Landlord replaces all physical keys with a 'smart app,' charges tenants a monthly $15 tech fee to cover the cost: 'It is literally a subscription service just to enter my own home'

Sometimes 'smart tech' is actually pretty dumb.

We're so busy asking ourselves whether or not we 'can' do something that we lose sight of whether or not we should. This is a phrase that you've heard before, but it bears repeating, especially in situations like this. Sometimes technology makes things more difficult than they actually used to be (and should be) easier when they're analog. Think about the house key. How many times has the house key let you down? Probably not very often. You keep it on your keychain, and you use it to enter your domicile. Simple stuff. Maybe you lose it sometimes or leave it in your house by accident, but you can usually find your way around this. It's not a technology that necessarily needs improving upon. That is, unless you're a tech inventor with a lot of time on your hands, trying to figure out how to squeeze more money out of an idea. Then you might think of replacing the key with an app. But the thing is, apps are pretty much only accessible from our phones, which are just as easy to lose or leave inside as a house key, and are far more likely to glitch. Plus, they cost a lot more money to install and maintain. So who wins? The landlord who charges you extra money for the privilege of losing your keys. It's not a good system, and it needs to be called out. That's what one tenant did when their landlord sent them a message they wished they could have avoided.

Dealing with landlords is tough on a good day. You're lucky if you don't hear from them for a while. But when you do hear from them, it's rarely with good news. It's rare that they come knocking on your door to tell you they're lowering your rent. No. They usually come to knock with some idiotic new fee or another way they're going to continue to squeeze you dry. That's what happened here to one unlucky tenant. Keep scrolling to read what commenters had to say about this mildly infuriating landlord problem.

01

via Unsplash+ (Behnam Norouzi)

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
02
My landlord just text us that they are replacing all deadbolts with a mandatory "Smart App" starting Monday. No other option and they are actually charging us a monthly tech fee for it!

via SaffronGizmo
03

via SaffronGizmo
04

via SaffronGizmo
05

via SaffronGizmo
06

via SaffronGizmo
07
Commenters gave their take and opinions.

via Familiar_Fox_2113
08

via PhantomMiG
09

via PhantomMiG
10

via Christian Erfurt

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
11

via Sparky_Zell
12

via dustyfaxman
13

via dustyfaxman
14

via dustyfaxman
15

via dustyfaxman
16

via dustyfaxman
17

via darkearwig
18

via TheMidlander
19

via Unsplash+ (Point Normal)

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
20

via binsandbuckets
21

via binsandbuckets
22

via binsandbuckets
23

via binsandbuckets
24

via binsandbuckets
25

via binsandbuckets
26

via binsandbuckets
27

via binsandbuckets
28

via binsandbuckets
29

via binsandbuckets