House Lockout in Louisville, KY

Which door you are locked out of

The first question in a Louisville lockout is which door. Many of the large Victorian houses in Old Louisville became boarding houses during the Great Depression, so one street door may serve several households. Say whether you are shut out of the shared entry, your own unit, or both. Old Louisville also has several 20th-century buildings of 15 to 20 stories, where the lobby door and your own door are separate problems.

Census estimates put one Louisville home in ten in a building of two to four units, and 39.3 percent of occupied homes are rented. A renter should try the landlord or property manager first, since one of them may hold a key.

Doors that need extra detail

• Old Louisville courts. Eleven pedestrian-only courts, built from 1891 into the 1920s, have houses facing each other across a grass median. If your door faces a court such as Belgravia Court, name the court and say which end is closest to parking.
• Germantown shotgun houses. Developed heavily in the 1890s, Germantown has the city's largest collection of them. If yours has front and rear doors, say which one is locked.

If a landlord changed the locks

As of April 2025, Kentucky Justice Online listed Louisville-Jefferson County among the places that have adopted the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Where the act applies, KRS 383.655 lets a tenant whom a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes recover possession or end the rental agreement. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to send

If a child, an older adult or a pet is inside and at risk, call 911 before anything else.

For a house lockout request, have ready a photo ID that shows the address, or a lease or deed in your name if the ID lists an older address. Send the address, the door, and whether the keys are inside or lost; lost keys are a reason to consider lock rekeying later. Kentucky Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Louisville. The Louisville page has more on the city's neighborhoods.