Lock Rekeying in Santa Fe, NM

Retiring old keys

Rekeying keeps the lock you have and changes the inside of its cylinder, so old keys stop working and a new one does. In Santa Fe, the first question is usually how many locks there are to change.

Canyon Road houses were built with adobe walls and courtyards, often as compounds for extended families, and a compound can pass through several households. The street gate, the courtyard door and each house door can be keyed differently, so every old set of copies stays live until each of those locks is rekeyed. When you ask, list every lock in the compound and say whether you want them on one key or on separate keys.

Tierra Contenta, the master-planned community in southwest Santa Fe, has more than 3,000 single-family and multi-family homes developed since its 1994 master plan. In one of its multi-family buildings, ask the manager or association which locks are yours to change before anything is rekeyed.

Renting and rekeying

New Mexico's Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act, NMSA 1978 Sections 47-8-1 to 47-8-52, calls landlords "owners" and tenants "residents." Of its sections, only 47-8-36 mentions locks.

1. Section 47-8-36(A) bars an owner from knowingly excluding or removing a resident without a court order by changing, adding or removing a lock. Abandonment and surrender are excepted, and 47-8-36(B) exempts temporary interference during legitimate repairs or inspections.
2. Section 47-8-20 lists the owner's duties without mentioning locks or rekeying between residents, so ask in writing before you sign whether the locks have been changed.
3. Section 47-8-24 generally requires advance written notice before an owner enters, unless the owner and resident agree otherwise, and it allows entry without consent in an emergency. That right of entry is why the rental agreement is the first place to look before you change a lock yourself.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Details for the request

Say whether you own or rent, how many locks are involved, and which of them belong to a shared entry. Photos of each lock help. See lock rekeying, lock replacement for hardware that is worn out, and the Santa Fe page.