Keeping Track Of Postbox keys - Lists, photos, numbers, fobs

Photo And Number Records

When you get the postbox keys obtain a duplicate. Note the number of the key. Take photos of both sides.

Fobs
If you have lots of keys, you want to be able to identify a lost key from your jumble of sets. Add key fobs. You can buy sets of fobs cheaply from supermarkets and online and from shoe repair shops.

Draw Silhouettes
Note the size and shape of the key. You could draw around it.

USA

Some boxes are owned by the postal service. Others in condos are known as cluster boxes and the building owner or management delivers a key or keys to the resident (s).

UK

In the UK we had a mailbox in a block of flats. We lost the key. 

We phoned a local key cutting company. They asked if we knew the number of the key. We didn't.

They said that the number of the box should be inside the box. I can't remember whether I was able to lift the slit cover and shine a light inside from a torch. Or whether the door was open and could not be shut so that we could see the number inside. The number might be on a sticker. Or it could be engraved into the metal of the box. We ordered new keys which arrived very fast (with options for even fast delivery). 

After ordering the new keys, we found the old ones. The old ones were easily identified by comparing them with the new ones.

Then memorize the shapes of keys. For example, we have keys which are straight on one side and serrated down the other side. Other keys are serrated on both sides.

Postbox

On the postbox, paste the phone number or website of the fitter, or the nearest locksmith.

Useful Websites

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-a-Cluster-Box

Window catches

Replacing window catches and locks
You may wish to replace window catches and locks because they are discoloured or no longer lock. You need lovable windows for insurance purposes.

Many windows can be opened enough to provide ventilation but not access - providing the key is removed but cannot be seen and reached from outside. I like all keys kept near the window for a quick exit in an emergency. I feel this should be mandatory. It also helps stop them getting mislaid or lost.

Label all keys as soon as you get them with flat number and room number. You might want a code so as to not give information to burglars/thieves. One system would be a colour code. A blue frame photo in bedroom two and blue nail varnish on the handle of the key tells you at a glance that the key fits the window to bedroom two. Triple or quadruple colours tells you that key also fits the windows in the second bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

Colours of Catches
Catches in the old days came in smart brass. Now so many people have white plastic look windows that the best selling white handles are the ones I've found all over the eBay and Amazon and google search sites.

At first I was opposed to white which I thought was cheap and not matching wood frame windows. But I try to provide white walls for a clean bright look for photos on rental websites and prospective tenants viewing. So white handles co-ordinate with white walls and add a modern look.

Photos
It is useful as a reminder to the owner, agent, window painters, and tenants, to have photos of the keys in and out of the locks. Also photograph the catch on the far right side of the window half way up, a sort of brass flat hook around a circular or octagonal retainer device, like the sort you get on telescopic ladders, where you can detach the window from the frame to open the window fully for painting or exit in an emergency (if on ground floor).

Council tax Hillingdon

I have been in a muddle with Hillingdon Council's rules.

I understand:

They have an over 65 tenant's discount of 5%.
A single person's discount of 25%.
You can combine them to get a discount of 30%.

A student does not pay tax but must send in a student certificate.

Each council is different so you must check your area for the latest information and how it applies to you.

If you send in a form you may have to wait a week or more for an answer.

The postal information says that if you do not reply to a form within a certain period of time (21 days!) you may be fined £50. However, if you are concerned that your form might be delayed in the post, you could try phoning.

You go round and round in circles with recorded messages. Eventually I got through to a different department. They assured me that
If you phone up your call is recorded so that might solve your problem.
Hillingdon
They will ask your property reference number.
counciltax@hillingdon.gov.uk
tel:0300 123 1384 (Monday to Friday 9-5, also Saturday different times).
Council tax collection P O Box 1091 Nelson BB9 4EU.

When did the landlord ac quire the property? (Year, date.)
Make a note of when the landlord/or and tenant moved in/out. The landlord is obliged to give the name and address of the tenant. But I understand the landlord is not required to give the tenant's phone number. I was asked for a tenant's phone number, and understood I had the option of declining to give it.

I was not sure I had the right to give out the number. Data protection. (Also simply annoying the other person. Some people are very protective of their phone numbers, being give to anybody, official or social.

They might not be allowed phone calls at work. They could be driving. I declined to give the number because I had not got permission; and I understood I was not legally required to give it.

counciltax@hillingdon.gov.uk
tel:0300 123 1384 (Monday to Friday 9-5, also Saturday different times).
Council tax collection P O Box 1091 Nelson BB9 4EU.

Tenancy Agreement - Limited and unlimited? What's the difference?

As far as I can see the limited agreement is when you have a shared tenancy and the guarantor guarantees only part of the rent, for example, if two unrelated students shared a flat, both with no income, and each tenant had their own parents as guarantors for their half of the rent. The limited guarantor's agreement limits their liability to their half of the rent.

You can find the explanation for the different between the limited and unlimited agreement on the landlords' website. Either the landlord who downloaded the agreement, or their letting agent is likely to be member and have access to the site and explanation of the difference.

One tenant enquired why the agreement was unlimited, thinking that unlimited meant that he would be liable for items other than those in the penance agreement. What if he accidentally set fire to the landlord's sofa? In my view that would be covered by the tenant's deposit which is mentioned in the agreement.

But please check for yourself because legislation is changing all the time. These notes were made by me as a reminder to myself; also to help me if I have to explain, to anybody associated with me, what the situation is in my area of the UK at the time of writing.

I am sharing this information with you, the general public, so that you can see the kind of question which may arise, so you can research further and be prepared with your own answers if you are ever a landlord or tenant. (I am or have been both, living in the UK, USA and Singapore.)

For more details see:
https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/documents/landlord_document_centre.shtml?ref=menu