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'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Apr 24, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

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. 

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    A person holds a cell phone to their door to open a virtual key
    via Unsplash+ (Behnam Norouzi)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    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!

    I have lived in this building for three years and it has always been pretty chill until the new owner took over and started looking for ways to squeeze another "revenue stream" from us. We always had perfectly normal deadbolts that worked
    via SaffronGizmo
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    fine. This morning we all got an automated email saying that starting Monday all physical keys will be deactivated and we must download an app to access our units. If that wasnt enough the email also mentions that there will be a mandatory fifteen dollar technology convenience fee added to our rent portals to cover the software licensing and maintenance of the digital access system. It is literally a subscription service just to enter my own home.
    via SaffronGizmo
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    I tried talking to the building manager about it and she just gave me some rehearsed line about how it increases property security and that the lease allows for upgrades at their discretion. It is such a blatant money grab because he probably gets a kickback from the tech company and then makes us pay for the
    via SaffronGizmo
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    privilege of being tracked every time we lock our doors. I already looked at the app and the privacy policy is a nightmare. This whole situation is making me feel unsafe and targeted in my own home. I am already struggling with the yearly rent hikes and now I have to pay another fifteen bucks just to get past my own
    via SaffronGizmo
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    front door. If I dont pay the fee or if my phone dies I am basically locked out. These people are actual leeches and I am so tired of them trying to monetize every corner of our lives.
    via SaffronGizmo
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    Commenters gave their take and opinions.

    Familiar_Fox_2113 They usually arent allowed. to add fees until you sign your next lease. You can also say you dont have a smartphone, and call them every time you need to get inside
    via Familiar_Fox_2113
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    PhantomMiG Unfornately this seems to me like you will need to check the contract and your local laws they will specify any process. Some things that this could come up against is things like right to private enjoyment, adding
    via PhantomMiG
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    fees mid contract or building safety regulations (what happens when the app is down for example). The issue will be that you are unlikely to do more then delay unless you get more people to make it a hassle to implement. But best thing to do is contact a local tenant rights group to get the specifics above.
    via PhantomMiG
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    A frustrated tenant sits in his apartment full of boxes
    via Christian Erfurt

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Sparky_Zell Unplug your wifi at night. Go out. Call him at all hours of the night because the lock won't work again. I'm sure he'll switch back to deadbolts really quickly.
    via Sparky_Zell
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    dustyfaxman "physical keys will be deactivated" :D Landlord logic. Depending on where you live (sounds like the us, but i could be wrong), look at your local laws regarding your right as a tenant to change the locks on the
    via dustyfaxman
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    property. If you live somewhere (such as the uk) that allows you to change the lock, as long as you keep the original and replace your lock with that when you leave, then do that. Your landlord won't like it, but there won't be anything they can legally do to prevent it from being done.
    via dustyfaxman
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    If you don't live somewhere with that type of protection, then it might just be a matter of weaponising incompetence and simply being unable to use the complicated, fandangled, space age 'smart lock' properly and call out maintenance as often as you
    via dustyfaxman
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    need before the 'smart lock' is seen as too costly or bothersome to keep going. If you know your neighbours well enough, and none of them are bootlickers and will tell the landlord what's happening, you can ask them to do the same thing.
    via dustyfaxman
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    You might want to invest in a bolt or security chain to fix to the internal side of the door to make sure no one can just 'turn up for an inspection' when you're in the property. It might give you a little peace of mind.
    via dustyfaxman
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    darkearwig Sounds like they're trying to make it where you are locked out of your unit if you don't pay rent since the technology fee is a part of it. This is scummy as h I and possibly illegal
    via darkearwig
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    TheMidlander How the f is this supposed to work when the power goes out?
    via TheMidlander
  • 19
    A door handle with a virtual lock
    via Unsplash+ (Point Normal)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 20
    binsandbuckets Is it called Smartrent? oof.. when I worked for a apartment community upper management forced this on everyone. I tried my hardest to opt out for my rent conceded apartment but management insisted I had to have it too. It included a cellular hub installed in each
    via binsandbuckets
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    apartment, a smart thermostat & a digital keypad access for the front door. The cellular hub frequently disconnected from the network which created alot of service calls to unplug the modem and plug it back in. thermostats would lock up and need to
    via binsandbuckets
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    be reset & door locks were super sensitive to the seasonal expansion and contraction of the door frames and we'd have to tweak the locks every now and then. Management would get reports via the software
    via binsandbuckets
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    once it hit a certain temperature threshold from time to time that a apartment is either super hot or super cold and if they didnt receive a answer from the Tennant a automatic service call would be generated and maintenance
    via binsandbuckets
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    would be sent to enter and check the apartment and it was always a defective thermostat reporting a temperature through the software but the temperature at the thermostat was not what it sent.
    via binsandbuckets
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    When the cellular hubs would randomly disconnect from the network the app on the phone wouldn't function so the Tennant would have to type their code in the keypad to enter the apartment rather than unlock it from their phone. they would create a service call because the app won't work and we would have to reset the cellular hub.
    via binsandbuckets
  • 26
    the security of the tried and true physical key you have was a unspoken uncommon issue that would come up from time to time where another Tennant would by chance not paying attention enter the wrong building and just so happen to put their key in the your door and the combination of their key cut & the master key tumblers &
    via binsandbuckets
  • 27
    your keys tumblers would grant the wrong person access to your apartment. didnt happen alot but it did happen about once a year. It was about a year after they forced this on everyone that i quit the company and moved on. from what I heard they now force you into using their internet provider now as well as a mandatory
    via binsandbuckets
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    add on fee to your rent. basically you pay for internet wether or not you want it or not & you dont have the option to decline the additional fee... they get a kickback from the cable company to force the fee on you. upper managements. personal benefit was that the cable company offered
    via binsandbuckets
  • 29
    free tv services to management at their personal homes & on call service techs got free cable tv too.
    via binsandbuckets

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keys landlord doorknob technology tenant bad landlord tech fail entitled people
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