When should the old tenant's buzzer entry actually be changed?

On possession day, not lease-end day. Access should track who is entitled to be in the building, and between lease end and the new tenant's move-in the unit's entry should point at management, so turnover vendors buzz you rather than a former tenant.

What access do turnover vendors need, and for how long?

Cleaners, painters, and maintenance need front-entrance access only during the turnover window. Time-limited access that expires on its own is safer than lending a FOB or sharing a standing code, because nothing needs to be collected or remembered when the work wraps.

Should the new tenant's number go on the directory before move-in day?

Program it effective move-in day. Doing it early means the incoming tenant is buzzing people into a building they do not live in yet; doing it late means their first grocery delivery fails. Systems where you control the entry yourself make the timing trivial.

Blog / The Tenant Turnover Access Checklist for Property Managers

The Tenant Turnover Access Checklist for Property Managers

By Ty · 2026-07-06

Move-outs are when building access quietly falls apart. The departing tenant’s phone number keeps living in the buzzer directory, their friends still know the entry code, the FOB may or may not come back, and meanwhile you are marching cleaners, painters, and contractors through the front door on a deadline. Most managers handle this from memory, which is why most buildings have at least one directory entry that dials somebody who moved out a year ago.

Turnover access deserves the same checklist treatment as the unit itself.

How to fix it

Work the entrance in this order every turnover:

Point the unit’s buzzer entry at management on possession day. The panel dials you, not the former tenant, for the whole vacancy.
Revoke the departing tenant’s codes and credentials. Any entry passcodes they used, gym or garage codes, and their FOB. If the building runs one shared front-door code, rotate it now, not at the next complaint.
Give turnover vendors expiring access. A window per vendor for the days they are scheduled, rather than a lent FOB or a standing code that outlives the job.
Watch the entry log during the vacancy. A vacant unit’s entrance activity should match your vendor schedule exactly; anything else is worth a look.
Program the new tenant’s entry effective move-in day. Their number or app takes over the directory entry the day the lease starts, so their first delivery just works.

On a classic panel, steps 1 and 5 are directory edits through the building’s vendor, and steps 2 through 4 are only possible if your access system supports per-person codes and history at all.

Where Lowkey helps

Lowkey makes the whole checklist a settings screen. Each unit’s buzzer dials a virtual number you control, so pointing entry at management, then at the new tenant, is an app change instead of a vendor visit. Turnover vendors get passcodes with expiry dates, revoking the old tenant’s codes takes seconds, and the per-building activity history gives you the vacancy audit trail. Managers run this across every building from one account, on the panels the buildings already have, with nothing to install.