House Lockout in Vancouver, WA

Which door is locked?

What a lockout involves depends on the building, and the city's neighborhood profiles describe several kinds.

• Older detached houses. Hough, just northwest of downtown, has Victorian houses, bungalows and foursquares. Houses like these often have front, back and sometimes side doors, each with its own lock, so try every one before you ask for help.
• Duplexes and triplexes. Many of Fourth Plain Village's houses, which date largely from the 1930s and 1940s, are duplexes or triplexes. Say which unit is yours and whether a shared door stands between the street and your own entry.
• Apartments and condominiums. Bagley Downs has multifamily housing beside single-family homes, and Hudson's Bay has apartment buildings and condominiums. Being locked out of a building's front entry is a different job from being locked out of your unit, and the entry usually belongs to management.

Renters and the repair contact

Vancouver's rental registration ordinance, VMC Chapter 5.08, requires the registration application to name the person tenants contact for repair requests (VMC 5.08.060(G)(4)). In a shared building, that person may be a sensible first call when the entry door is the problem.

Separately, RCW 59.18.290(1) makes it unlawful for a landlord to remove or exclude a tenant except under a court order. That section is worth reading if the landlord, not a lost key, is why you cannot get in. This is general information, not legal advice.

Showing the home is yours

Have these ready to show that you live at the address:

• photo ID with the address of the home
• a lease or deed in your name, if your ID shows an older address
• the unit number and building name, for an apartment or condominium
• whether the door has a knob lock, a deadbolt or both, and which ones are locked

If your ID is locked inside, say so in your request.

Once you are back in

If your keys are lost rather than locked inside, ask about lock rekeying so that the missing copies stop working. Washington Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Vancouver. The house lockout page describes the service, and the Vancouver page covers the city.