Lock Rekeying in Savannah, GA

Why keys pile up in Savannah rentals

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 put 52.3 percent of Savannah households in rented homes, against 33.7 percent across Georgia. With over half of households renting, one door key may have passed through several tenants, relatives, cleaners and move-out helpers. Rekeying resets the cylinder to a new key, so every earlier key stops working, and the lock body, finish and door stay as they are.

What Georgia's tenant handbook says

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes the Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook, revised in August 2024. On locks and keys it says:

• A lease will typically require the landlord's permission before a tenant changes the locks.
• Where the lease is silent, a tenant may change the locks but must hand the landlord the new keys at move-out and follow any lease terms on access.
• Returning keys early does not by itself end the rent owed through the term, unless the lease says otherwise.

Read your lease first and keep any approval in writing. For a landlord, rekeying between tenants shuts out the last tenant's copies. This is general information, not legal advice.

Ranch houses and older doors

The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) describes Kensington Park-Groveland as ranch houses built from 1950 to 1968. After a move, a house there can end up with its front, carport and patio doors on different keys. Rekeying can often put them all on one key when the locks share a keyway; locks from mixed brands may need a cylinder swap first.

In the Streetcar Historic District, whose growth the MPC ties largely to the 1888 electrification of the city's streetcar lines, an older door may still carry a mortise lock. Its cylinder can usually be rekeyed like any other, so the original lock body need not come out just because nobody knows who holds the keys.

What to include in a request

• How many doors, and which: front, carport, patio, side or gate
• Whether you want them all on one key
• The brand name on the lock face or key head, if you can read it
• Whether you own or rent, and the landlord's written approval if your lease needs it

See lock rekeying, lock replacement if the hardware itself is worn out, and the Savannah page.