Replacing a front door to a building in rough neighborhood

[Lisa Jones]

Hi All-

I hired a new PM to manage my quad in an “up and coming” neighborhood. They took over in February and part of the punch list was to replace the front door to the building as the lock has been broken and it’s unsecured. Initially, they had all these great ideas such as installing an electric key pad, getting a commercial door, etc., and since then gave me the impression things were on track. I found out today the door has never been replaced and they ( she and her head contractor) are struggling with the following:

1- they fear the electric key pad will just get destroyed by the neighborhood locals ( non residents) and sooner or later they will break it to gain entry again 

2- When I asked them why they can’t use an old fashioned lock and just give each resident a key they said “But if we do that how can the mailman get access to deliver the mail?” I’m pretty sure mailmen across the country somehow deliver mail everyday to buildings that lock the front door and there has to be a simple way get over this hurdle. Yet they act like this is insurmountable and somehow justifies the their lack of progress in getting the door replaced. 

Is this an issue for those of you who have small buildings? How have you locked the front door while providing access to deliver mail? Is this just an excuse they are giving me to justify their lack of action?

I am at a loss and welcome any insight.

Thanks!

[Maria S.]

I used Codelocks CL5510 from GoKeyLess, about 400. It allows both card access and code access. The tenants get 1 card per person on lease. I provided a code to the dispatch so that police | fire |ems can enter. I bought a Salsbury front-loading mailbox and put that outside. That seemed to solve the issue. The locks have held up well. You can also have a Wifi Gateway for about 150 that allows you to remotely lock/unlock the door.