Stop Worrying About Lost Coin-op Keys

Coin boxes of coin-operated laundry machines are not easy to pick, so losing the keys to them can be a headache. As lost keys are a common problem, we at Green Ocean Property Management have an easy fix using a special drill.

So the majority, if not all, of our investment properties have coin-op laundry. What that means is that you have a tenant who pays quarters to go to do laundry because if you allow free laundry into your building, tenants are going to be constantly doing it, using up your water, using up your electricity, and this is money out of your pocket.

So we install these coin-op machines. Unfortunately, these coin-op machines, just like any other type of lock mechanism, have a key. These keys can get lost. Now, we typically will collect all the coins for our landlords, but some of our landlords like to do it themselves. So, unfortunately, last week we had a call when a landlord lost their key. Now, these lockboxes as you can see, are built not to be broken into, otherwise, residents would be able to break into them easily, right? You can’t just pick this, it’s actually super tough. It’s actually a little blocked area and a lock that changes inside of it – very difficult.

However, with that being said, we found a special way. This is a special drill that we purchased just for situations such as this. It still takes about thirty-five to forty minutes to be able to drill it out with a special drill, special drill bit, and allows us to be able to access this box so we can remove this.

This box is actually an extra one that we purchased just in those situations because, at the end of the day, if this box becomes full your residents aren’t going to be able to actually do laundry, they’re going to be aggravated, you’re losing money, nobody’s happy. So we’re going to get over there, we could just throw that box out and be available to help swap that box out for a new one, and we will give that landlord a new key in advance.

Our commitment

If you or anyone else you know is looking for a proactive property manager that helps solve problems like lost keys for your coin laundry, please think of Green Ocean Property Management: where you get more than a property manager, you get peace of mind.