I was living in a building that converted to "smart" locks (not Latch) in the middle of my lease. It was horrible. It mostly worked but, it added daily frustration and friction. There was almost no benefit for me and it all went to the landlord. There is a record of every time I entered my apt that I'm not in control of. It made it harder for delivery people because the complex already had an intercom system and now I had to give directions to two different systems to successfully deliver.
It was one of the main drivers for me to move out. I will never rent an apt with a system like that again. Now I know to ask if they have "smart" locks and will avoid them like the insecure plague they are.
They also had some wireless box that communicated with my apt lock that I had to put in my apt, connect it to my wifi, and use my power, all without any compensation.
my apartment building in Boston (part of AvalonBay Communities) installed Latch last year, and I can't agree more with this article. sure, one 7 digit code isn't difficult to memorize, and I obviously memorized the code for the door to my unit. but in my building alone, there's one door to the main lobby; a first-floor main entrance; another first-floor entryway that requires opening two distinct doors sequentially; and, in the adjacent building where the gym is, there are at least three doors to enter the building from outside, plus a second door to the gym itself; and EVERY DOOR HAS A DIFFERENT CODE. it's an absolutely terrible system
Even if you have no trouble remembering a seven digit code, there's nothing to stop a malicious actor who determines that code from entering your apartment. At least with physical keys you have absolute control over who has those keys, and don't have to worry about somebody spying on you as you're punching in the code.
The fact that it takes two seven-digit codes to enter your apartment (one for the lobby door, one for your apartment) only makes cracking the code more difficult; it doesn't change the basic problem that control over entering the building (and your apartment) is freely available to anyone who determines the code.
That’s stupid: these locks should support multiple codes so everybody just enters their house code to get in. And a way to issue a temp code for visitors that isn’t anyone’s apartment code.
I assume the users can’t self-assign the doorcodes.
Are you assuming that the exterior and intermediate doors have unique codes for each resident? That pretty much guarantees people will be carrying around the codes in their wallets for quite a while.
Either way anyone who visits once will have the front door and internal door codes and will be able to come and go as they please unless temporary visitor codes can be issued.
If every door has NFC why don't they just make physical cards like employee access cards or hotel key cards? They can still be logged, revoked, etc, the only "feature" lost is the Face ID/mobile phone passcode.
1) Hire locksmith.
2) Have them replace app-supported lock with regular metal key one.
3) Profit (in time & annoyance saved).
4) While you're living there, if landlord threathens legal proceedings: hire lawyer & "see you in court".
5) When you leave: hire locksmith to revert lock to app-supported one. If landlord requests so.
Sure there's ownership. But for all intents & purposes, while paying rent you are owner of said apartment, right? If doorlock isn't working, fix it.
> But for all intents & purposes, while paying rent you are owner of said apartment, right?
Wrong. You don't own that place, the owner owns it. And they have the right of entry in emergency situations, or typically with 48 hours notice. They will bill/sue/evict you for tampering with the entry locks, for sure.
in some countries you absolutely have the right to replace the lock at will. at worst you may have to reinstall the original lock when you move out.
the landlord has no right to enter your home without you being present, no matter what. if there is an emergency like a fire or a broken pipe then they may have to break the door if you can't get there fast enough, but that then should be the least of your worries.
I don't know about you, but my landlord keeps a cabinet of keys for every unit on the property. When they come to make even a routine maintenance call, they have already obtained my permission to enter, and if I don't answer the door, then they key right in.
Check your lease; YMMV; most people aren't actually allowed to tamper with their door locks. Shocker, I know, right? When the Constable comes to evict you, your landlord/owner's going to have the keys to let him in.
> They will bill/sue/evict you for tampering with the entry locks, for sure.
I'd have a hard time believing anything comes of it if they try.
Let's say:
* You contacted the landlord and let them know the lock was not functional and you'd been unable to access your unit on several occasions. You'd had to sleep at friends' houses several times due to being unable to access your unit. You give them a reasonable timeframe within which to respond appropriately given the severity of the situation (i.e., replace the lock the next day not just send you the phone number for Latch tech support).
* The landlord did not appropriately resolve the situation.
* You replaced the lock with a simple keyed lock without damaging the old lock. You then immediately notified the landlord and provided them a copy of the key. (They also have a legal right to access the unit.)
Where I am, you have committed an act that is explicitly contrary to statutes governing residential tenancies. However, you did so in response to what was effectively an illegal lockout. (It doesn't matter if their intent was to improve the unit--they effectively restricted you from accessing it when you have a legal right to do so.)
They can:
1. Bill you: They can send you some paper. The question is how they enforce collecting the money. It's possible, though unlikely, they _may_ be able to obtain an order for "damages". In this case that would amount to about 15 minutes of a their maintenance staff's time to put the lock back. Using the typical rates I've seen the boards here use for that kind of unspecialized work, you'd be out about $5-8.
2. Sue you: For what? What outcome are they trying to have the court enforce? The court isn't going to order the lock put back and effectively enforce an illegal lockout.
3. Evict you: They already tried to do that via an illegal lockout. I cannot see any board here ordering an eviction in response to changing locks in a way that the landlord's access was never restricted--it's completely disproportionate. They're also generally not going to order an eviction over something that could be easily rectified without an eviction (put the old lock back on, matter's settled, everyone go home).
The "courts" are people, not computers blindly applying a set of instructions. If their options here are (1) to enforce putting the lock back and lock you out of your unit; (2) to evict you because your smartphone isn't compatible with the lock the landlord wants to use; or (3) tell the landlord to kick rocks and fix their damn locks, I'd put my money on #3.
(I'm an involuntary landlord in Canada. I've had to argue in front of a tenancy board--the "court" with original jurisdiction over disputes under the tenancy act--a time or two or thirty. In preparation for that, I've probably read more previous decisions than some of the people _making_ those decisions. IANAL YMMV offer not valid in conjunction with any other offers or promotions HTH HAND.)
I mean yeah, the scenario you present is remarkably more cooperative and considerate than the original proposition which I replied to, and I don't see a reasonable landlord rejecting the plan out-of-hand.
Of course, most landlords insist on consistency in maintenance, for example that all the ovens installed are the same make and model, so that they can be repaired or replaced when the time comes. A resident who installs their own equipment of whatever vintage is going to cause trouble for that maintenance flow, so it would seem to be in everyone's best interest to go through proper channels, and allow the landlord to select and install door locks consistent with what their maintenance team can handle, whatever that may be.
> But for all intents & purposes, while paying rent you are owner of said apartment, right?
No, at least not in my US state. I cannot, for example, paint my apartment, install new carpeting, change the locks, or any other modifications to the premises without my landlord's permission. Doing so would violate my lease and I could technically be evicted for it.
You do have some specific rights as a renter, but they aren't even close to the rights you'd have if you owned the place.
Do you even need a locksmith? I was always under impression that all you needed to replace a lock in a door was a screwdriver and a new lock from Home Depot.
The purpose of smart locks such as these is never convenience. It's not even to make money.
The purpose is to deprive you of the resource they control should you say something they disagree with.
In fact, this applies to all smart devices, and IoT gadgets - to spy on you, and to control you if you step out of line.
"Oh I'm sorry your dishwasher won't start, should have thought of how much you valued having clean dishes before you started speaking out against the regime"
Obviously, that doesn't happen right now. But if the infrastructure is in place, all it'd take is a software patch and suddenly we get a dystopia that nobody could see coming and everyone reached for with arms outstretched.
This is just nuts, what happens if your phone is out of battery? You're supposed to stay out for minutes or hours at potentially past midnight before you can go into your own home?
iPhones have had Power Reserve for a few years now. For up to around 5 hours after your phone turns off due to low battery you can still use things like Find My or Express Card transactions (payment, transit, car home hotel keys, student ids). Unfortunately, Latch doesn't support this. Oh, and Latch automatically locks the door behind you. Don't forget your phone when you take out the trash, get the mail, or pick up dry laundry.
Unless there are power outlets in your apartment complex and there's right power adapter available how are you even supposed to charge your phone in this situation?
We need to go to a place where it's possible to charge and while the device charges we can quitely contemplate on all the life choices that led to this situation.
Sounds like Latch is just garbage. Our August locks consist of me talking to the watch (or phone, if that's your thing): "hey dingus, unlock the front door". I can do that after a run when I'm still 50 feet away, or whenever is convenient for me to do so. Of course, leaving the house is just the opposite, me shouting at HomePod on the way out the door: "hey dingus, lock the front door". And before I'm out the front gate, I hear the chime confirming that the door locked.
Latch sounds like they just turned your phone into a really shitty physical key without the convenience of an actual twist-it-in-the-hole key physical key.
ALL BLE phone app access control thingies are garbage. It doesn't matter whether it's Latch, OpenPath, whoever.
These kinds of things want BLE to scan all the time. Your phone OS wants BLE to scan never. The app will always lose this battle.
All of these services work with an RFID fob or keycard. I suspect it will take a couple of "equal opportunity" lawsuits to force landlords to cough them up.
A few nights ago, I spent 30 minutes standing outside of a rental because the August app wouldn’t connect to my AirBnB account. Eventually the host woke up and sent a backup code for the keypad (with the help of phone support—do they have a pager system?).
(If anyone from August is reading please help, it’s error log ID e720cfee2a9e90e5)
I just rented an Airbnb that used "Nuki" door looks and they were absolute garbage as well.
I never appreciated what an excellent solution a physical lock and key is until I experienced:
- The paranoia when my phone was low on battery that I'm not going to be able to get back into the house.
- The refusal of the stupid app to connect to the lock, requiring 5 attempts, turning things off and on again. Whilst standing in the street with all my stuff. Several times. Which causes...
- Paranoia that the thing is just not going to work.
A smart lock needs to match the reliability and convenience of the thing it replaces. The reliability of a physical lock and key is so high that I'd describe it with a 1 rather than 9's.
I bailed on my Level lock after the second occasion where it was chewing through batteries at a fantastic rate on my new home and I got locked out due to battery failure - with no notification on the app. (I ended up installing a Knox Box type device the second time).
I ended up going with the Schlage Encode Plus. Works as a dumb NFC, accepts keycards, full HomeKit, Apple Watch, etc., physical key, and keypad.
I rented an apt that was integrated with latch and it was crazy frustrating. The app only worked half the time, the door pad was in a circle and recognized numbers wrong half the time as they were not physical buttons, and which made it difficult to get in the building even at times if you were carrying anything. Half the time people left doors propped open cause it only was like a 5 second unlock.
We begged for a key card which they finally relented to giving us after 3 months which was a bit more tolerable but still annoying to not just have a key. Technology has improved to a degree but it’s definitely not fully baked
Those smart locks are a clear and obvious Bad Thing for renters all around. I would absolutely not rent any place that uses them, if for no other reason than that they are a strong indication of the attitude of the landlord toward their tenants.
When I was apartment hunting, I asked about this at a place that had smart locks, and they said I just had to fill out a "Reasonable Modification" form (or something to that effect) and they'd install a traditional lock.
I thought this would be about "valet" garbage, or maybe that startup that replaced your onsite package room with a warehouse you had to schedule delivery of your own mail from through an app.
> ..I’d have to memorize two separate codes — one for the main entrance and another for my apartment door — which seems unlikely since I lost the ability to memorize any seven-digit numbers when I bought my first cell phone 23 years ago.
Including the fact that the smartlock _also_ has a keypad, and that the code is just 7 digits the author claims not to be able to memorize seems like a really easy way to undermine an otherwise solid story about dystopian crapware apps locking tenants out of their rented property.
Yeah, I would have memorized the two 7-digit codes. And being able to re-key locks without having to physically send someone to the property seems like a legitimate innovation. I'm personally a little more weirded out by the pictures and activity being sent to the landlord and who knows where else.
It was one of the main drivers for me to move out. I will never rent an apt with a system like that again. Now I know to ask if they have "smart" locks and will avoid them like the insecure plague they are.
They also had some wireless box that communicated with my apt lock that I had to put in my apt, connect it to my wifi, and use my power, all without any compensation.