Keys, Locks and Handover

A room is not handed over when the rent hits the bank. It is handed over when the last occupant’s keys are back, the lock still works, and the next person can open the door without a story. ManjeProp treats keys as counted objects. They are not a vibe.

This is for tenants leaving a Durban student house and for staff who think a WhatsApp “I’ll leave it under the mat” is a process.

Count before anyone moves

On the incoming day, write down what left the office: room key, passage or front-door key, gate remote or tag, any cupboard key that actually exists. The tenant signs or acknowledges that list with the incoming inspection. If a remote is already dead, say so that day. A dead remote discovered in July is a July fault, not a 2024 mystery.

Do not photograph keys next to a name and a street number. Do not post the bunch on a story as “move-in day.”

What tenants do when something fails

A lock that will not turn, a gate that will not take the remote, a barrel that spins, a door that only closes if you lift it — those are Access / gate / keys on Report a fault. Say whether you are locked out right now. That sentence changes the priority.

Check the obvious only if it is safe: is something physically blocking the gate; does a remote still have a battery you can swap without opening the motor. Do not dismantle the lock. Do not spray oil into a cylinder “to see.” Do not borrow a neighbour’s angle grinder.

If you are locked out at night, mark Emergency or phone +27 60 313 6961. If there is a break-in or you do not feel safe, phone SAPS on 10111 first.

Lost keys are a different ticket

A lost key is not a broken lock until you have decided what to do about the cylinder. Say how many keys are missing, which doors they opened, and whether a copy could still be in a housemate’s bag. Staff will decide whether to recut or to change the barrel. You do not get to decide that a housemate “seems honest.”

Never hide a spare above the door frame after a loss. Never send a photo of the remaining key “so we can copy it from the picture.” That picture travels.

Handover on the way out

Book the outgoing inspection. Bring every item on the incoming list. Remotes with dead batteries still count as remotes. A key left with a friend who “will drop it next week” is an open handover.

Staff test the lock in front of you if they can. A lock that only works with your personal jiggle is a lock that needs work before the next advert. That work is a repair, logged with evidence, not a note that the next student will “get used to it.”

If you changed a lock during the tenancy without written agreement, say so early. Unofficial cylinders are how people get locked out of their own house and how deposits turn into arguments.

Staff habits that keep houses open

Number the sets. Keep a register that says how many of each exist, not who the tenant’s cousin is. When a tenant leaves, decide in the same hour: recut, replace, or reuse. If you replace, log the locksmith on the repair and update the count.

Do not confirm a new booking until you hold the previous keys or have booked the lock change. A listing that says available while the only remote is in Empangeni is a lie.

When a contractor needs access, do not leave a labelled bunch in a plant pot. Meet them, or use a lockbox whose code you change after the visit. Put the instruction in a message that expires, not in a ticket that will be exported.

What this is not

This is not permission to pick a lock, drill a barrel, or “bypass” a gate motor. Those are contractor jobs. Knowledge-base tips never tell a tenant to open a live board because the gate tripped.

A booking confirmation is not a handover. A paid invoice is not a handover. Keys in a staff hand, lock tested, inspection photos filed — that is a handover.

Leaving a Durban house cleanly means the next person does not inherit your barrel and your missing remote. If the lock is already failing, send the fault before you pack the last bag.

Report access problems on the fault form. For a viewing or a new room, use properties or call +27 60 313 6961.