany you are allowed to change the lock [1]. Never thought of that, will do it probably next time I move.
[1] https://www.advocard.de/streitlotse/mieten-und-wohnen/schlos...
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
> require written authorization by the landlord How are they going to even know? > ...you can't waltz into... I've never come across a key that couldn't be duplicated with a quick £5 waltz. IME only I suppose.
>How are they going to even know? Because it's a non-standard key with print on it: "Property of X, not to be copied without permission" and because it's a non-standard key, to even get the blanks requires knowing whom to ask for permission to make copies. Think something like US Post Office box keys, or bank safe deposit keys.
"Property of X, not to be copied without permission"
Not even that. The keys I was referring to have serial numbers and the blanks are strictly controlled.
Only the owner of said serial numbers (usually represented by a card) can order copies directly from the manufacturer or their designated agents.
Normal key copy shops wouldn't even have the blanks to furnish copies.
I don't think that it's totally impossible to copy such keys and it will be probably even be harder to prevent copys in the future (think 3d printing). But you can't have them copied by any old shoe maker with a key copy side business.
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. A "bail" is you compensating the landlord for a resource they lend you. You can do (almost) anything you want in your rented house.. at the only condition that you give it back as it was before (minus normal deterioration). If there's an emergency, the fire services will kick the door.
>A "bail" is you compensating the landlord for a resource they lend you. Deposit? Haven't heard that name before.
In French that word has a different meaning, it specifically means a rental contract and is pronounced like "bye", I'm not sure it has anything to do with "bail" in English.
So could be that parent is French.
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Australia you’re legally allowed to change the locks on your rental but you’re required to give a copy of the new keys to your Agent within x hours (my contract says 24hrs). We do it for all properties and highly recommend it, as we’ve had an ex-contractor (had worked on renovations) walk into our rental a week after we moved in, letting himself in with his keys thinking no one had moved in yet. Wifey was on the c…
In my experience (UK), a typical rental agreement will require you to inform the landlord/agent and provide them with a key, or even get their prior consent to make the change. (I'm not sure if there's actual law on the subject or if it's purely down to the terms of the contract.)
UK rentals typically require prior approval for any sort of modification made to the home - I've had contracts where they considered hanging a picture to be a modification, so I'm pretty sure changing the locks would come under that clause.
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this legal? At least here in Germany, the apartment owner is allowed to enter your apartment using his key in emergency situations. [0] I can imagine that you can be held liable if, for example, a fire breaks out in your apartment, the apartment owner notices it, tries to enter your apartment to extinguish it, cannot enter because of changed lock, and the building burns down. [0] as others have mentioned below, th…
If there's an emergency, you kick the door. If it's not an emergency, then you don't need to enter the apartment without the tenant.
Who pays for the broken door?
Re: Tenants win right to physical keys over smart locks from landlords
#79There are many issues with smart locks, but one thing I'm quite interested by are the entry policies you could set. As a renter, two things spring to mind: the ability to immediately remove previous tenants access to the home, and the ability to potentially enforce the legal notice period for the landlord entering the home (in the UK a landlord must provide 24 hours notice before entering).
> the ability to immediately remove previous tenants access to the home This doesn't really require a smart lock. In Germany it's common to replace the lock immediately once you rent a place and put the original lock back in when you move out. This prevents the landlord, previous tenants and whoever else might still have keys from entering without your permission.
Replacing locks is typically very expensive unless you have the expertise to do it yourself though?
One can easily pay £500 ($700 USD) to change the locks on a home in the UK.