Who has keys to your house?

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
We have always had a set of keys with a trusted neighbour. There have been times in emergency it means they can look in on our dog or usually just take our post in while we are away.
I have always thought it natural to have this arrangement in case we lock ourselves out.

Sometimes friends have asked us to take care of cats when they go away.
Confess - would you have a harmless little look around to see how they keep house? I did, I couldn't help it! I bet most of us are curious just to see how others live and whether they are tidy or messy in comparison. So I always have an extra tidy up if I know our friends will be popping in - no leaving washing up undone.
 

Only my daughter has keys.... but I have a key safe lock on my outside wall with keys in it..

I wouldn't have a look around my neighbours house if I was there to feed the animals.. might glance inside the livingroom if I was in the kitchen... but I wouldn't go into rooms where I shouldn't be...anyway in this day and age they may have hidden cameras which would capture you..
 
Last edited:
hollydolly said:
I wouldn't go into rooms where I shouldn't be...anyway in tis day and age they may have hidden cameras which would capture you..
Click to expand...
This was my first thought, too... there are cameras *all* over these days, and not just outside. Good thing, too, because the inside ones are hidden to watch the antics of pets when owners are gone (fun) but also to catch babysitters/nannies abusing children (not fun, but at least there's proof to take to authorities.) 📷

To answer the original question, no one has keys to the house except us and my daughter. 🔑
 

The care giver lady has a key I gave her. for emergencies,,,,,she
had to use it once, could not get ahold of me by phone, so came by and let herself in....I was fine, phone just stopped working.....
 
Keys to our house ? Nobody. Wife's adult kids know the numeric code to open the front or side door. For each of them it is their year of birth with 4 numerals. For Wife and I it is the same thing, our individual year of birth. Our entry doors do not have a key hole, just the digital numeric key pad. JimB.
 
Last edited:
My daughter.
I wouldn't give my keys to a neighbour. It's not through a lack of trust it's just that I'm not an 'ask for help' type person and giving my keys to a neighbour comes under that category.
 
My nephew has keys from over 20 years or more ago.....I won't get them back & never changed the locks. My son has keys; he is also 1/2 owner.

If emergency needs to get in they can kick in the door or go thru fire escape. It's easy, I've seen them do it for neighbors.
 
My neighbor/friend across the hall has my key in case I get locked out (which I have done twice!). Also the manager has a key to every apartment in the building which are kept in the office. There are times when the maintenance man has to use them to come into our apartments if we are not home.

I almost forgot, my boyfriend has a key to my apartment and the doors to the building as well.
 
I'm the only one that has my house key.
But I have a next door neighbor's key and alarm code.
Had it for the previous owner and the new owner asked that I continue to hold a key and code.
Have watched their dog numerous occasions and let workers in a couple of times.

Truly Weird Incident:
The previous owner's mom had lived in the house and when she passed, the house stood empty a couple of years. The owner lived out of state. Well, one 4th of July, the ADT alarm system detected smoke and called our local fire department. No one had been in the house for 2 months according to ADT alarm access records, including inside motion sensors.

While gathering her mom's stuff, the previous owner had left a pile of combustible material on top of the stove in the kitchen. And here is where it gets weird ... the stove had turned itself on ... all the element eyes were cherry red hot when I let the first responder into the home. Luckily the fire was contained to the kitchen but the whole house had some smoke damage.

SOooo since I had a key and alarm code, I was suspected as setting up a fire there in the kitchen. I was asked to write a deposition. I was most grateful for the ADT alarm system and their records proving no one had been in the house for two months.

While the stove wasn't old by any means, it had been in the house several years. As part of their investigation, the local fire department took pictures of the stove showing all element controls on the electric stove were in the OFF position. The stove just spontaneously turned itself on and ignited the pile of material left on top of it.

The insurance company sent out an engineer to inspect the stove ... I had to let him in the house. He found no evidence of tampering. He did cut the power cable on the stove so it couldn't be reused.

Just so truly weird and an example of how I almost got into serious trouble for having a key and alarm code to neighbors house. Thank goD for the alarm company's records.
 
hollydolly said:
Only my daughter has keys.... but I have a key safe lock on my outside wall with keys in it..

I wouldn't have a look around my neighbours house if I was there to feed the animals.. might glance inside the livingroom if I was in the kitchen... but I wouldn't go into rooms where I shouldn't be...anyway in this day and age they may have hidden cameras which would capture you..
Click to expand...
Me too, but what if we forget the combination??? :oops:
 
We have a keyless entry system so rather than keys we have a door code. All our kids have the code and that’s it. No neighbors or friends.
 
I don't lock my front door. I live in the sticks. And if you didn't know there was a development here, it's not obvious there is one here. The reason I don't lock my doors is in 2018, I passed out and was on the floor. I was taking a med, which caused internal bleeding. I called 911. They came right away, but they were looking around for a lockbox. I told the guy on the phone the door was open. I could hear him on the loudspeaker in the ambulance saying the door was open, but the team wasn't listening to him. They kept looking around for a lockbox. Finally somebody listened to the radio, and said, " Hey , the door's open". If I had a lockbox, they'd still probably be looking for it.
 
At my apartment, myself (I have two keys), and the office has master key to all 300 apartments in these buildings.

A second deadbolt lock inside, if locked and I'm incapacitated/can't get to the door, requires a call to the local Fire Dept. to bust open. 😮
(its happened around here in the past) ... steel doors
 
We reciprocate with friends who use the same alarm system.

We have a lock pad/keyed entry. If I had to let someone in, I could give them special codes for the door and alarm system.
 
Just family. When I first moved in and before they had been given keys I had to have a locksmith twice. Giving them the key was magic. I haven't locked myself out since.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top