Lock Rekeying in Alexandria, VA

A rental-heavy city

Census Bureau estimates for 2024 count 56.8 percent of Alexandria's occupied homes as rented, against 32.9 percent across Virginia. When most homes are rented, keys pass among tenants, roommates and contractors, and each handoff raises the question of who still holds a key. Rekeying answers it without new hardware: the pins inside the cylinder are changed to fit a new key, so old keys stop working while the lockset stays on the door.

Common reasons:

• A landlord between tenants, often wanting the front and rear doors on one key.
• A new owner, who cannot know how many copies the seller handed out.
• A lost key from a lock that still works well. If the lock is worn or damaged, lock replacement may make more sense.

What a unit rekey leaves alone

In a large managed building, rekeying a unit door does not change the lobby fob, garage access or mailbox lock. Some buildings key unit doors into a master system, so ask management before a cylinder is changed, and whether it needs a copy of the new key. In a townhouse community with an HOA, ask who else holds keys to shared gates or storage.

Rules that touch keys

Under City Code Sec. 8-1-110 and following, adopted under Va. Code § 36-105.1:1, owners of rental units in the city's East and West rental inspection districts must arrange inspections. A unit with no disqualifying violations receives a 48-month certificate of compliance. Rekeying changes the key, not the hardware, so a stiff or loose lock is a repair question before an inspection.

Va. Code § 55.1-1230 covers a narrower case. A tenant or authorized occupant holding a family abuse protective order, or an order under § 20-103(B) granting possession to the exclusion of a co-tenant, may give the landlord a copy and ask for a new lock on the exterior doors at the landlord's actual cost, or ask to install one. The landlord keeps duplicate keys and may not hand them to the excluded person. Ex parte orders are not covered. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to include

List the doors and cylinders, whether they should all take one key, and the brand stamped on your current key. Renters should tell the landlord first. See lock rekeying and Alexandria.