Apt house tenant lost 1 mailbox key, theyre asking hundreds$

gamanit

Sun, Sep 01 2019, 12:26 am

polka dots wrote:

I understood that the issue isn’t returning two keys. The issue is that the new tenants privacy is in question if someone might still be holding onto the key that can open their mailbox.

Returning keys is basically a symbolic gesture. If lock isn't changed tenant could totally have made a copy while it was in their possession. Basic human courtesy though is that people respect the transfer of the keys.

I would find out where I can get a copy made and do that in this case particularly since the other key was thrown out and no person sifting through the trash (if anyone even does that these days) would try every mailbox in the city to see where it fits.

JoyInTheMorning

Sun, Sep 01 2019, 6:41 am

Honestly, this seems to me like a way to extort fees from renters. Renters often wind up making extra copies of mailbox keys (and house or apartment keys) because you often have more than two people in a family capable of picking up the mail/entering the apartment, and they'll each need their own set of keys. It would be terribly constraining if you couldn't make copies.

Once you can make copies, then it makes no difference whether or not you return the two original keys, because no one will know if there are other copies around.

It seems to me there are two ways to deal with departing tenants:

(1) Assume that the tenants are decent people who won't go through the new tenants' mail (and also won't enter the apartment/house).

(2) Change all locks. You'll have to just eat the cost each time. Because that's the only way to guarantee security.

Mail isn't as big a deal these days as it used to be. Checks are deposited electronically; most people get their bank statements online. So why the emphasis would be on the mailbox rather than the apartment is puzzling.

watergirl

Sun, Sep 01 2019, 7:24 am

I just googled. Supposedly, only USPS has these blanks. I would call them first to find out the real cost and process. But I’ve been in this place also and lost $250 of my security deposit because the mailbox locks and keys can only be changed by USPS. If a locksmith has these blanks, I would wonder why. I asked my mail carrier and he verified the process and cost is around $250 and a headache for the landlord. I don't think this is the landlord taking a ride at all. I’m sorry, I’ve been there also!