Emergency Locksmith in Denver, CO

What counts as urgent

Some situations belong to emergency services first, not a locksmith:

• a child, a person who needs help or a pet locked inside a car or a home: call 911
• a break-in: call the police, stay out if someone may still be inside, and leave the scene as officers ask
• a person shut in behind a door that will not open from the inside: call 911; Denver Residential Health Rule 2-202(C) says exit doors must in no case be locked to persons within the dwelling

Once police say the property is safe, a forced door, a damaged lock or an exterior lock that has stopped working is an urgent request, because the door cannot be secured. For renters, C.R.S. 38-12-505(4)(g) presumes, unless rebutted, that a lack of working locks or security devices on exterior doors and openable windows materially interferes with a tenant's life, health or safety, and C.R.S. 38-12-503(2)(b) sets a shorter deadline for a landlord with written notice to begin remedial action than for other uninhabitable conditions. Put that notice in writing. This is general information, not legal advice.

Large buildings

A large Denver building often owns its lobby lock, and Capitol Hill has many converted buildings. If a lobby door will not secure, tell the manager; a damaged unit door is the one to send to a locksmith.

Cold, heat and storms

A person shut out on a very cold night, or a child or pet shut in a hot car, is at risk whatever the lock is doing: use 911 for danger and get to shelter first.

After a hailstorm, Stop Fraud Colorado flags door-to-door solicitation. If a storm damages a door or lock, arrange the work yourself rather than accepting an unsolicited offer at the door, and change any garage code that repair crews used.

What to send

• where you are: the neighborhood, the cross streets and, in a large building, the unit and whether you are past the lobby
• which door or vehicle, and whether the damage came from a forced entry
• whether police have been called and have released the scene
• whether anyone, including a child or pet, is inside

Related pages: emergency locksmith, house lockout, car lockout and Denver.