Even though I’ve always been aware that stuff like this can happen it hadn’t happened to me till recently. I’ll preface this with the fact that I’ve owned several properties over the years including rentals. Till recently, I had never changed the locks after closing on any of the homes I purchased – BUT, I will now.
I found out the hard way that there are times when a tenant, former owner, or contractor might use a key to get into a property to steal. My last trip to Wichita, KS included a theft (actually 2) from my apartment.
The stumping part was the question of “who did it?” I had put a contractor keybox on the property to facilitate a plumber and an electrician getting access to the building so as not to bother my brother (local property manager for me) with constant trips out to the property. I’d commented to both contractors that I wanted to make sure their staff didn’t get lazy about changing the code on the keybox daily. Reason being, I’ve been to too many work sites where keyboxes are left on the key code which makes for some very easy work for a thief. Well, that may have been exactly what happened and I believe it was a possible tenant I am in a dispute with that used the key to access my unit when they knew I wasn’t home. There also is a long history of criminal behavior with this tenant’s boyfriend. I lost a briefcase, a checkbook, some personal photos, CDs and a wallet. Believe me, it’s been a pain dealing with the aftermath along with the fear at the time I wouldn’t be able to get on my flight home since my ID was taken.
One of the contractors did tell me, when I asked, that on one of the days they were at my place they did come to work and find the keybox on the code, so it’s very possible that what I believe happened really did. Plus, there was no forced entry into my unit – and there is no other access besides the doors and windows (some people imagined a break-in through the crawl space or attic).
Anyhow, when I reported the thefts to the police the officer I spoke to encouraged me to go get a new lock immediately. I did and it was installed immediately. Having never changed a lock before on my own I was a little concerned about screwing it up but I think I did okay. However, if I’d had Chris Weissman available I would have had him come to re-key my whole building. Chris and I were introduced when he and his girlfriend bought a house through me last year. Chris has his own locksmith business and you can find him at his new website: http://www.wiselocks.com/ Chris can do standard locks as well as high security locks; he has also worked with many commercial accounts as well. Check him out. We’ve had him on our Team Reba site for a while as a resource but the website is new.
If you’re buying a home or a rental property I highly recommend that you get into the habit of changing locks. If you have several rental properties you can hold onto swapped out locks and after a time begin cycling them through various properties. My parents have done this for years with the multiple properties they’ve owned and it’s been a successful move on their part.
