Landlord unfair charge lost key

notanewuser

sandsni wrote: »

By your own admission it was your carelessness that resulted in a key for your front door now being in the hands of goodness-knows-who (and who will know for sure which door it belongs to). But you think the LL should pay to secure a property you have rendered insecure, and now you think "using the latch" will be ok?

How long were you on holiday for? How do you know people haven't been in and out of your house during the time you were on holiday? Have you checked to make sure nothing has been damaged or taken? Having lost the key (for whatever length of time you were on holiday) may have repercussions for the LLs insurance (and yours), so you need to inform him and hope that you're not liable for any other damage that occurred while you left the place unsecured.

I think the key got left in the lock when the OP returned from holiday.

cajef

notanewuser wrote: »

I think the key got left in the lock when the OP returned from holiday.

Agreed, if they had left it in the door when going on holiday they would more than likely have returned to an empty property.

hazyjo

Isn't this all speculative? Or has the LL actually unfairly charged you (as per your title)?

Why don't you speak with him, say you don't know where you've lost it (just as likely it's fallen out of your bag as being left in the door), but that it's probably not advisable to just get a key cut. He could swap barrels with another lock, or change the lock completely.

TBH, I don't really see how you can not pay. Shouldn't be too much if he can just change the barrel - you could offer to buy it and pay for keys. You could even try fitting it.

I presume you have actually gained access! How? Or are you still waiting to actually set foot in the door?

Jx

G_M

Assuming you have (somehow) got into the property and your concern is future security because someone may have the key (rather than you need to gain access yourself), why not buy a replacement lock yourself and fit it?

Make sure it is of at least as good quality, and make sure you do no damage.

The LL should not be coming in without your agreement anyway, so it serves two purposes.

Either write to him, explain what you have done and why, and assure him that if he needs access he just has to contact you with 24 hours notice and you will agree a mutually convenient time when you can be there to let him, or his contractors, in.

Or don't. By the sound of it this will result in him trying, and failing, to enter at some point. He will be angry, you will explain (as above) but it will be more confrontational.

Either way, give him all keys when you leave.

No need forhim to change the lock, so no need to charge you.

db_x

No idea why people attacked me for saying its unreasonable to charge me £89 to change a lock that I was simply saying I would rather change myself for a much lower cost?

I ended up buying a new barrel for the already existing latch for which the landlord has no keys, fitted it myself at a cost of £10 so yes £89 for something I could do myself is unreasonable imho.

If you damage something I see it as unreasonable to not allow you to fix the issue yourself which is all I was wanting to do.

Anyway it's fixed now, if the old key doesnt show up then at some point I intend to borrow the landlords key, nip to the shop and have it cut so I have one to hand back. And when my tendency is up I will give the LL the extra keys and inform him I've 'fixed' the pre existing latch for additional security, I see no harm in this and it's saved me £79 and a lot of hassle..

Db

Yorkie1

db_x wrote: »

I ended up buying a new barrel for the already existing latch for which the landlord has no keys, fitted it myself at a cost of £10 so yes £89 for something I could do myself is unreasonable imho.

Anyway it's fixed now, if the old key doesnt show up then at some point I intend to borrow the landlords key, nip to the shop and have it cut so I have one to hand back. And when my tendency is up I will give the LL the extra keys and inform him I've 'fixed' the pre existing latch for additional security, I see no harm in this and it's saved me £79 and a lot of hassle..

Db

This doesn't quite follow to me.

If the old key doesn't turn up, then someone probably still has a key to the property and so the old barrel should never be put back in. To put it back in would place any future tenant at high risk of theft / burglary, through no fault of their own and no way of knowing that they need to take steps to guard against this.

Therefore there is no need for you to borrow the LL's key and get a copy cut that you can return to him. The key wouldn't work in the new barrel, and the LL wouldn't have a key to the new barrel.

All you need to do is to give the LL the keys for the barrel you've put in.

franklee

Yorkie1 wrote: »

If the old key doesn't turn up, then someone probably still has a key to the property and so the old barrel should never be put back in. To put it back in would place any future tenant at high risk of theft / burglary, through no fault of their own and no way of knowing that they need to take steps to guard against this.

This.

OP fess up so the locks can be properly changed by the LL or change the main lock yourself. The latch solution may work for you as a temporary measure but the future tenants won't know the main lock is compromised so likely will rely on it. Plus the future tenant's contents insurance may not pay out if there's no forced entry. It's a horrible way to treat the new tenants all for the sake of a few quid. Do the decent thing it was you lost the key after all.

If you think it doesn't matter a jot to you remember one day at another property you may be the future tenant cleaned out due to a previous tenant's selfishness.

sandsni

Sorry, the way I read the original post it sounded as though the OP had left the key in the door on his way TO his holiday rather than when he had just got home.

I still don't see how a latch could be an adequate way to secure the door, especially while the offending lost key is "out there" ^^.

The OP should admit his mistake to the LL asap, while offering to change the lock and get all required keys cut at his own cost. If he can do that for less than the specified £89 then that's great, and a half-human LL would be satisfied that the problem has been dealt with quickly and at no cost to himself.

db_x

Well w.e it gives it two months to show up and it probably will.

I pay a premium amout for my rent and suspect they rotate the locks each year as procedure, I know they did when I moved in and I wouldn't be happy living in a student let where god knows how many tenants could have copies from over the years.. The door now has more locks than when I moved in and is more secure.

It's not a tenants place to take measures to provide the safety of the next tenant. The landlord agrees to this in the subsequent agreement and ought to make every effort to ensure this, and when each lease is only 1 year then changing the locks ought to be routine procedure to ensure this.

Bottom line is, the key will most likely show up within a few days anyway and we can argue ethics and responsibilities all day long but the door is locked and 3 locks are better than 2.

And if someone happens to have the key and so I only have one lock then I'm sure they will break in during my tendency and not randomly wait 2 months, and even then there are easier ways to break into this house than through a single lock door.

Db

suki_na_tomodachi

db_x wrote: »

Well w.e it gives it two months to show up and it probably will.

I pay a premium amout for my rent and suspect they rotate the locks each year as procedure, I know they did when I moved in and I wouldn't be happy living in a student let where god knows how many tenants could have copies from over the years.. The door now has more locks than when I moved in and is more secure.

It's not a tenants place to take measures to provide the safety of the next tenant. The landlord agrees to this in the subsequent agreement and ought to make every effort to ensure this, and when each lease is only 1 year then changing the locks ought to be routine procedure to ensure this.

Bottom line is, the key will most likely show up within a few days anyway and we can argue ethics and responsibilities all day long but the door is locked and 3 locks are better than 2.

And if someone happens to have the key and so I only have one lock then I'm sure they will break in during my tendency and not randomly wait 2 months, and even then there are easier ways to break into this house than through a single lock door.

Db

I'm fairly new here myself but wanted to add my 2p worth. OP, giving a key two months to "show up", is probably not going to happen. Usually it is not the previous tenants responsibility to safe guard the new tenants, but since it is your mistake that the key got lost, then it should be up to you to fix your mistake, which otherwise could put other tenants at risk or in harms way. How would you feel if you had just moved in and got burgled and found out it was because a previous tenant just hadnt owned up. At the end of the day, its not just about contents either. Someone could come into that house using the key when someones at home and god forbid hurt someone or worse. You should just own up, noone wants to pay out when not necessary, but at the end of the day it was your fault.

Amy.