Reasons You Should Change Your Locks Right Now

If you're like most homeowners, you may rarely think about changing the locks to your home's entryway doors. However, there are some very good reasons for doing this, even if those locks are still functional. Note a few of those reasons here so you can determine if your home's locks should be changed, and why this may be needed to keep you safe.

A security guard or maintenance worker recently left

If you live in a complex of some sort and a security guard, maintenance worker, or anyone else with access to keys was recently fired, quit, or retired, change the locks to your home. He or she may not have thought about gaining access to your home while employed at your residence, as they could then be easily identified. However, now that they're no longer on the payroll, consider the risk that they may have made copies of those keys and is able to access the homes in the building with less chance of detection.

Your child lost their key

Don't assume that a key your child wears on a chain around their neck can't be connected to your home, as another child may have purposely taken it. A schoolmate may also recognize the chain if they were to find that key and may know where your child lives. Your home could then be the target of a break-in.

You're going through a separation or divorce

If there is any reason to suspect that your spouse may enter the home and take things that don't belong to him or her, or that are currently be contested as to ownership, you want to change the locks right away. While it may not actually be true that "possession is nine-tenths of the law," as the old saying goes, you don't want to risk not being able to retrieve certain items or having them damaged out of spite while you're going through a separation.

You can't find your spare keys

If you normally keep a set of spare keys in the house but can't locate them, it's good to have the locks changed. Those keys could have been taken by a contractor, cleaning service, inspector, a neighbour's child, or anyone else that had access to your home. You could have also loaned them out and simply lost track of them. Whatever the case, rather than risk having them fall into the wrong hands, change the locks so you know you're safe and so you can have a new spare set made as well.

For more information or advice, contact a locksmith.

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