Car Key Replacement in Baltimore, MD

Check that the car was not towed

If both the keys and the car seem to be missing, rule out a tow before ordering a new key. A car left on a snow emergency route while the city's plan is in Phase II or Phase III can be towed. The Department of Transportation tells owners to call 311 about a car towed during a snow emergency, and the city's impound facilities are on Pulaski Highway and the Fallsway. This is general information, not legal advice.

Proof of ownership

A replacement key is cut and programmed for one specific car, so expect to show that the car is yours:

• Photo ID in the same name as the registration or title.
• The registration card or the title. If they were in the car or with the lost keys, your state motor-vehicle agency can issue a duplicate.
• The vehicle identification number (VIN), stamped on a plate at the base of the windshield on the driver's side and on a label in the driver's door jamb.

Keep photos of these documents on your phone in case the originals were lost with the keys.

Where the car is

Key programming usually needs the car itself, within reach, so the visit is arranged around wherever it sits. Say whether it is in a garage, a private lot or on a street, and how a service vehicle can reach it.

If house keys were on the same ring

Half of Baltimore's homes are single-family attached houses, by Census Bureau estimates for 2024, so one lost front-door key can leave a whole house on a key someone else holds. If a house key was on the ring, consider lock rekeying for that door too.

Before you request the key

1. Make, model and year, and how many working keys you still have, if any.
2. Whether the car starts with a push button or a turned key.
3. The documents above, gathered in one place.

Once the new key works, ask whether the lost keys can be erased from the car's memory. See car key replacement and key fob programming. If the keys are only locked inside, the job is a car lockout, which needs the same kind of location details. The Baltimore page has more local notes.