Lock Rekeying in Portland, OR

Rekeying after a move or a tenant change

Rekeying re-pins the lock you already have so old keys stop working and new ones do; the door and its finish stay as they are. That suits Portland's older houses. Some built before 1940 still carry their first mortise locks, and a lock like that can often be rekeyed rather than replaced.

Keys also travel. Renters live in 36.9 percent of Oregon's occupied homes, against 34.7 percent nationally, so a lock may have met earlier tenants, managers, cleaners and repair crews. A rekey fits the gap between tenants and the days after closing on a house, since nobody can say how many copies a past occupant handed out.

What Oregon's tenant law says about locks

Oregon's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, ORS chapter 90, covers locks in several places:

• ORS 90.320(1)(L): a unit is considered unhabitable if it substantially lacks working locks for all entrance doors and latches for all windows through which the unit can be entered.
• ORS 90.459: a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, bias crime or stalking may ask for new locks without first providing verification, and the landlord must promptly change them at the tenant's expense or let the tenant do it. Where the perpetrator is a tenant in the same unit, a court order requiring that person to move out comes first.
• ORS 90.302(7)(c): the cost of replacing a key the tenant lost falls outside the statute's limits on landlord fees.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Counting doors before you book

List every door in the home: front, back, garage and any side entry. In Ladd's Addition, which has alleys, a door, gate or garage facing the alley counts too. If a knob lock and a deadbolt take different keys, ask whether both can go on one key. If the lock is worn rather than merely known to too many people, lock replacement may suit better.

Details to send

For lock rekeying, list each door and lock, whether you own or rent, and how many keys you want. Renters should say whether the landlord has agreed. If you are changing locks under ORS 90.459, ask for the landlord's key to be cut at the same visit.