Condominium super says I have to give him a key

I gave my super a key. It just wasn't the key for the lock on the door. He never checked that it worked and he stopped hassling me.

NYS multiple dwelling law

Nice, jelj13

Jelj, well-played!

If there was a flood in the apartment above you how would you feel if the super was unable to enter to prevent damage to your apartment. Give him the key.

In the event something went wrong in your apartment (water leak, gas leak, etc), and the building was unable to easily get in to stop or fix it, your insurance company may not cover damages to the building or other units since you were not in compliance with either the building rules or local law. Or, if you had an accident (heart attack, 'fell down and couldn't get up', etc.) and the neighbors heard you calling for help, would you really want an additional delay while the super hunted around for his crowbar and tools to jimmy the door, or would you want him to have easy access?

There's an emergency number list at the front desk for all apartments. I listed a retired person who lives across the street who has the keys. They would call her if they can't get in.

I also didn't want the super to have the key because there had been a wave of robberies in the building although there was a doorman. Someone came home early on a weekday and found one of the building staff in the bedroom looking through dresser drawers. He claimed he was in the apartment trying to find the source of a leak and wanted to check there was no water in the dresser.

Jelj13, even your retired person might not be around when needed. This is one of the very few times I've agreed with RS. I think the type of incident you're discussing would be rare in a condo/coop situation. Are you in a rental? A sketchy one?

Flutstic, if the key didn't work I think you might have some serious liability if something went wrong.

Interesting discussion here. It would be a big evidence problem, about ready, people mix up keys all the time.

I'm starting to reconsider my position. I can give a key to the managing company's office and not to the super (he doesn't live here). Also they have these key safes, to get the key you stomp on the box with your foot, but the point is you can tell if someone used the key or not (say if there's a robbery, then we know the managing company key wasn't used).

Yes the building needs to put in place systems to safeguard the key. Leaving it an exposed draw in the super's office could be an exposure issue for the building as well. They should invest in a secure system to store the keys and record when they are removed and put back

Yes the building needs to put in place systems to safeguard the key. Leaving it an exposed draw in the super's office could be an exposure issue for the building as well. They should invest in a secure system to store the keys and record when they are removed and put back

Building Link provides a key storage system that they may install in my building. The Building Link software has to be used to open the "safe" for the keys. Only the key requested can be removed from the "safe". Everything is logged into the system: date, time, etc. When the key is returned, a similar system has to be activated. Only the slot where the key belongs can be accessed.

"Also they have these key safes, to get the key you stomp on the box with your foot, but the point is you can tell if someone used the key or not (say if there's a robbery, then we know the managing company key wasn't used). "

I'll bet the NSA could break into the unit below the management company, cut through the ceiling, and cut into the floor of such a box and remove the key without appearing to have destroyed the box. I don't think you're being sufficiently paranoid about this possibility.

>Al Assad - actually, the key safe is a pretty good idea. I'm using it, and I put it in place in my mother's coop. When there are so many other "unprotected" keys, anyone really looking to break in will look for the easiest mark. No one would really bother to cut into the box. I think you're more than a little paranoid.

Actually, one time, when my mother was out of town, I went to check on the apartment, and found the keysafe on the sofa, showing me they had had to come in to check a possible leak. The super did have control of all the keys in the building, and did verify that they had had to break open the key safe.

For the record I changed my mind--no key to the super or management unless they threaten me with something I cannot abide. Curiously, the super also told me I have the right to add another lock of my own and not give them that key. That policy gives me I think a good defense. Also interesting, the locksmith told me the type of cylinders we have allow people to "change the key" all they want, "change the lock" as many times as they want, and yet the master key still opens the door. The old "they had to come in to check for a possible water leak" is amusing. That is not an emergency. An emergency is an immediate (therefore known) threat to property or human health and safety. These supers just seem to love to come into people's apartments without their permission.

Oh those supers.

"The old "they had to come in to check for a possible water leak" is amusing. That is not an emergency."

Said the person who apparently never lived in an apartment UNDER a water leak.