Emergency Locksmith in Buffalo, NY

What makes a lock problem urgent

Weather often decides how urgent a Buffalo lock problem is. The state's climate report describes lake-effect storms off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and a lockout that is an inconvenience in May can be dangerous in a January storm. Urgent cases:

• locked out of your home in cold or storm weather, with nowhere warm to wait
• an exterior door that will not close or lock after a break-in, storm damage or a failed lock, leaving the building open overnight
• a key snapped in the only working entrance
• locked out with a child inside or a stove running; call 911 first if anyone inside could be at risk

Safety before the lock

• After a break-in, call 911 before anything else, and leave the damaged door and frame as they are until police have seen them. Photograph the damage, then arrange to have the door secured.
• If you feel unsafe where you are, move somewhere safe and send that location.
• If a landlord locked you out, treat it as a legal matter before a lock matter. New York's Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 768 bars removing someone who has lawfully occupied a unit for 30 consecutive days or more, or who has a lease, except under a warrant of eviction, another court order or a government vacate order. Removing, plugging or disabling the entrance-door lock, or changing it without giving the occupant a key, is covered, and intentional violations are a class A misdemeanor. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to send with an urgent request

• the exact address, or for a car the street, side, nearest cross street and whether it is on a winter bus route
• for an apartment, which flat and which entrance: the street door, a shared hall door or your own door
• what happened, and whether anyone inside or outside is at risk
• whether the door is open, damaged or locked, with photos if you can take them safely

Before any work starts, get the work and the total in writing. The Attorney General's Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau prosecutes deceptive trade practices and takes consumer complaints, and written terms are your record. Related: emergency locksmith, house lockout, car lockout and Buffalo.