Turnover Rekeys for Oceanside Landlords and Property Managers
Same routine every turnover. One email, one visit, one invoice per unit.
Every turnover, same routine
Oceanside turns over rentals faster than almost any city in the county. Orders come through at Camp Pendleton, a lease ends in San Luis Rey, and the unit needs to be ready for the next family in a week. Locks are the one item on the make-ready list that a painter or a handyman cannot do properly, and the one that matters most to the incoming tenant.
Here is how it works with us. You email or text the address, the unit, and the day the unit is empty. We rekey every exterior lock on the unit, test the new key in each door, tag the key ring with the unit number, and send a photo invoice the same day. If you manage more than a handful of doors, the invoice carries your work-order number so it drops into your accounting without retyping.
No calling around at every vacancy. No wondering whether the last tenant's boyfriend still has a copy.
Keyed-alike and restricted keyways
For a single-family rental, a turnover rekey means one new key for every door on the house. For a building, it means one key per unit plus a manager key that opens all of them, so your maintenance person carries one key instead of a coffee can of them. That is a keyed-alike system with a master, and it is set up once and maintained at each turnover.
The weak point of ordinary keys is the hardware store. A tenant can copy a Kwikset or Schlage key on any kiosk in town, and when they leave you do not know how many exist. Restricted keyways use blanks that are not sold to the public; copies come from us, on your authorization, and we log each one. For a duplex it is overkill. For a 24-unit garden building off Oceanside Boulevard with two decades of tenants, it ends the guessing.
Rekey pins, not new hardware
Rekeying costs a fraction of replacement and leaves the door looking the same. The 1970s garden apartments along Mission Avenue and Oceanside Boulevard mostly still have decent brass hardware that has been rekeyed a dozen times and will take a dozen more. We only replace what is actually worn, sticking, or corroded, and we tell you which unit and why, with a photo, before we do it. What we install when a lock is done.
Key handoff between leases
Vacant units get shown, cleaned, painted, and inspected by people who are not you. A wall-mounted lockbox at the unit, with a code you change when the tenant moves in, means no more meeting a carpet installer at 7 a.m. We mount them into stucco or block, not hung on a knob where they walk away. Lockboxes for vacant units and showings.
When a tenant needs locks changed now
California Civil Code sections 1941.5 and 1941.6 require a landlord to change the locks of a tenant who is protected by a qualifying restraining order or has a police report of domestic violence, within 24 hours of the tenant's written request, and allow the tenant to change them if the landlord does not. When that call comes, you need a locksmith who can be there the same day and who will put the new keys in the right hands only. We treat those requests as priority and bill them at the account rate, not an emergency rate. This is a summary, not legal advice; the statute text is on the California Legislative Information site.
Accounts and billing
Per-door pricing, lower at volume, with net terms for managers who send a steady stream. One invoice per unit, or one monthly statement by property, whichever your bookkeeping prefers. Photo documentation on every job.
Tenants moving in ask their own questions, and you can send them to the tenant-facing version of this page so they know what to expect.
Short-term unit?
If the unit turns over every three nights instead of every year, keys are the wrong tool. Vacation rentals near the beach run on code-based smart locks with a keyed backup, and the changeover routine is different. The short-term rental workflow, for hosts and co-hosts.
Set up a turnover account
Tell us the portfolio size and where it is. We reply with per-door pricing and a routine for your next vacancy.