Why it earns its place
At the end of a tenancy the question is whether every set came back, and the honest answer for most landlords is that they are not sure how many there were. That uncertainty is the reason locks get changed unnecessarily, or not changed when they should be.
What is recorded
- How many sets exist for the property
- Who has each one: tenant, contractor, agent, you
- When it was issued and when it came back
At check-out
A key that is unaccounted for is a documented fact rather than a suspicion, which is the difference between a defensible deduction and an argument you lose.