Your exterior door locks are there to help prevent unauthorized people from entering your home. It’s one of the most important security features in your home since more than half of burglars enter homes through the front and back doors. In order to maintain their effectiveness, there are several situations in which you should change your locks. Changing locks is fast, inexpensive, and doing so can help maintain optimum security at your home.

Change Your Locks if Your Keys Get Lost

Lost or stolen keys are a pain. They can also expose you to burglary risk if the keys can be traced back to your home. If your keychain has any identifying information, like your name, address, or phone number, then you should change your locks as soon as you realize the keys are gone. Even your car key can help a thief find your house if your keys were lost close to home. They can use the electronic fob to find your vehicle. Once they see your vehicle in the driveway, they already have keys to enter your home.

Change Your Locks When Relationships Change

When roommates or significant others move out, or you end a relationship with a babysitter, dog-walker, or housekeeper, change your locks. It doesn’t matter that you ended things pleasantly. This is about key control. As people come and go, you start to lose track of where all the keys to your home are, and that’s a bad idea. Even if each person returned their key to you, you have no way of ensuring no copies were made before the key was returned.

Change Your Locks When You Move

This is critical. In the years before you moved in, hundreds of people could have been given keys to the home that is now yours. There is simply no way to know who has access to your new home or apartment unless you start fresh with new locks.

Change Your Locks After a Renovation

Major house renovations result in a lot of traffic through your home. Sometimes we give keys to our contractors, so they can open and lock our homes to work when we are not there. Even if the key is returned, copies may have been made. Therefore, if you give keys to any people working in your home, you should change your locks. It is a small price to pay for security.

Change Your Locks After a Burglary

Some people think that once they have had a burglary, they don’t have to worry anymore. After all, what are the odds it will happen again? Actually, it happens more than you’d think! Why? Maybe the thief couldn’t take everything he wanted the first time. Maybe he realizes you will immediately replace that HD big-screen TV and he wants that one, too. Remember, he already knows how to get in, and where things are. So, change your locks immediately after a burglary.

It’s important to protect yourself, your family, and your possessions. Find a locksmith in your area and have him check out your windows, doors, and locks.