Apartment Lockout in Los Angeles, CA

What should you do first when you're locked out of your apartment?

Before you call anyone, run through the quick checks. They cost nothing, and now and then they end the problem on the spot. A surprising number of apartment lockouts turn out to be a door that is latched but not actually locked, or a spare key sitting with someone who lives down the hall.

Just as important is what not to do. Don't shoulder the door, pry at the strike plate, or unscrew the knob. Apartment door frames are often old, thin and shared with a neighboring wall, so damage there turns into a repair bill. If you rent, it can also turn into an uncomfortable talk with your landlord. And skip the credit-card trick on a deadbolt. It only works on a spring latch, and it tends to bend the latch or scar the finish. If the card doesn't work, you have usually made the job harder.

• Try the knob and the deadbolt separately. One may be unlocked.
• Check windows or a patio slider you can safely and legally reach. Do not climb anywhere risky.
• Call a roommate, partner or family member who has a key.
• Ask whether your building has an on-site manager or maintenance person with a master key.
• Look for a spare key you may have left with a neighbor or in your car.
• If none of that works, call us at (213) 577-1366 and we'll talk through the door in front of you.

How is an apartment lockout different from a house lockout?

With a house, the picture is simple: one front door, one lock, one owner. An apartment lockout has layers. You may have a unit door with a knob and a deadbolt, a building entry with a keypad or fob, an intercom, a courtyard gate, and a mailbox bank with its own lock. Across much of central Los Angeles, renters outnumber owners, so controlled-access entries, intercoms and mailbox banks are common. Part of the first conversation is working out which door you're actually locked out of.

The hardware matters too. Plenty of older buildings in this city still carry original mortise locksets and mid-century hardware. A mortise lock is built into the door edge rather than drilled in like a modern cylindrical lockset, and it should be approached differently. The wrong approach can damage a part that is no longer easy to replace. Newer buildings tend to have standard residential deadbolts, and those are usually quicker to deal with.

Then there's the question of who has a say. In a house, it's your call. In an apartment, the building owner or manager may hold keys, may have lease rules about lock changes, and may want to know that a locksmith is working on their door. We deal with that every week. If your situation is actually a single-family home or townhouse, our house lockout service covers it, and the approach is a little different.

How we handle an apartment lockout, step by step

Every lockout is a little different, but the sequence is steady. The point is to get you inside with the least damage to your door and the fewest surprises along the way.

1. You call (213) 577-1366. Someone answers at any hour, any day. Tell us the address, the floor or unit, and what you can about the door: knob, deadbolt, mortise lock, keypad, or a mix.
2. We ask a few plain questions. Is it a lockout or a lost key? Is the deadbolt thrown? Is there a building manager we should expect to hear from? Is anything urgent, like a pet inside, a stove on, or a child?
3. We tell you how the job is likely to go and what drives the cost, before a van heads your way. If something about the door could change the plan, we say so up front.
4. A technician from our mobile service arrives and checks the lock. Before opening anything, we ask for photo ID and some reasonable proof you live there, such as mail, a lease or a utility bill. We open doors for residents, not for people who simply say they're residents.
5. We open the door with the least invasive method that suits that lock. Opening without damage is the goal on most apartment doors. Occasionally a lock is so worn or damaged that drilling is the only realistic route, and if so we explain that before we do it.
6. Once you're in, we check that the lock still works properly. A lockout sometimes reveals a worn latch or a sticky deadbolt, and it's better to hear that now than at the next lockout.
7. If you want, we talk through next steps: a spare key, a rekey if keys are missing, or a repair. None of that is required. You decide.

Should you call building management before a locksmith?

Often, yes, as a first try, especially if it's daytime and your manager is on site. If your building holds a master or copy key, management may be the quickest and most economical route. That is simply a fact of renting. Some buildings, though, hold no keys at all, only reach people during business hours, or are run by an off-site company. At night and on weekends, management often can't help, and that's when most lockouts happen.

If you do call us, we can coordinate with the building. Sometimes a manager wants to confirm that you live there, or wants to be told a locksmith will be in the hallway. We're glad to work with that. We can also make sure the lock is left in working order and, where it matters, that your landlord knows what was done. Check your lease for anything it says about lock changes or lockout procedures. Some leases ask you to notify management if a lock is rekeyed or replaced, and some make you responsible for lockout costs.

If you're a landlord or property manager rather than a tenant, you may want a standing relationship with a locksmith instead of calling one cold at 2 a.m. Our page on locksmith services for landlords covers how we work with property owners.

What affects the cost of an apartment lockout in Los Angeles?

We don't quote a number on a web page, because an honest number depends on the door. What we can do is tell you what moves the cost up or down, so you can judge any quote you get, ours included.

In general, a plain residential knob or deadbolt that can be opened without damage is the lighter-cost end of the range. Cost climbs as the situation gets more complicated. A good locksmith explains which factors apply to your door before starting.

• Type of lock. A standard deadbolt, an older mortise lockset, a high-security cylinder and a smart lock each take different skills and time.
• Condition of the hardware. Worn, corroded or previously damaged locks can be harder to open cleanly.
• Time of day. Late-night, weekend and holiday calls cost more to staff than a weekday daytime call, and any honest company will tell you that.
• Location and access. Getting through a gate, intercom or secured garage can add steps, particularly in larger buildings.
• Whether the lock can be saved. If opening is non-destructive, you keep your hardware. If the lock must be drilled, replacement becomes part of the job.
• Add-on work. A rekey, new keys, or a repair after the door is open is separate from the lockout itself, and you choose whether to do it.

What about condo lockouts in Wilshire Corridor high-rises?

A condo lockout is not quite an apartment lockout, even though the door might look the same. The Wilshire Corridor through Westwood is lined with HOA-managed condominium high-rises. In a building like that, you own the unit, but the association often has rules about the hardware on your front door, and the building may have a front desk, a garage fob system and a lobby entry on top of your own lock.

Practically, that changes how we approach it. Before we do anything, we want to know whether the building has a rule about who can work on unit doors, whether the front desk keeps an emergency key, and whether your entry system is separate from your unit lock. If the HOA requires a particular type of cylinder or a particular finish, we don't want to put something non-compliant on your door. We'd rather open the door cleanly, leave your hardware as it is, and let you handle any rule questions with your association.

Condo owners tend to ask about two things afterward. The first is whether to rekey now that keys have been misplaced. The second is whether to move to a keypad or smart lock. Both are reasonable, and we cover them below. If your concern is about the building's shared access system rather than your own door, that's a different category of work, and we can point you to the right service.

Apartment lockouts in Westwood, Palms, Koreatown and across Los Angeles

Los Angeles is where our storefront sits, at 10740 Wilshire Blvd in Westwood (90024), and apartment lockouts here have their own patterns.

Around UCLA and Westwood Village, student housing produces a steady stream of apartment lockouts. Students move in at the same time of year, share keys across roommates, and lose them in a backpack or a bar. A lockout call there often turns into a shared-lease problem: one roommate is locked out, another is out of town, and nobody is quite sure who holds the lease. We handle it the same way as any other, with ID and proof of residence, but we often suggest a rekey afterward if a key is gone for good.

Further south and east, Palms, Sawtelle and Koreatown hold a very large stock of mid-century apartments and dingbats, the low two-story stucco buildings with parking underneath. Many have been rented for decades, with locks that have seen a lot of tenants. Worn deadbolts and old keys that no longer turn smoothly are common, and a lockout is sometimes the first sign a lock is failing. Move-in rekeys are another regular job in these renter-heavy buildings, since a new tenant rarely knows how many copies of the old key are out there.

Downtown Los Angeles adds loft conversions in early-1900s commercial buildings. These can have heavy doors, unusual hardware and entry systems layered on top of older structures, so we look at the door before promising how it will go.

Older wood doors on the foggier Westside can swell a bit with the morning marine layer. It's a modest effect, but a door that sticks in the damp can make a lock feel jammed when it's actually fine. We have seen this explain a lock that seems stuck. Inland, in the warmer and drier neighborhoods, it comes up less.

Our service area within the city includes ZIP codes such as 90024, 90025, 90064, 90010 and 90005, and neighborhoods from Brentwood and Century City to Hollywood and Mid-Wilshire. Beyond the city, we serve 140 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, so the same phone number works wherever you are, and our mobile locksmith service comes to you.

What should you do after you get back in?

Getting through the door is only half of it. The question afterward is whether your lock is still doing its job.

If you lost your keys rather than just forgetting them, someone else may have them. A lock rekey changes the pins inside your cylinder so the old key no longer works, and the hardware stays on the door. In an apartment, that's usually the more economical route compared with replacing the whole lock. Check your lease first, since some landlords want to be told about lock changes or keep a key.

If you simply need another key so this doesn't happen again, key duplication is the straightforward fix. Give one to a neighbor you trust or a family member, rather than hiding one under a mat.

If your mailbox key went missing along with your door key, tell your building manager. Mailbox banks are often managed by the owner or the postal service, but where the lock is your responsibility, mailbox lock replacement may be something we can help with.

If you're tired of the key routine altogether, a keypad or smart lock removes the physical key from the picture. It's not right for everyone, and not every apartment lease allows it, so ask first. Our smart lock installation page explains what's involved.

Why call Wilshire Lock & Key for an apartment lockout?

We've been in business since 1987, and David, the owner and lead technician, oversees the work. We run a storefront in Westwood and mobile service vans, so there's a real place behind the phone number. You are not being handed to a dispatch middleman who sells your call to whoever is closest. One company answers, one company shows up.

Our phone, (213) 577-1366, is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. That matters for apartment lockouts, because they rarely happen at convenient times. If you'd like to understand the full range of after-hours options, our 24-hour locksmith page explains how we work around the clock.

One more thing worth knowing: California requires locksmith companies to hold a BSIS LCO license, and you should ask any locksmith for it before they start work. That includes us. A reputable company won't mind the question. It's also fair to ask for a clear description of the job and the cost factors before the work begins. We'd rather you ask, and we'd rather you call us only when you're comfortable with the answers.

More locksmith help in Los Angeles

• 24 Hour Locksmith in Los Angeles
• Broken Key Extraction in Los Angeles
• Business Lockout in Los Angeles
• Car Lockout in Los Angeles
• Emergency Locksmith in Los Angeles
• House Lockout in Los Angeles
• All services in Los Angeles

Apartment Lockout near Los Angeles

• Beverly Hills
• West Hollywood
• Culver City
• Santa Monica
• Marina del Rey
• Inglewood

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