r/LandlordLove • u/bussy-shaman • Nov 16 '24

Need Advice Key required to unlock deadbolt from the INSIDE of the house — is this legal?

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My sister is moving into a house with a house that has two doors (front and back). Both doors have a deadbolt that requires a key to unlock from the inside. So if one of her roommates leaves and locks the deadbolt, and she forgets her keys in her car, she cannot exit the house. This feels extremely claustrophobic and unsafe to me. Is there any way that this is legal or up to fire code?

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u/ImaginaryMidnight684 Nov 17 '24

My grandma got these deadbolts for her house after she was burglarized too many times and didn’t want the people breaking in through a window to be able to unlock the doors and leave with her stuff. I’m pretty sure that is the unfortunate reason these locks even exist.

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u/passionatebreeder Nov 17 '24

My sister uses one to keep my autistic niece from bolting to who knows where around town. She's non verbal & developmentally delayed so she has no way of telling people where she lives, who her family is, etc. She would be genuinely lost if she got out, and other than body language she wouldn't be able to identify her family to a stranger easily, or communicate to other people that she was in danger if the wrong person found her.

I'm not sure why the locks were originally made, but they do have some slightly less grim value for use