Hi all,
My wife and I have purchased our first PPOR and are due to settle on 26th March.
We had made an agreement with the vendor to rent out the property for $200 so we can access a week early to do some paintwork prior to settlement.
Went to the property today (24th) and found I could not gain entry as the deadlock on the main door has failed. Id say something has given way in the cylinder when I locked it yesterday.
I am also unable to access via the back sliding glass door either (key missing, but am getting locks changed after settlement).The agency was closed so was unable to advise due to easter monday.
Is it the selling agencies responsibility to resolve this issue prior to settlement?
I plan on hitting them up first thing tomorrow morning (25th). I dont want to have issues gaining access to the property on settlement day due to removalists being booked in and all.Thanks
Hello Hilly,
This is a bit tricky without all of the facts. Keys can be frustrating things at times. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was just honest and we could do without locks.
You said that you may have damaged the lock when you were there yesterday, so you have had access prior to settlement. It is up to the vendors to hand keys over on settlement either via selling agent or solicitor. If you have written permission to early access and have paid the rent, you would have been entitled to all of the keys for that period. I understand it would be frustrating if you had the time allocated to get in and paint etc but if you go at the agent too hard they might get the vendor to void your access entitlement until they have a written settlement statement from the solicitors. It depends on how watertight the paperwork for your rent for a week period is.
It might be best to see if the agent is holding any more keys(maybe rentals dept if leased through same agency) or if the vendor/solicitor/ rental agent has any more sets. The other thing is to just get written permission via your solicitors to get the locksmith in tomorrow, if you plan to change them anyway. BTW you can get locks now where you have one master key for all properties, which would be handy, especially if building your portfolio.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
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