Choosing the Best Locks for Rental Properties
Rental properties create different security and key-control challenges than an owner-occupied home. Tenants move in and out, maintenance personnel need access, keys are issued and returned, and common entrances may be used by many people over the life of a building.
Choosing the best locks for a rental property does not necessarily mean installing the most expensive locks available. The goal is to use dependable hardware, good key control, professional installation, and a practical rekeying plan that fits the property.
At B-SAFE Lock & Key, we work with landlords, rental-property owners, apartment managers, condominium associations, and property-management companies throughout Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. Whether you own a single-family rental, duplex, apartment building, condominium property, or mixed-use commercial building, the right locking system starts with understanding how the property is actually used.
Schlage and Kwikset Are Common Choices for Rental Units
For individual apartments, condominiums, duplexes, and single-family rental homes, Schlage and Kwikset are two of the most common lock brands we encounter.
Quality residential deadbolts, knobs, and levers can provide dependable and economical security for many rental units. Other residential brands commonly found on Twin Cities properties include Yale, Weiser, Defiant, and EMTEK, along with older Corbin, Russwin, and other hardware still operating in many Minneapolis-area homes.
There isn't always a reason to install an expensive restricted or high-security system on every individual apartment door.
What matters is that the lock is appropriate for the door, operates correctly, and can be properly rekeyed when occupancy changes.
Rental-property hardware can receive considerable use. Tenant turnover, maintenance access, repeated rekeying, and everyday wear eventually take their toll. B-SAFE can determine whether existing hardware should be rekeyed, repaired, adjusted, or replaced rather than automatically selling the property owner a new lock.
Rekey Locks Between Tenants
One of the most important security practices for a rental property is rekeying the locks when tenants change.
Even when the previous tenant returns every key originally issued, the property owner generally has no way of knowing how many additional copies may have been made.
Keys could have been given to family members, roommates, cleaners, contractors, neighbors, pet sitters, or other individuals during the tenancy.
Rekeying changes the internal combination of a compatible lock so the previous keys no longer operate it. Good-quality existing hardware can often remain on the door while the incoming tenant receives a completely new set of keys.
For landlords and property managers, this provides better key control without unnecessarily replacing perfectly serviceable Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Weiser, EMTEK, or other existing locks.
B-SAFE Lock & Key provides rental-property rekeying and tenant-turnover locksmith service throughout Minneapolis and surrounding Twin Cities communities.
Common Entrance Doors Require a Different Approach
The common entrance to an apartment or condominium building presents a different challenge than the entrance to an individual rental unit.
Suppose 30 residents have keys to the same exterior entrance. Rekeying that common lock every time one resident moves could mean distributing 29 replacement keys to residents who aren't moving.
That can quickly become expensive and difficult to manage.
This is where restricted key control can provide a real advantage.
Restricted key systems make unauthorized key duplication substantially more difficult because additional keys are controlled through authorized channels.
Property management can maintain better records of which keys were issued and to whom.
When a tenant moves out and returns a restricted key, management can have greater confidence that additional copies haven't simply been made at a hardware store or key kiosk.
That provides better protection for the remaining tenants while management arranges for any necessary locksmith service.
However, there is an important distinction:
Restricted key control does not mean a lock never needs to be rekeyed.
If a restricted key is lost, not returned, stolen, or otherwise unaccounted for, the affected locks should still be evaluated. Depending on the circumstances, rekeying may be appropriate.
Restricted keys provide better key control and accountability. They don't eliminate the need for good security procedures.
Master Key Systems for Rental Properties
Larger rental properties can benefit from a professionally designed master key system.
The idea is not simply to create one key that opens everything.
A good master-key system establishes different levels of access.
For example, a tenant's key may operate the tenant's apartment and an authorized common entrance. A maintenance employee may need access to certain units, mechanical rooms, and storage areas. A property manager may require broader access.
A properly designed system can include:
Individual apartment or condominium units
Common entrances
Laundry rooms
Maintenance rooms
Mechanical and utility rooms
Storage areas
Management offices
Commercial tenant spaces
Other controlled areas
B-SAFE Lock & Key can design, rekey, service, and expand master-key systems for rental and commercial properties.
For properties requiring greater control over unauthorized duplication, a master-key system can also be combined with a restricted-key system.
Restricted and High-Security Key Systems
Some rental properties need greater key control than conventional hardware provides.
B-SAFE works with restricted and high-security systems such as Medeco, ASSA, and Schlage Primus when the application calls for that level of control.
These systems can be especially valuable for common entrances, management offices, maintenance areas, equipment rooms, commercial spaces, and other doors shared by multiple authorized users.
They don't need to be installed everywhere simply because they're available.
An individual rental unit may be perfectly well served by good Schlage or Kwikset hardware. A heavily used common entrance serving an entire apartment building may justify a different level of key control and durability.
The system should match the property.
Keypad Locks for Rental Properties
Keypad locks can eliminate some of the problems associated with physical keys.
Instead of issuing another key, authorized users can be given a code. Depending on the lock, codes can be changed or deleted when tenants, employees, contractors, or maintenance personnel no longer require access.
For certain single-family rentals and smaller properties, a quality electronic or keypad deadbolt can be a practical solution.
However, property owners should consider battery maintenance, Minnesota weather, user-code management, mechanical override options, and what happens if the electronics fail.
The door itself also has to work correctly. Installing an electronic deadbolt on a sagging or badly aligned door doesn't fix the underlying mechanical problem.
B-SAFE installs and services keypad locks, electronic deadbolts, and smart locks for residential and rental properties.
Smart Locks and Electronic Access
Smart locks provide additional options for rental-property owners who want more control over access.
Depending on the system, features may include multiple user codes, scheduled access, temporary credentials, remote management, or records of certain access activity.
That can be useful for properties where cleaners, maintenance personnel, contractors, or other authorized users require temporary access.
For larger apartment, condominium, and commercial properties, a complete electronic access-control system may be more appropriate than individual consumer smart locks.
Access-control systems can use cards, key fobs, keypads, mobile credentials, electric strikes, or other electronic locking hardware.
B-SAFE can evaluate whether a conventional mechanical lock, keypad, smart lock, restricted-key system, or access-control system makes the most sense for the property.
Common Entrances May Need Commercial-Grade Hardware
A common entrance may operate hundreds of times in a single day.
That's very different from the front door of a single-family home.
Apartment entrances, condominium entrances, laundry rooms, maintenance areas, parking entrances, and other heavily used doors may require commercial-grade locks and door hardware.
Depending on the opening, that could include:
Commercial lever locks
Mortise locks
Heavy-duty deadbolts
Door closers
Panic and exit devices
Electric strikes
Storefront hardware
Restricted-key cylinders
Electronic access control
B-SAFE works with commercial door and lock manufacturers such as Schlage, Sargent, Corbin Russwin, BEST, Adams Rite, HES, Von Duprin, LCN, Dormakaba, Falcon, Yale, Detex, Norton, Alarm Lock, Securitron, Arrow, and Hager.
The right hardware depends on the door, frame, amount of traffic, existing preparation, and how the entrance needs to function.
Don't Forget the Door and Frame
Even the best lock will perform poorly on a door that doesn't close correctly.
A sagging door, loose hinge, damaged frame, improperly adjusted closer, worn weatherstripping, or misaligned strike can cause a lock or latch to bind.
Minnesota weather makes this especially important. Temperature and humidity changes, snow, ice, moisture, and seasonal building movement can affect exterior doors.
If tenants have to pull, push, lift, or slam a door before it will lock, simply replacing the lock may not solve the problem.
B-SAFE evaluates the entire opening so the underlying problem can be corrected rather than repeatedly replacing hardware.
Older Rental Properties May Have Older Locks
Minneapolis and the surrounding Twin Cities have many older homes, duplexes, apartment buildings, and commercial properties.
That means we regularly encounter hardware that has been in service for decades.
Older Schlage, Yale, Corbin, Russwin, Weiser, and other locks don't automatically need to be discarded because they're old.
Some older commercial-grade hardware was extremely well built and may still be worth repairing or rekeying.
Other hardware may be badly worn, obsolete, damaged, or difficult to support.
A professional locksmith can evaluate what's there before deciding whether repair, rekeying, or replacement provides the better value.
What Is the Best Lock for a Rental Property
There isn't one answer.
For a single-family rental, dependable Schlage, Kwikset, Yale, Weiser, EMTEK, or similar residential hardware may provide an excellent solution when professionally installed and rekeyed between tenants.
For a duplex or small multifamily property, conventional locks on individual units combined with better key control at the common entrance may make sense.
For an apartment or condominium building, master keying, restricted keys, commercial-grade common-door hardware, keypad locks, or electronic access control may provide better long-term management.
For a mixed-use or commercial rental property, the solution may involve commercial locks, master keying, restricted cylinders, electric strikes, panic hardware, door closers, and access control.
The best lock is the one that fits the door, security requirement, amount of traffic, key-control needs, and way the property is managed.
Rental Property Locksmith Services from B-SAFE Lock & Key
B-SAFE Lock & Key has been serving Minneapolis and the Twin Cities since 1972.
We work with landlords, rental-property owners, apartment managers, condominium associations, property-management companies, commercial property owners, and building maintenance personnel.
Our rental and property-management locksmith services include:
Tenant-turnover rekeying
Residential lock rekeying
Lock repair and replacement
Master-key systems
Restricted-key systems
High-security locks and keys
Deadbolts and lever locks
Commercial mortise locks
Storefront door hardware
Keypad and electronic locks
Smart locks
Electric strikes
Access-control systems
Panic and exit hardware
Door closers
Commercial door and lock service
Whether you're preparing one rental home for a new tenant or trying to improve key control throughout a large apartment or commercial property, B-SAFE can evaluate the existing locks and determine what should be rekeyed, repaired, upgraded, or replaced.
B-SAFE Lock & Key
Serving Minneapolis and the Twin Cities since 1972
4757 Lyndale Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55430
763-900-8119
Areas We Service
Minneapolis • North Minneapolis • Downtown Minneapolis • Northeast Minneapolis • Brooklyn Center • Brooklyn Park • Robbinsdale • Crystal • New Hope • Golden Valley • Columbia Heights • Fridley • St. Anthony • Plymouth • Maple Grove • Champlin • Anoka • Osseo • Coon Rapids • Blaine • St. Louis Park • Hopkins • Minnetonka and surrounding Twin Cities communities.
Residential & Rental Property Lock Brands We Service
Schlage • Kwikset • EMTEK • Yale • Weiser • Defiant • Corbin • Russwin • Medeco • ASSA • Schlage Primus and other residential, restricted-key, and high-security locking systems.
Commercial Lock, Door Hardware & Access Control Brands We Service
Schlage • Sargent • Corbin Russwin • BEST • Adams Rite • HES • Securitron • Alarm Lock • Von Duprin • LCN • Dormakaba • Falcon • Yale • Detex • Norton • Arrow • Hager and other commercial lock, door, and access-control hardware.
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