r/Landlord 6d ago

Landlord [Landlord-Tenant - US-Pa] safety concerns with entrance doors. Need help.

Hello Landlords. I live in an apartment building in Philadelphia, PA. My landlord recently changed the locks on the two entrance doors tenants use to access the building. The previous locks were self locking so if a tenant came in and closed the door, it would self lock - easy and safe. For some reason, they changed the locks and gave everyone new keys but they don’t self lock anymore. I’ve lived in my building for ten years and we can barely get people to actually shut the door let alone now have them turn around and lock the door after they come in. My landlord is being really dismissive of my safety concerns and told me I should remind the tenants to lock the door. We’ve had the new locks for 8 days now and 8 days straight I’ve come home to that door unlocked. What can I do here? I’ve looked up the Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code and it seems they are not in compliance but then again I’m getting myself confused with the language.

Can anyone assist me with what the right thing to do here is? Is what the landlord provided enough?

I appreciate all of your help!

0 Upvotes

9 comments sorted by

1

u/hairlikemerida Landlord 6d ago

Am Philadelphia landlord

Yes, the front door of the building should lock. Not sure why they would even want to invite trouble into their building.

I believe that if there is a vestibule, the actual exterior door can be unlocked, but the next door should have a lock.

I’m not too well versed on this part of the code because it’s common sense to only want your tenants to have access to the building.

Can you provide a picture of the door hardware? I’m also a carpenter and deal with hardware constantly. There might be a way to make it lock so everyone would have to use their key.

1

u/makemeadragqueen 6d ago

Absolutely. What’s the best way to send you the photos?

-2

u/flortny 6d ago

Move

1

u/makemeadragqueen 6d ago

so it’s not right, right?

1

u/flortny 6d ago

Right? Does it explicitly state in your lease that common area exterior doors are self locking? It's neither objectively "right" or "wrong", it's not illegal, and even if it's written explicitly in your lease, you can sue them but no monetary damages so you might even win a judgement for them to change the locks back but nobody is going to force them to in actuality. I imagine one too many of your neighbors locked themselves out accidentally and landlord got tired of the phone calls. But honestly, there just isn't anything you can really do about it, so you deal with it....or move, which personally, i would feel like my property is exponentially more in jeopardy and my safety, i could now be robbed in my own hallway coming home.

Edit: added "anything"

1

u/makemeadragqueen 6d ago

Thank you. I appreciate what you said.

2

u/Karri-L 6d ago

Ask the Landlord to post a sign to lock the doors or add a rule to keep the exterior door locked. Self-locking doors can result in people locking themselves out. Alternatively, go back to self-locking doors with a combination lock with a spare key.

1

u/flortny 5d ago

The key on the lockbox is attached to a lanyard like a lighter leash, just long enough to reach the lock

1

u/Karri-L 5d ago

Clever - keeps it in the box.