New Jersey Locksmith Services

Homes and doors across New Jersey

New Jersey's housing is largely postwar. In the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, nearly 38 percent of the state's roughly 3.8 million homes were built from 1950 through 1979, about 17 percent in 1939 or earlier, and about 9 percent in 2010 or later.

In Hudson County, home to Jersey City, fewer than one home in ten is a detached house; about 31 percent are in two- to four-unit buildings, more than a quarter in buildings of 50 or more units, and nearly 29 percent predate 1940. In Ocean County on the shore, nearly three in four homes are detached and fewer than 4 percent predate 1940.

• Older urban doors. Buildings from before bored cylindrical locks became common may still have mortise locks, with the lock body set into the door edge. Replacing one with a different style can mean altering the door, so repair or lock rekeying is often the simpler first step.
• Two- and three-family houses. The state lock rules described below start at three units, so a two-family house and the three-family house next door can fall under different rules.

How New Jersey's climate affects locks and keys

NOAA's state climate summary describes moderately cold, occasionally snowy winters and warm, humid summers. Average January lows run from 15 to 20 °F in the northwest to 25 to 30 °F along the coast. The state sees at least one coastal storm a year, and some years bring five to ten. Sea level along the coast has risen more than 16 inches since 1911, and Atlantic City has logged tidal flooding almost every year since 1989, with a record 22 tidal flood days in 2017.

• Northwestern cold. Meltwater can refreeze inside an exterior cylinder overnight. Use a dry lock lubricant rather than oil and never force a key; one snapped in a frozen lock means a broken key extraction.
• Saltwater at the shore. After tidal or storm flooding, rinse door locks and hinges with fresh water, dry them and relubricate before salt corrodes them.
• Humid summers. Swollen wood doors can make a deadbolt bind; if you must push or lift the door to lock it, have the strike adjusted.

Renting in New Jersey: locks, keys and rekeying

This is general information, not legal advice.

• Required locks. The state's Hotel and Multiple Dwelling regulations cover buildings of three or more units. Under N.J.A.C. 5:10-19.2, shared entrance doors need heavy-duty dead-latching locksets, and the tenant's key for the outside cylinder must not also open the tenant's own unit door. Each unit entrance door needs a medium-duty dead-latching lockset or a separate deadbolt, a chain door guard and, on the main entrance, a viewer, and openable windows and sliding doors need a locking device. For buildings of fewer than three units, the Department of Community Affairs' Truth in Renting guide points tenants to the municipal building inspector or health officer.
• Lock changes for survivors. Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-9.14, added by P.L.2023, c.174, a court issuing a temporary or permanent domestic violence restraining order may order the landlord to change the locks where the victim lives. If the landlord has not installed new locks within 48 hours of receiving the victim's written request, the victim may change them, then must notify the landlord and provide a copy of the new keys within 48 hours. A victim who changes the locks pays for it but may seek reimbursement under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-29.
• Lockouts by a landlord. The Truth in Renting guide says self-help evictions, such as padlocking the door or changing the locks while the tenant is out, are illegal in New Jersey, and that a tenant facing one should call the police. Citing N.J.S.A. 2A:39-1, the guide adds that a person who enters a rental without a court order may be liable to the tenant for damages.

Where we take requests in New Jersey

New Jersey Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in New Jersey. City pages cover:

• Newark
• Jersey City
• Paterson
• Trenton

Before you book a locksmith in New Jersey

The Division of Consumer Affairs, in the Office of the Attorney General, takes complaints against businesses. Its complaint form asks you to raise the problem with the business first, then to describe what went wrong and what you want done, with photocopies, not originals, of receipts and contracts. It warns that the completed form may be disclosed under the Open Public Records Act, so leave out sensitive personal details.

1. Get the total in writing first. Ask for the full price, including any service call and parts, before work begins; the complaint form asks for copies of bills and receipts.
2. Renters, ask the owner first. In a building of three or more units, the landlord must supply the entrance and unit locks.
3. Survivors, keep the paperwork. Keep the restraining order and a dated copy of your written request, since the landlord's 48-hour window runs from receiving it.