Lock Rekeying in Denver, CO

Why Denver homes get rekeyed

Rekeying re-pins a lock cylinder so a new key works and the old keys stop working, while the lock stays on the door.

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 put 51.9 percent of Denver households in rented homes, so keys pass between tenants, landlords and property managers all the time. Buyers face a version of the same worry. Harvey Park, which straddles South Sheridan Boulevard south of Jewell Avenue, is mostly mid-century modern homes, the majority built between 1954 and 1965. A house that has changed hands over six decades may still have keys out from earlier owners, and a new owner cannot know who holds them.

Denver's rental program and Colorado's lock statutes

Denver's Residential Rental Program applies to any building, structure or accessory dwelling unit rented as a residence for 30 days or more at a time, including single-family homes, rowhouses, apartments and condominiums. State law speaks to locks too: C.R.S. 38-12-505(1)(b)(XI) treats working locks on exterior doors as part of a habitable rental, and C.R.S. 38-12-510 limits landlord lockouts. Neither section requires rekeying between tenants, so a renter can ask in writing at move-in whether the locks were changed, and a landlord who rekeys can record the date. This is general information, not legal advice.

Shared buildings

A unit rekey covers the doors of that unit. The lobby, garage and mailbox locks of a large Denver building are often the building's, not the unit's, and they stay with whoever manages it, so a request for "all the locks" should say which ones you control.

What to include in a request

• how many exterior doors there are and whether you want them all on one key
• whether you own the home or rent and, if you rent, that the landlord agrees
• the brand on each lock, if you can read it
• how many keys you want in the set
• whether keys were lost or stolen, or simply came with the house

If a lock is too worn to hold new pins, lock replacement is the alternative. How the service works is at lock rekeying, and the Denver page has the neighborhood notes.