I bought a business in a mixed use building (residential condos upstairs and two businesses downstairs. The person I bought the business from had a nasty divorce. the business went under. and he had to break his lease. I rented the space as a tenant at will. Many employees as well as the two former owners had keys to the front and back door locks of the space. As I had paid for all of the equipment and furnishings from the new owner, I asked the landlord to please change the locks and/or rekey the existing ones. After many calls, he told me to call his locksmith and have them bill him. The locks could not be re-keyed and so they replaced them. I gave the landlord his keys and that was the end of it. After one year, I decided to close my business. I am now receiving bills from the locksmith for the new locks and they are threatening to sue me. Is it the landlord's responsibility to change the locks before a new tenant?
Submitted by jk1720 on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 21:00
Changing locks
I know of no Massachusetts law that requires a landlord to change locks at the beginning of a tenancy. If I were a landlord (residential or commercial) I would change the locks to avoid any potential liability. In a residential setting, if the landlord wants to prohibit the tenant from changing locks, or require the tenant to provide a key for any new locks installed, that requirement should be included in the lease or tenancy at will agreement.
In your specific situation, you may try paying the bill and then suing the landlord in small claims court to recover the cost of the locks. If I understand your question correctly, you relied on the landlord's promise to reimburse you for the cost of the new locks in making your decision to install them. Good luck.