Lock Rekeying in Bridgeport, CT

Who else has a key

Rekeying changes the pins inside a cylinder so every old key stops working while the lock stays in the door. Bridgeport's housing plan counts 57,012 housing units, and the East Bridgeport and Deacon's Point historic districts, in the East Side and East End, hold older buildings where nobody may know how many copies of a key are out there. Statewide, roughly four in ten homes date from 1950 to 1979, so original hardware with keys copied many times over is common.

• New owners. A closing hands over the keys the seller knows about, not the copies given to relatives, contractors or past tenants.
• Landlords between tenants. Rekeying each unit door, and the shared entry if tenants held keys to it, resets access without buying new hardware.
• Tenants. Locks in a rental normally belong to the owner, so get the landlord's agreement before asking for a rekey.

Rental rules that touch keys

This is general information, not legal advice.

• Move-in walk-through. For rental agreements made on or after January 1, 2024, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-7c requires the landlord to offer a pre-move-in walk-through on the Department of Housing checklist, which can record a missing key or a lock that sticks.
• Key deposits. Section 47a-4d bars most up-front charges but allows a deposit for a key or special equipment.
• Protected tenants. Under § 47a-7b, a tenant protected by a court protective or restraining order requiring the other party to stay away can give the landlord a copy and ask for new locks. Within six hours the landlord must say whether it will change them or let the tenant do so; if the landlord does the work, the deadline is 48 hours. A digital lock may get a new entry code instead.

What to include in a request

Count the cylinders: front, rear, unit doors, shared entry and any deadbolts. Say whether you want them all on one key, whether you have a working key for each, and which neighborhood the building is in. Landlords should give the number of units and which doors each tenant uses. A lock that is worn out rather than merely exposed may call for lock replacement instead.