What’s Happening

When someone moves out and keeps a key, every lock that key fits is compromised until the cylinders are rekeyed or replaced. Rekeying is the standard fix: a locksmith changes the internal pins so the old key no longer works, and a new key is cut to fit. It is fast, affordable, and the only way to be certain the old key is dead.

Call (682) 281-8985

A spare key doesn’t expire when the relationship does. A former roommate, a past tenant, an ex-partner, a contractor who was never asked to return their copy – any of them could still walk in, and you wouldn’t know it was them until after the fact. This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s one of the most common reasons people call a locksmith, and it’s one of the most straightforward things we fix. The right move is rekeying, and it can usually be done the same day you call.

Why It Happens

A Key Was Never Returned

This is the most common situation, and the most benign in terms of intent – but not in terms of risk. Someone leaves, forgets to hand back the key, or quietly decides to keep it. You may not realize it until you’re moving in, doing a walkthrough, or simply counting keys and coming up short. If you can’t account for every copy that was ever made, assume at least one is unaccounted for.

Extra Copies Were Made Without Your Knowledge

Keys are cheap and easy to duplicate. A tenant, a housesitter, or a family member could have made a copy at any hardware store during their time in the property – sometimes with permission, sometimes not. If the person who moved out ever had unsupervised access to the key, you should assume a copy may exist. There’s no way to track this from the outside, which is exactly why rekeying is the correct response rather than a precaution you’re just considering.

A Landlord or Property Manager Didn’t Rekey Between Tenants

This one comes up often on investment properties and rentals. A previous owner or management company may have handed out keys across multiple tenancies without ever rekeying the locks between them. If you’ve recently purchased a home or moved into a rental, you genuinely don’t know how many people have a working key to your front door. The honest answer is: neither does the person who sold you the property.

Master Key Systems With Untracked Copies

In multi-unit buildings or commercial properties, master key systems can create blind spots. If a master key went missing or wasn’t collected during a staff or tenant change, it can open more than one unit. This is a more complex version of the same problem and may require a full audit of the key system in addition to rekeying. Your local Loxley Locksmith & Security team can walk through what a keying audit looks like for your specific setup.

What to Do Right Now

• Don’t change your routine while waiting for a locksmith – just be aware. Keep doors locked, use deadbolts if you have them, and don’t leave windows unlatched. You don’t need to panic, but you do need to treat this as an open access situation until the locks are addressed.
• Count every key you can put your hands on. Front door, back door, garage side door, any secondary entry. Write down what’s accounted for and note what’s missing. This helps the locksmith understand the full scope when they arrive.
• Note which locks need attention. Walk each entry point and check whether the lock is a deadbolt, a knob lock, or both. Take a quick photo of each lock face – it helps your technician arrive with the right parts, particularly if the hardware is an older or less common model.
• Don’t try to rekey or disassemble the locks yourself. Some locks look simple and aren’t. Rekeying requires a pinning kit matched to the lock’s brand and cylinder type. Done incorrectly, you can damage the cylinder or create a lock that appears to work but doesn’t engage the bolt properly. That’s a security problem worse than the one you started with.
• If this involves a commercial property or a multi-unit building, hold off on any decisions until you’ve spoken with a locksmith about the full key system. Rekeying one lock in an interconnected master key system without a plan can leave gaps. Your local Loxley team can do a keying audit before anything is touched.

How We Fix It

When your local Loxley Locksmith & Security technician arrives, the first thing they do is assess every entry point – not just the front door. They’ll identify lock brands and cylinder types, confirm which locks share a keyway, and map out what a proper rekeying covers.

Rekeying is the core fix. The technician removes the cylinder, replaces the internal driver pins and springs to match a new key cut, and reinstalls everything. For most residential doors, this takes fifteen to thirty minutes per lock. If any cylinder is worn or damaged, a full lock replacement may make more sense than a rekey – and if that comes up, you’ll hear about it before any work starts, with a written price in hand.

The service that resolves this is residential locksmith work, specifically rekeying – with lock replacement if the hardware warrants it. Every job is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the repair fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. You get the written guarantee and the written price before any work begins. That’s how every Loxley job works, without exception.

Frequently Asked Questions

Get It Fixed

An unaccounted-for key is a solvable problem – and usually a same-day one. Call (682) 281-8985 and a live person will answer and get your local Loxley Locksmith & Security team scheduled. Written price before any work starts. The 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job.

Written by Sam Rourke, Owner & Lead Locksmith, Loxley Locksmith & Security, serving homes and businesses since 2007 as part of the Kingswell family of locksmith companies.