Lock Rekeying in Mesa, AZ

After a move

Renters occupy 70,154 Mesa homes, 35.1 percent of the occupied total, and every move raises one question: how many keys to this door are still out there? Rekeying answers it. The hardware stays where it is but changes what it answers to: the old keys stop turning it and the new key does. A buyer has the same question about previous owners, contractors and anyone else who was ever handed a copy.

What Arizona law says about new locks for tenants

Arizona gives tenants who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault a specific route on locks. Subsection E of A.R.S. 33-1318 lets such a tenant require a lock change on the dwelling, at the tenant's own cost. The landlord has two ways to comply: rekey the existing lock if it works properly, or swap in a different mechanism of equal or better quality. Subsection F lets the landlord keep a copy of the new key, but allows the landlord to refuse a key to anyone named in an order of protection or a departmental report.

Because the request goes to the landlord, a tenant in that situation should raise it in writing. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911 first. That is a summary of the statute, not legal advice.

Empty houses and houses with history

A house left empty for part of the year raises the same question about everyone handed a key while the owner was away, whether a caretaker, a cleaner or a relative, and rekeying is the step when one of those arrangements ends.

Homes built in the 1970s and 1980s make up 42.2 percent of Mesa housing. A house of that age may have passed through several owners or tenants, and there is no telling how many copies of the first key are still around.

Details for a rekeying request

• the doors to be done: front, back, garage entry, side or gate locks
• the lock brand if it is marked on the bolt or the face
• whether you want the doors to open with one key or with separate keys
• the reason: a move, a lost key, a former roommate or a contractor's copy
• in a rental, who has approved the change
• the number of new keys wanted

If the lock itself is worn or damaged, lock replacement may fit better than rekeying it. The city overview is the Mesa page.