1. Moving In
When moving in or buying a new house, congratulations! It’s highly recommended to rekey your locks. You never know who may have had access to the keys you were given, and how many copies are floating around.
2. Laying off an Employee
It’s always unfortunate, but this is one of he most common cases of inconvenience that can be easily avoided. Many times former employees keep with the keys you gave them and never took back some hard feelings. You want to make sure everyone stay honest.
3. Lost or Stolen Keys
If one of your keys is missing or stolen, especially if identifying information was held with the keys – rekey your locks today. You want to keep uninvited guests away.
4. After a Break In
After a break in or a break in attempt its important to have a professional asses and fix the damage. Changing and reinforcing busted locks is obvious – rekeying all the locks on premises is also recommended.
5. After Renovation / Construction
During a major renovation many individuals have access to your premises and keys. You never know if one of them have secretly made a copy. Make sure you always rekey your locks after handing out keys. Always count, mark and collect any keys you have given away.
6. Worn Down Keys
Both keys and locks get… old. Especially if in heavy use, keys and locks may get worn down. If you feel its getting harder to work a key in a lock, if you have to jiggle your key around to open or lock it – it’s probably a good time to rekey it.
7. Divorce
Remember the song: “I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key…”? If you and your partner got separated, rekeying your locks is the way to make sure they won’t surprise you without calling first.
8. Eviction
Evicting tenants from a rental property can be time consuming and frustrating. Avoid going through the process again by rekeying your locks and making sure you’re the only one with a key.
9. Taking over a Property
When taking over a property through a court order or a foreclosure, you want to make sure the property is indeed secure. Evicting unwanted guests is a lot harder that rekeying locks.
10. Once every 10 Years
If none of the above happened and 10 years have passed – it’s probably a good time now. As a safety measure and a precaution it’s recommended rekeying your locks once every 10 years.