The Property Management Shop
by Marc Wilson
Q. I own a 12-unit apartment building in San Francisco. I keep all the keys for this property in an envelope in the trunk of my car. Last week someone broke into my car and stole all my keys. I think one of the keys might have had the property address printed on the side. What should I do?
A. You need to change the locks at the property. I realize there is a big difference between breaking into a car on the sidewalk and entering occupied apartments, but you can’t take the risk. You should take this opportunity to rekey the property to a master-key system. (A master-key system entails rekeying absolutely every lock on the property, so that one single key will operate every lock.) When you are finished rekeying the property, there should only be two keys on your key ring: a front door key that works on the lobby door and side alley door of the property and a master key that works on absolutely every other lock at the property. The logistics of rekeying an apartment building are straightforward. Instruct your locksmith to make new keys for all 12 tenants. Make sure that there is one key that operates both door locks for each apartment. Give each tenant a letter that includes two keys: the new apartment door key and the lobby door key. Inform all your tenants that the locks will be changed on a specific date at a specific time. Ask the tenants to place their new keys on their key rings immediately in order to avoid getting locked out on the day when all the locks are changed. Also remember to send copies of the new front door keys to PG&E and the garbage company right before you change the locks. Then just change the locks, and you are finished.
You will reap many time-saving benefits when you have a master-keyed property. In fact I am always amazed how many owners have failed to make master keys for their properties. Once the property is rekeyed, you will never need to meet your locksmith at the property again. Your locksmith will store the key codes for your property on their shop’s computer. Consequently, your locksmith will be able to access your building and change locks without you. Likewise, give a set of keys to your trusted, professional plumber. From now on, there will be no need for you to meet the plumber at the property either. Just fax the plumber a work order and send the tenant a 24-hour notice that indicates when the plumber will enter the apartment. You should also provide your tenants with the name and number of your plumber in case of an emergency. My plumber knows that he should only respond to a tenant’s repair request if there is an absolute, water-from-the-ceiling-type of emergency. You can also give keys to your electrician, your handyman and any other trusted, professional, insured and bonded vendor with whom you have worked for years. Make sure that your vendors have a key management system that does not label the key with the property address.
You should also have your own key policy in place. Never label your own keys with the actual property address. Keep the tenant’s keys on an unlabeled board in your garage. In some of my buildings, all I have is a master key rather than copies of the tenants’ keys because I find I don’t need them. If the tenant loses the keys, I simply instruct the locksmith to cut new copies from the computer records and give them to the tenant. The same applies to those times when tenants lock themselves out. They are free to call the locksmith, which will prove much less expensive for the tenant because the locksmith can cut the lobby-door and apartment-unit keys in the shop without a service call. (The tenant must present the locksmith with proper I.D. showing he or she is the actual occupant of the unit.) We also never deal with locked-out tenants at our properties with onsite managers. For example, we would never want an inebriated tenant to wake up a property manager or, god forbid, me at 3 a.m. because he or she has lost the keys. The locksmith is in the business of performing this service and will happily do so.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily re?ect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Marc Wilson has been managing and selling San Francisco apartment buildings for over 15 years. Please send your questions concerning property management issues to Marc Wilson at 1699 Van Ness Avenue, SF, CA 94109. He can be reached at 415-229-1275. Copyright © 2004.