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Why you should change your locks when you rent or buy a house

Updated on March 1, 2016

According to a recent survey, fifty percent of people do not change the locks to their new homes. About half of people relocating to new premises prefer to leave the security arrangements in the house the way they are. If you are to make a conclusion on the outcome of this survey, you will come to the conclusion that people are dangerously complacent with their security. There are several factors why you should consider changing the locks in your new house. This article will discuss the reasons why you must change locks each time you move into a new apartment.

1. A new lock ensures that previous tenants do not have access to your home:
When you change your locks, it is a security step that ensures that you do not have a rogue tenant coming into your home without your knowledge. A former occupier could have easily duplicated the keys to the home before quiting. If you continue to use the same keys, you are exposing yourself to a serious security threat. Should the previous tenant be a rogue, you can be rest assured that your lock would be picked at the right time and you will lose several valuables.

2. The previous occupier may have entrusted a spare key to a person you don't know:
Another reason why you should change your locks is that the previous tenant occupying the premises might have given a spare key to a cleaner or a caregiver. Worse still, if the spare key was given to a home cleaning service with over ten employees, you can imagine the number of people who now have access to your premises. This could eventually compromise your safety or security in the future.

3. A former tenant might be a target of an attack or robbery:
Furthermore, you should change your keys when you move into a new home in order to prevent an attack or robbery that might have being planned for a previous tenant. It is very difficult to ascertain the type of lifestyle a past occupier lived especially if you are relocating to a new area of town you have not lived before. The former occupier of your apartment could have being a careless person who would give a spare key to the barman to go and deliver beer into his home. On the otherhand a former resident could have connections to organized crime which could have significantly put his life in danger, this danger could be transferred to you if you are to take over the premises he used to be. So it would be in your best interest to secure yourself by changing the locks in the house.

4. Locks might be in bad state:
When people move out of the house, they hardly renovate properly. Their focus is on how best to make their new apartment comfortable, not the one they are leaving behind. The implication of this is that several things in the home could be in a bad state, including the locks. If a person is leaving an apartment, if at all he or she would make home improvements a few days to leaving, you can be sure that the improvements would be substandard, so you can naturally expect to find a substandard lock when you get to your new apartment. A substandard lock cannot guarantee your security, there is a dire need to change your lock once you get to a new home.

5. Preventing the unknown:
Finally, one more reason why you should consider changing the locks to your apartment is to guard against the unknown. One of the reasons why people relocate is because of a security threat. There is no way for you to ascertain the reason why the previous occupier of the premises, quit the house. It may be because the neighbourhood is prone to crimes like breaking and entering or burglary. It may also be because the tenant was a victim of any of those crime. If that is the reason why the previous occupier left, then changing your locks might just be the one precaution that would save your life and properties.

CONCLUSION:
When changing the locks of your new home, try to get a qualified and reputable locksmith to do the job. This will further guarantee the security of your home.

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