House Lockout in St. Louis, MO

Which door you are locked out of

A St. Louis address often has more than one lockable door between the sidewalk and your rooms, so the first step is naming the one that is shut. The city's preservation plan describes the two-family flat this way: one door on the front facade opens into the first-floor apartment, and a second door on the same facade leads up an interior stair to the upper unit. Two front doors mean two sets of keys, and it is easy to grab the wrong ring.

• Walk-ups. The plan calls these common in the first two decades of the 20th century. One main door opens into a shared stair hall, and each apartment opens off that hall. If a neighbor lets you into the hall, only your unit door is left.
• Flats with an entry for every unit. The plan finds these mainly in Skinker-DeBaliviere and Academy. Each unit has its own entry, so name the unit's door, not just the building.

Showing that you live there

Have a photo ID showing the address ready. If your ID carries an older address, a lease or a deed in your name can fill the gap. If those papers are inside, say so in your request.

When the landlord changed the locks

That is a legal question before it is a lock question. Section 441.233 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri says a landlord who removes or excludes a tenant or the tenant's belongings without judicial process and a court order, or who causes the removal of the doors or locks, is deemed guilty of forcible entry and detainer under chapter 534. The exception is abandonment under section 441.065: the landlord reasonably believes the tenant has moved out, rent is 30 days unpaid, written notice is posted and mailed, and after 10 days the tenant has neither paid nor answered in writing. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to put in the request

Give the neighborhood, the cross streets and the exact door: upper or lower flat, walk-up street door or unit door. Say whether a key is still in the lock on the inside. See house lockout service and the St. Louis page, or lock rekeying if the keys were lost or stolen instead of locked inside.