Know When to Change your Locks

Door locks are your first line of defense against burglary and home invasion. It’s estimated that 30% of burglars enter through an unlocked door or window. Many of us leave doors unlocked if someone is home or if you are just running out quickly. But these statistics show that is a bad idea. In addition to locking doors, keeping control of the keys is extremely important. Be sure that you know what situations require that you change your locks.

You Lost Your Key

Since you likely have no idea where and how the key went missing, you should go ahead and change the locks when a key is lost. In all likelihood, the person who finds the key won’t know who it belongs to or the address to use it. But it is better to be safe than sorry. What if someone stole the key or saw you drop it and followed you to your home?

Your Home was Recently Burglarized

You will want to change your door locks if you’ve been burglarized. The burglar may have gained access using a lost key. Also, burglars will often look for and take spare keys, and then come back to burglarize you again after you have replaced the missing items.

The Current Lock is Faulty

Make it a habit to try to open the door after you have locked it. Over years of continuous use, the mechanics of the lock can become worn out. Foundation shifting or door swelling can also affect how the lock components fit together. If you don’t check it regularly, you may not even realize the lock isn’t working correctly. You may also need to fix any underlying issue (like foundation) to ensure it doesn’t happen again with new locks.

Relationship Breakup

Change your locks after a divorce or relationship break-up.  A disgruntled ex could use a spare key to enter your home and steal your belongings, vandalize or snoop around. Similarly, if you’ve given a key to a housekeeper, babysitter or neighbor with whom you no longer have a relationship, think about changing the locks. Even if they give the key back, they could have easily made a copy before they returned it.

You Moved

Make sure the landlord or owner has changed the locks on an apartment or home you are renting. Include this requirement in writing or as an addendum to the lease.  There is no way to know how many copies the previous tenant may have made or who they might have given them to. The same holds true when you buy a new house. Although in this case it will be up to you to change the locks. Even though the previous owners seem like very nice people, they may have provided keys to workers, dog walkers, etc. Make sure you know exactly who has access to your home by starting fresh.

We Can Help

Automated door locks mean you never have to worry about keys floating around. You can set codes for people who just need temporary access and even have them programmed in to your security system for alerts and remote locking/unlocking.  At Cultris Security, we provide security solutions for all of your needs.  Call us today at 281-506-8466 or visit us online.