Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Mgr demanding locks be re-keyed, and won't accept copy

The lease probably forbids tenants making modifications to the structure, or at least many leases contain such language. When you replaced the lock, you made a modification of a kind that (arguably at least) is not permitted, therefore you are stuck with the cost of un-doing what you did. The landlord is almost undoubtedly entitled to insist that all door locks be operable with his master key.

You probably could have avoided all this by insisting that the landlord make the initial lock repair rather than doing it yourself. Modifying a lock may seem like a minor tenant modification but such things can be a big deal to landlords and the courts are inclined to agree.

Re: Mgr demanding locks be re-keyed, and won't accept copy

While you shouldn't have changed the locks, it is something that the landlord should have done upon request, and would have had to pay for it at that time anyway.

The way I read your question, you attempted to have the lock smith match the tumblers to the one that was already there. That would indicate that you did not attempt to change the locks with the idea that the landlord would have been unable to enter into the property.

Since the landlord would have been responsible for the cost of changing or repairing the lock in the first place, it would seem logical that he should bear the burden of correcting the problem now.