Owensboro notes
Updated 4 sources
Renting and moving in Owensboro
Census Bureau figures for 2020 to 2024 put 42.6 percent of Owensboro's occupied homes in the rental market, against 31.7 percent statewide. Every move-out, sale or change of manager can leave keys behind: copies a tenant had cut, a spare lent to a neighbor, a set a contractor never returned. Rekeying resets the cylinder so those keys stop working, while the lock body, handle and door stay put.
What Kentucky law says about rental locks
KRS 383.500 lets each city or county adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in full (KRS 383.505 to 383.705). As of April 2025, Kentucky Justice Online's list of the 21 places that had done so did not include Owensboro, so check that list and your lease first.
A separate rule, KRS 383.300, sits outside the act and applies in Owensboro as everywhere in Kentucky. For leases created or renewed on or after June 29, 2017, a tenant covered by a domestic violence order or another listed protective or no-contact order may change the lock at the tenant's own expense after telling the landlord. That means rekeying a lock in good working condition or swapping the whole mechanism for one of equal or better quality. The landlord can ask for a key but may withhold one from the restrained person, even if that person is on the lease.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Why owners and landlords rekey
- After buying a house: the seller, past tenants and any former manager may all still hold keys.
- Between tenants: rekeying each exterior lock is usually simpler than replacing it.
- To carry fewer keys: locks that share a keyway can be keyed alike. A lock with a different keyway, or one that is worn or seized, may call for lock replacement instead.
Details worth sending
- How many doors, and which ones: front, back, side, garage entry
- Whether you want one key for all of them, and how many copies
- Whether this follows a purchase, a move-out or a protective order
- In a duplex, who controls any shared entry door
Lock rekeying covers the work in general, and the city's rental figures sit on the Owensboro page.
At the door
What lock rekeying covers
Changing the pins inside your existing locks so old keys stop working, without replacing the hardware.
- An inspection of each lock to confirm it can be rekeyed
- Re-pinning each cylinder to work with a new key
- New keys cut for the rekeyed locks
ID and proof you may access the property are checked before any work.
Lock Rekeying in KentuckySources
Public records and references this page draws on. They are outside USA Locksmith Pros and open in a new tab.
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-year via Census Reporter, Year structure built, units in structure and tenure (B25034, B25024, B25003)api.censusreporter.org (external site, opens in a new tab)
- KRS 383.500, Local governments authorized to adopt the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Actapps.legislature.ky.gov (external site, opens in a new tab)
- Kentucky Justice Online, Places that passed URLTA (repair and deduct)kyjustice.org (external site, opens in a new tab)
- KRS 383.300, Protections for tenants protected by a domestic violence or interpersonal protective orderapps.legislature.ky.gov (external site, opens in a new tab)