Here's a tip for those of you who own or are about to buy an investment property. Ensure that when you take possession, you get photocopies of all keys (and number of each recorded) so that there are no discrepancies when the tenant vacates or claims that they weren't "supplied" in the first place. I only provide this advice after failing to carry it out myself and now find myself the recipient of a few recent and unexpected key costs in recent months. You never stop learning as a property investor that's for sure....
I recommend to owners to get at least the screen doors re-keyed. My locksmith/smoke alarm service guys can do it in Brisbane for $140 pa. unlimited callouts in that year. And I keep a few spare barrels just in case.
Why is re-keying necessary? Surely a landlord can't be held responsible for a break in by a previous tenant. Such premeditated action is well and truly beyond any negligence by a landlord! Tenants can always insist on rekeying and negotiate this with the landlord, or do it themselves and pay for it, sending copies of keys to the landlord.
Great tip Jacque - I recommend changing the locks too. A small (tax deductible) cost to pay for a happy next tenant!
Door locks are a depreciable item (at 2.5% from memory) so unless changing locks can be classified as a repair, the cost will not be tax deductible at the end of the financial year. Rather, it will be depreciated at a modest rate over time.
After many years working in the locksmithing and security industry I highly recommend that landlords change the locks if their tenants request so. I have seen a few cases where this has not been done, and the tenant has a theft with no forced entry, the finger is immediately pointed at the old tenants and liability put back onto the landlord. Several tenants have taken their landlords to court and won, so take note!
I do. I've always been changing external locks so I've got a large collection of locks and lock hardware. This enables me to also switch locks between IP's