Landlord emergencies

[spare keys]

Tenants lock themselves out at the worst possible times… and then they call you.

The trouble is, there’s not much else the tenant can do, other than call their landlord. But how is a landlord supposed to be available 24/7, within easy reach of the spare keys for all his properties, even if those properties are in different towns and cities, and then be able to meet the tenant wherever they are within the blink of an eye?

You could employ your own round-the-clock locksmith, or a full-time key minder. But that’s seriously expensive.....

On the other hand we can store your spare keys, even your home, office and car, and deliver them when they're needed, wherever they are needed, within the hour, 24/7. Guaranteed. It's 100% secure.

All you have to do is sign up – we do everything else. We’ll fill in all the forms for you; we’ll pick up and duplicate any keys; we’ll let your tenants know that they are covered by our scheme, and how it works; and of course, we’ll take all the calls and do all the rescuing, 24/7, 365. We’ll even let in tradesmen.

We are a partner of Residential Landlord and offer a fully national service.

Regards

Barry Shaverin

Sparekeys.com

barry@sparekeys.com

08700 695397

[Melboy]

So I guess the leaving of a spare key under the flower pot is going out of fashion then Barry?

I have had this problem in the past and it was made especially worse because the if the UPVC front door slammed shut in the wind, that was that, you couldn't get back in!

Even worse the Tenant had actually left the keys in the lock on the inside of the door.

After an hour of faffing about through the letter box we managed to pull the keys out of the lock so as I could put my spare key into the front door and open it.

Lesson learnt! I kept a spare patio back door set hidden in the garden so the Tenant would not have to bother me again which was just as well because it happened again on 2 more occasions.

[GPEL]

I advise them on the inventory/repair notice that losing keys is a self-inflicted problem and they need to take precautions same as a home owner would do. They are also advised that I can't guarantee responding quickly to a call from them for a problem of this nature. The repair notice gives numbers of local lockmiths operating a 24 hours service. If they have no access to this (cos they're locked out) they know they have to find someone themselves. If they forget this and still call, it's suprising how often it no longer becomes a crisis and can make do, to avoid an expense of their own making, until you can get there.

[GPEL]

I advise them on the inventory/repair notice that losing keys is a self-inflicted problem and they need to take precautions same as a home owner would do. They are also advised that I can't guarantee responding quickly to a call from them for a problem of this nature. The repair notice gives numbers of local lockmiths operating a 24 hours service. If they have no access to this (cos they're locked out) they know they have to find someone themselves. If they forget this and still call, it's suprising how often it no longer becomes a crisis and can make do, to avoid an expense of their own making, until you can get there.

[spare keys]

Indeed Melboy - flowerpots are SO 1980's! They are also a major security risk!!!

The first reason we find that landlords use us is convenience. Even if you make it very clear to the tenant that the whole lock out thing is their responsibility as GPEL sensibly recommends, they still call you at all hours. Even though they shouldn't!

Then there's a security aspect. A lot of landlords would actually rather that their tenants did NOT have extra spares cut and distributed among friends and neighbours for one (not immediately obvious) fact - when that tenant moves out, someone unbeknown to the the landlord or a new tenant has the spare keys, knows where the property is and when it's empty. It's a burglar or squatter's dream. Did you know that 7% of tenants admit that they don't bother to retrieve their spares when they move from a property, meaning that 37,500 properties change hands every year where the keys are with a stranger? And that's just the tenants that admit to it. Scary stuff!

Finally, we like to think there's a customer satisfaction aspect to it. The tenants that we rescue are enormously grateful to their landlords for providing the service - lock out rescue guaranteed within the hour - and they tend to take better care of their landlord, and stay with them longer, than the average.

So we think it makes sense to do what GPEL suggests, but rather than giving them a locksmith's number, give them ours, and make sure that the property is already covered by SpareKeys.

[Melboy]

Well, I have visited the website Barry and very good it is too.........

As a Landlord, and I am not being critical of what you are offering, I would find it just another financial expense I do not want to occur especially as I regard it as the Tenant's fault for locking themselves out.

However, I do take the point that for absent Landlord's, miles away, it may be a good thing to sign up to and to avoid being messed about.

Mel.

[spare keys]

Thanks Mel - that's kind of you.

Of course it's not for everyone, although we do believe that in the long run it's cheaper than not being a member. It often depends on how many properties you have, how far away you are, and what relationship you have with your tenants. Some of our landlords actually charge their tenants more for key deliveries than we charge them, and therefore cover the cost of the initial membership.

If you do change your mind, let me know and I'll see what sort of discount I can provide for you!

Barry