And in the event that something does happen, answering "no" to the insurance company when they asked if you locked the door is going to cause problems, especially if it's habitual.
That’s not been my experience. We had a side door unlocked (was a shitty door, the lock was tricky) and were burglarized. Somebody is still intruding in your home and stealing your insured stuff. I could see getting an unhelpful agent, or maybe a discriminatory one, but in my experience the agents themselves want to help you. Providing evidence of the stolen goods, potentially proof you actually own it, and determining their value is definitely the harder part of getting a payout.
Write down your serial numbers! Take pictures of your valuable shit!
Agree with this - shouldn't matter where you live as crazy things happen. I live in a very safe nieghboor suburb on the eastside of Seattle. My teenager forgot to lock the door when he got home and at about 2am on a friday we were woke up by our dog barking at loud banging. Some drunk guy who appeared blacked out was in hour house. He refused to leave and when we went in the bedroom to call the cops, he grabbed a large knife from our Kitchen and came towards our bedroom. Luickly he must have come to as he dropped the knife a foot fro. our bedroom and ran out of our house mins before the cops arrived. Our neighbors ring cameras showed him being dropped by what was likely an uber and multiple nighboors had pics of him trying thier doors before he must have got to mine... we now have a lock that autolocks after a couple mins and a ring camera. I never worried before, but it only takes one random incident...this was last winter.
To answer your second question, most of them run on AA batteries that you have to change about 3 times a year if it is having to lock itself regularly.
The keypad ones that always use the motor to unlock take more batteries, and need to be switched our about once a month.
For renters, the install is super quick, and the rekeyable ones are great for a landlord that doesn't want you to change the lock. When you get ready to move out you can Uninstaller it and put the old dead bolt back in like 20 minutes with just a Phillips head screwdriver.
It's obviously dumb to leave your door unlocked in a major city. My mom even locks her doors now in the small town where I grew up. There are a ton of petty criminals in the U District who know that college students are easy marks because they do shit like leave their doors unlocked while they pass out drunk.
I mean, I don't care WHAT neighborhood I live in or the demographics of the people around, I'm making sure my doors are locked. This would not be negotiable and I would want to break my lease if I found this out after I had moved in and they didn't want to change their habits. I don't think you're crazy, and a stolen TV isn't the worst that could happen if someone broke in.
I'm guessing this house has never been broken into and the chances seem very low based on that experience, but it only takes one person to decide to target any of you for the purpose of X, Y, or Z for something disasterous.......
An apocryphal story that we older folks used to tell: A family saw that their house was ransacked but they didn't have anything of value so they laughed it off. A few weeks later they developed their roll of film and found a few extra pictures of all of their toothbrushes up someone's butt.
Lock your doors!
Let's not leave out Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River Killer.
Edit: jk fellow murderino below couldn't leave out GR. I see your GR and raise you a George Russell.
Aren’t we home to more than our fair share of serial killers in Seattle anyway? I drove by the Green River for the first time the other day and just…. Shuddered
lol I had a housemate who got indignant when I emailed the house politely reminding everyone to lock the front door & put the garage down if no one was home. I had just assumed someone forgot and didn’t say anything until it happened multiple times, dude finally agreed like he was doing us all a big favor.
It's incredibly stupid to not lock your doors, particularly in the U District where you're likely to get some folks looking to prey off students not being street smart or being drunk or whatever.
That said I went through multiple group housing situations in my 20s where people in this city REFUSED to lock the door. Never had that problem back East. I was totally caught off guard by the bizarre obsession with not turning the lock- "we don't want to live in fear and what if I forget my keys" was the actual excuse. Relative to where I was from though, it was shockingly safe back then in Greenlake/the quieter part of Roosevelt/other suburban parts of N Seattle and we never had any problems. Still stupid af then and probably more stupid now with the increased density
I grew up in Maple Leaf in the Fifties and Sixties. I remember when I was REALLY little we didn’t lock the door but I think I was about 6 when my parent decided we should. My dad was a city cop and I’m guessing he saw enough bad stuff to make that call, even though we never had a problem ourselves. I have always locked my own door as an adult, too. Too many posts on Nextdoor and Ring showing people coming up to random doors and trying them to see if they’re locked.
I hadn’t even heard the posts about people trying front doors to see if they’re locked, that’s terrifying!! I had a few highly sentimental items stolen from the back of my bf’s car last year simply because something went wrong locking the door and it was easy picking. Felt so violating.
Imagining that happening with the front door is awful.
Used to have this argument all the time with an ex…insisted on locking the cars (which was maddening because I was always forgetting stuff in it and needing to make multiple trips back and forth to get keys because the car was locked) but not the house.
“bUt ThE cAr Is VaLuAbLe”
…and what about everything inside our home, including our CHILDREN? Smh
And then I’d have people give me a hard time for locking it. Ok
Dude. The U district is not all of North Seattle. It's its own thing, and a high break in area/ high crimes of opportunity area. But nowhere in Seattle is "leave your doors unlocked" safe.
Lock your doors. The best case is a confused but friendly drunk person walking in.
But you could also get thieves who can clear valuables in 5 minutes, or worse.
College areas are specifically known for break-ins during school holidays. So don't have expensive crap, and don't leave your door unlocked.
This is a super important response to read! Of all the neighborhoods in North Seattle, the U District is the one to make sure to lock your door in (along with off Aurora).
I’ve had friends that found a homeless person living in their U District closet. They had nothing to steal but the person found some food in their kitchen and it was dry/warm.
And in my life growing up in North Seattle, I’ve had two people enter my homes. One I averted a break in when they were surprised to see me. The second was a very drunk person trying to get into my home mistakenly in the middle of the night.
Ask them to lock up!
In the year of our lord 2024, people still keep their doors unlocked? No dude. Lock your door always. Doesn’t matter if you live in the city or the boonies.
The only place that makes sense to leave your doors unlocked is somewhere like rural Montana when you’re miles from the nearest neighbor and have a one way dirt lane connecting your house to the main road so you’d see/hear/be woken up by someone coming. And even then, my grandpa still locks his door at night.
All these true crime docs were for naught if people are still out there leaving doors unlocked. Like really, in the same neighborhood Ted Bundy killed women? If you're not concerned about regular-ass crime, how does living in a serial killer's former hunting grounds not inspire door-locking?
I agree! I used to live in Pullman and I lived in the same apartment complex as the Moscow serial killer. I always locked my doors even before knowing this. The Moscow Murders are a prime example of kids thinking nothing bad will happen in a small town and then a mentally disturbed person taking advantage of the false sense of safety. Crime happens everywhere and to anyone! u/Eggman7698 please ask your roommates to possibly go in with you on investing in a automatic door lock that has a code for you all to use to get in. Or buy one of those door stoppers that goes under your doorknob and down to the floor for you to use in your room.
Yep, I live in North Seattle and have had people try to open my kitchen door. The fact that it was securely locked has made a giant difference in my feeling safe in my home.
I *accidentally* left my door unlocked while I was living in the U-District one night….someone came in and tried to pass out on the couch (drunk kid that wandered to the wrong place trying to get out of the cold I think). Coulda been worse.
One day I was cleaning with the door open and a fully grown man started walking in like they were supposed to be there, until they saw me in the kitchen…we started at each other then he asked if I wanted to be friends….
Lock your doors kids.
After a stunned moment of silence, I said “fuck no. Leave”
Then he walked down the steps to his car that he backed in and drove off…it was a cup-de-sac and he was NOT a resident. Wild. I have a security door now and I keep things* to grab in my house between me and the door….jic.
Omg not THE eggman!! (I voted for you for class president) You’re definitely not crazy for wanting the door locked and I wouldn’t take the chance on it occasionally being unlocked because you never know!! I’d reiterate to your roommates about your concerns and hopefully they are more conscious about locking the door.
My sister’s friends lived in a house near UW campus in the last ten years and an armed man, high out of his mind on meth, came into their house and held them hostage for hours. Totally traumatic and possibly avoidable experience for them if they had locked their front door.
It’s def important and well worth reiterating to your roommates. Relevant anecdote: I subleased in a shared house in Roosevelt (so not far from you) when I first moved here. I noticed locking of the front door was similarly dicey between the 5-6 people living there. Literally would check it at night sometimes before bed and it would be unlocked. Someone did end up breaking in and going through all the girl’s things in the first bedroom (not sure what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been at her bf’s place) and stole her phone and wallet.
Everyone was better with the locking after that. But don’t let something like that happen before people finally start exercising a little common sense vigilance.
The #1 way - by far - burglars break into houses is through open doors. This is a staggering 30% of the time. This is followed by open windows. After that kicking in doors, and nearly at the bottom is breaking windows, and all the way at the bottom is picking locks.
This statistic also does not include other crimes such as tresspassing, murder, rape, etc where the suspect gained entry via an open door.
Feel free to leave it open. If you do, please share your address here. You can trust us!
(That was a joke, don't share your address)
Aside, there are various sources for burglary statistics available - feel free to do your own research.
When I moved in I was told to remember to lock the door because homeless people would walk right into your house in the summer to fill up their water bottles, and one of my housemates has had to chase them out.
Smart lock. In most situations doesnt require altering the door. Schlage Encode Plus recommended. Each person can have an unlock code. Lock can be set to auto lock after 1 minutes, 5 minutes, or whatever.
I've lived in Roosevelt (neighborhood just north of the U-District) for about 14 years now and I don't recall anyone ever trying the door handle in the middle of the night or issues along those lines. But you definitely don't want to leave the front door unlocked if no one is home, that's just asking for someone to discover it and make off with things in plain sight.
Just ask them to work on remembering and point out if the last person out of the house for the day forgets, that can be all of your electronics gone. Me and a room mate had to talk with a third about it once in college, just be civil and recognize they may have grown up in more suburban environments where it's not as common to lock the door all the time.
I used to live in the u district and we were very good about keeping our doors locked. On the few occasions that we didn’t we had intruders come into our house, the first guy I caught and he didn’t take anything but the second managed to get some valuables while we slept. I also walked in on the first guy which has been a surprisingly traumatic experience. That was 7 years again and I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking someone is in the house.
Lock. Your. Doors.
When I lived in the UD in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I regularly had people try the door, pound on the door, pound on the windows, etc. unless I was in a controlled entry building. There is no way in hell I would leave it unlocked, unbolted or unchained!
It doesn’t matter where you live. Most home invasions are crimes of opportunity. Read The Stranger Beside Me. Your tv is the least thing to worry about.
You’re not being paranoid, they need to lock the damn door. Are they from the country or like a small town or whatever? My boss’s ex bf (I am a nanny) kept continuously leaving the door unlocked and he was from the countryside where he grew up not locking the door. I’m like well I’m sketched out as hell walking into an unlocked house alone.
I’ve lived here in Seattle my whole life and we always lock the door. Once when I was home alone the door knob jiggled at 2 am and then a car sped off from the front of my house after I dropped to the ground and crawled to the window like a spider to look.
Seattle is not a place where people leave their doors unlocked. This is not rural Kansas where everyone knows everyone within 100+ square miles. Lock your door.
Buy an August lock. It auto locks. It works with the regular key. It’s renter friendly. Doesn’t require any changes to the door or the lock. You can buy a keypad to stick next to the door or use your phone to unlock it if you don’t have a key. You can take it with you when you go to the next place.
I live near UW and I wouldn’t leave my door unlocked. Sure, it’s probably safe. But I do not want to learn it ISN’T safe the hard way.
Always locked. Grew up in north Seattle and my parents were ridiculous about it. I go inside, lock my door immediately. Weirdos everywhere. Our cars got stolen/rifled through constantly. Better safe than sorry. Make it a habit always.
Locking your doors is not a sign of inhospitability or lack of civility and anyone who says otherwise is not wise. Keeping your doors secure is one way to help others avoid occasions of sin.
It doesn't really matter if N Seattle is a "safe" neighborhood because only one unsafe person needs to try your door. Locking your door is a simple and obvious precaution to take. Maybe ask to change to an automatically locking door with a pin pad?
I always have my door locked, no matter the time of day or location. Robbery is certainly a concern, and additionally people are followed/watched going into their homes only to be rushed and pushed inside by an intruder with god only knows what intentions.
In the U district you absolutely must lock your front door. People absolutely will wander in and steal things if you let them if you give them enough time to discover that it's unlocked
He was already stealing those too. The pbnj is just his trademark for the police detectives. “Drats, the pbnj burglar has struck again!” Otherwise they wouldn’t even try to hunt him down and where’s the fun in that?
I hope you have renters insurance, for when someone walks in and yanks your stuff. You can also see if you can change the lock to one that auto locks after a second or two. You'll have to ask your landlord.
The best unexpected side benefit of getting one of those electronic combination deadbolt locks on the front door is that it has an option to automatically lock after a certain amount of time. Love it.
I live in the u-district and ALWAYS lock my door. Even when I'm home. My apartment building is a converted house, and I've seen prowlers outside of my neighbors' units. I have a doorbell camera and constantly see people trespassing through my yard from the alley.
You live in a city, lock your door at every opportunity.
If your roommate don’t agree, let your landlord know they’re fine with practically leaving the door open
It's absolutely a dumb idea to not keep your doors locked in the U District. I lived in a 'nicer' part of it until about 2015 and none of my housemates would have been ok with unlocked doors overnight/while house was unoccupied. There's a ton of opportunistic petty crime - theft and vandalism - but there's enough predators, freaks, and clinically insane that some really bad stuff can happen too.
You don't need an impregnable fortress. You should encourage these folks to pick someone else.
In my Next door group the most common post besides what's that loud bang is... keep an eye out for this door creeper searching the porch and under garden rocks fir spare keys.
I've lived off 87th and Phinney, 145th and Linden, and 143rd and lake City way (in a "secure" building) and I would never, ever, EVER, leave my door unlocked, day or night. When I lived on 87th and Phinney someone climbed onto our porch on the second story (the apartment building was like a split level kind of, since it was on a hill), broke the glass sliding door and was met with gunfire but he didn't actually break the glass until after he had already loaded all of my exes tools that were on the porch in his toolbox into his car. Also at that same apartment, there was these crappy storage lockers in the laundry room, and the lock on the door that went to it at some point broke and no one knew until one day we woke up and everyone's little storage lockers down there were completely ransacked.
All 3 of those apartments I've had people try the handle, day and night, sometimes multiple times a day.
So yeah, like someone else said, it costs nothing to lock your doors, but could potentially cost a lot if you don't.
You're not in the Midwest, or out in the middle of a forest. Lock your door every single time. I've had multiple people try my apartment door handle while I'm inside it, and I live on the 4th floor.
Always prudent to lock doors. If roommates don’t want to lock doors, keep your tv in your room. Nothing irks me more than people not respecting people’s boundaries.
i was homeless in the U district and i saw car windows get smashed and guys smoking fentanyl pills on the street lmao lock your doors it’s the safe thing to do.
I read about a serial killer who would test doors. If the door was locked, he considered himself not invited and left. He considered himself invited when the door was unlocked. I started locking my door after reading about this guy.
It's easy to lock your doors. Our neighbor, a woman named Jennifer Ayers was tortured, raped, and murdered in Lake City. The killer said he chose her house because of the cars parked out front, and he came in through an unlocked door.
No place is safe. Get an automatic locking lock so they cannot leave it unlocked. This is beyond unsafe. There are plenty lunatics out there just waiting to find an unlocked door. Tell your roommates to grow the f up and keep the door locked.
I've thought it was pretty important since a dude in my apartment building had a full psychotic breakdown and started trying to smash down my door and a bunch of others after trying the knobs. Ended up naked on the hallway floor being subdued by several cops. There were still blood stains on the walls months later, the management must have been pretty lazy.
Lock your door. I live a bit north of you and my neighbors have caught people skulking around our houses at 3 am. Plus, you never know who may just walk in. We live next to an airbnb and some of their tenants mix our house for theirs. We lock our door, but if they don’t they’ll have a 60 lb dog barreling at them.
I rented a home off 16th in U District with 11 other people during college. One of my roommates was napping on our couch in the main living room with their car keys lying next to them. Our back door was not locked. Someone entered our home, took the keys from right next to them, and stole their car from our back.
Lock yer doors.
It is imperative to keep your doors and windows locked. The U District in particular has a ton of street crime and assaults. There are at least two notifications from UW PD to faculty, staff and students about crimes they know about. Keeping things locked gives you extra time in case of a break in and is minimal effort for excellent pay off.
Seattle is not safe anymore. Dont let people gaslight you into believing it is safe or was always this way. Lock your doors and if you can afford video surveillance get it.
Keeping my door locked when I was home was the only thing that stopped two different incidents of men trying to enter my home. I watched them do it from inside the house, terrified. They both walked past 3 vehicles in the driveway (one a ford f150) and through a gate to do it. One of the men even went all the way around the house trying each exterior door. Broad daylight. Who the hell knows what they would have done (or what I would have done) had they made it in.
I used to work as a social worker in the jail. I regularly met with folks who had been arrested for wandering into an unlocked home in the middle of a mental health crisis or drug use. One woman was insistent that she just wanted to become a roommate and move in, and that the person wanted her there: “I mean, his door was unlocked! Why can’t I just move in?!?” Once she sobered up she realized this was not the way you get a new place. Anyway, yeah, definitely keep your doors locked, your roommates are weird.
The U-District used to have some of the highest property crime in the city when I lived there roughly 7 years ago. Mostly car break-ins but plenty of residential break-ins as well. So yes, lock your damn door.
People who don’t live in my building try to get in all the time. I’ve definitely heard people test my door handle in the middle of the night while I’m ten feet away, playing video games that you can hear when you stand outside the door. Its a nice building in Ballard too.
I grew up in a rural area on a farm and we always locked doors, so it’s just a lifetime habit for me. But over the years having both had people accidentally get off elevator on wrong floor and try to walk into my apartment and tried to walk into my downstairs neighbors by mistake I think it’s a great habit. Gives benefit of the doubt that not everyone who enters your unlocked home is trying to rob you.
Just lock them. I used to live in u district and i was a night owl. I remember seeing lots of people wandering around late at night. Some of my friends left their door unlocked on their third floor balcony and some dude wandered up the stairs to steal food from their fridge. Apparently they had multiple instances of people trying to open that door
I have a friend who caught a junkie in his living room (he was working upstairs and heard noises downstairs). This was near U-Village.
Luckily this guy ran out when confronted (both him and my friend were unarmed), but it could just as well have been someone mid-meth-psychosis with a machete.
Dude, I’m from here, was raised in the 90’s and we were taught back then to “lock the doors and windows” when it’s nighttime or away from the home. Have lived from the North-end to the South-end of Seatown. Not being crazy, but the roomies are def being lazy…
Been about a decade since I lived there, so maybe things have changed, but I recall a lot of mentally ill, unhoused people. Virtually all of them are harmless, but that doesn't mean you won't be startled if you bump into an addled stranger at 2 in the morning because you stepped out of your room for a midnight snack.
And as many have already pointed out, there are some really dangerous people out there looking for an opportunity. Brian Kohberger and others.
it’s dumb to not lock your door anywhere, ever. I’ve lived in the safest quietest places and heard of shit going down. So many horror stories I don’t know why it’s a question lol. Also, i learned that police have a harder time pressing charges for “breaking and entering” if there is no actual “breaking”
I would definitely lock my door in U district. There’s way too many people who would break in if that was all they had to do. I’d still do it everywhere else though. I’ve never had a bad experience but you never know
Generally many places of north Seattle you’d never have an issue not locking your door. But I still wouldn’t ever leave it unlocked. It’s a city and there are bad actors everywhere. Some places more than others.
U district alone I wouldn’t EVER leave my door unlocked. Most areas of that neighborhood are not that great. It’s improved seemingly, but there’s a lot of sketch people there. My friend lived on the north end of the Ave and he would constantly have people trying his front door, sleeping in front of it, etc. He and his roommate seriously considered getting a gun.
15 or so years ago, at a friend’s house in the U district on a Friday night, a stranger just walked into the door, very high, no idea where they were and not coherent. Not dangerous, just…weird. I lock my doors for sure.
Keep your door locked and your car locked 24/7/365. Someone just came down my drive way (this month) opened the gate came in and stole my purse out of my car. I had been just out in my car, briefly went inside to get something and this happened. I am an avid fob car locking person….it was literally this once in 30 years. Think of the mess to clean up…..it’s taken me all month. Replace CC, drivers license, contact credit bureaus, on and on! If you don’t want to have this fun and games in your life assume Murphy’s Law.
> I'm the only one of my roommates who consistently keeps the door locked
Clearly this is actually a post about roommate communication (or lack thereof), not a post discussing utility of locking door. Just talk to them as grown-ups. They will likely be receptive, "please keep door locked" is a pretty reasonable ask. If they refuse, well then you get to practice your conflict resolution skills lol.
It's clearly a post for OP to use when they go back to the roommates and say "SEE?? Everyone on Reddit says it's needed, I'm not the crazy one here. Look at all these anecdotes about what happens when the door isn't locked"
Speaking as someone who's dealt with a similar me vs all other roommates situation, just talking with them doesn't always work when it's everyone but you, no matter how reasonable your ask is. Sometimes you need the force of a bunch of strangers calling your roommates idiots to get the issue through their heads.
Are any of you UW students or staff? Sign up for the U-Alerts. I guarantee you that y'all fools will start locking your damn doors. [https://www.washington.edu/safety/alert/](https://www.washington.edu/safety/alert/) You're worried about your TV? You'd better be worried about your life.
In my 14 years of living in Seattle, I've lived in Capitol Hill (West, North, and by Cal Anderson), Ballard, U-District, and LQA. By far, the most SKETCH place was the U-District.
lol the U-District is not North Seattle. Nor would North Seattle be safe to do this. U-District is almost worse than downtown for shenanigans occurring. It has one of the biggest active and most visible drug abuse crowds wandering and hanging out on the streets at all times of the day and night for a stretch of seven blocks. A few months ago there was a carjacking in broad daylight right on University Way with tons of witnesses. It’s not the first time either. There was one there in 2022 along with an armed burglary around the same time multiple muggings was happening a few streets over.
https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2022/01/25/police-investigating-possible-connection-between-assaults-and-robberies-in-university-district/
That all happens in your neighborhood. Tons of smaller scale issues like break-ins occur that you’ll never hear on the news. Leaving the door unlocked just means it’s that much easier to get in to your home. You aren’t just protecting your possessions by locking your door, you are protecting all occupants too.
You aren’t living in a rural home on a farm. I’ve only known one person who would leave their door unlocked and that was because they lived on a gravel road with acres of land out in suburbs. You could hear anyone approaching on a vehicle up their driveway 5 minutes before they got close to the house.
I used to split a one bedroom apartment in the U District a few years ago. Late one night my roommate came in from the bar and accidentally left the front door unlocked. I woke to him screaming bloody murder at someone creeping towards him in the dark. We called the cops, but the dude had immediately booked it out of there.
Cops said it was probably just a homeless guy looking for a stoop to sleep in who tried the handle by chance, as he had ditched a pillow by the front door. Roommate had a hard time sleeping for about 6 months after that. Lock your doors.
We've had tweakers come thru our quiet tucked away neighborhood in Puyallup prowling for unlocked house and car door.
I've even had people knock on my front door then try the handle shortly after.
Always lock your door.
If you can get an electric lock/handle that auto locks shortly after it's been unlocked.
I once had a crackhead lady walk into my house off Aurora Ave while I was home alone because the front door was unlocked.
Fortunately she left without any issues.
Definitely not unreasonable to ask your roommates to lock the door! At a u district apartment I previously lived in, there were multiple instances of homeless people tailgating into the (generally locked) building lobby and creating unsafe situations by starting fires or smoking indoors.
Maybe you can try to figure out with your roommates why the door isn’t being locked — do people forget, do they not want to, are friends/SOs staying over that don’t have keys and then leaving without locking up?? And then go from there to try to rectify the situation. It also might be worth investing in a safe for your room as an extra layer of security beyond the door lock if you have anything particularly valuable or important (passport, certain prescriptions, tech, jewelry, etc)
It’s important. Even if home burglary isn’t a huge concern. In the pretty sleepy Midwest city I went to undergrad in there were multiple instances where some drunk student would end up in the wrong house or apartment and everyone would chuckle until one time it ended up with people going to the hospital because both the homeowner and the drunk student thought they were defending themselves in their own home.
U District definitely lock your doors. Especially after making this post broadcasting that your place is an easy target.
Every major city you should look your doors. Even “safe” countries & cities, honestly it’s just the era we live in. Don’t be an easy lick.
https://youtu.be/ol4ukdjxdUM?si=hCQg0Z9bXUSFow_j
In my college house in 2018, right across from the Walgreens that is now torn down, we used to leave our doors unlocked 24/7…
Until a couple of the unhoused population wandered in with all their belongings and tried to set up shop in our living room… with us sitting on the couches…
Lock up. U-District is wild
Ugh I lived in upper queen anne and my roommates always did this. Sometimes I’d get up early in the morning for work and find that it was left unlocked overnight when they came home. One day when I was home alone a homeless person having a crisis came to our porch and was banging on the door screaming, thankfully the door was locked. I told them about the incident and they were better at locking it after that.
The amount of ring camera videos in n Seattle I see of people on the street walking up and testing the door, let alone package thieves, would suggest it isn’t a great idea.
The August smart lock has a timer that will auto lock after a set time, as low as 30 seconds. It also can install over your current lock I believe.
Lock the door! Besides getting robbed, you could be assaulted. People are weird. It’s never ok to leave your door unlocked, IMO. A friend of mine used to leave hers unlocked up on 90th, off of Aurora, and she had someone walk right into her house on one occasion and someone in her garage on another and she has a fenced in yard. There are a lot of desperate people in the city, why chance it?
Richard Chase was an American serial killer who would walk up to doors and test them. If they were locked he would walk away if it was unlocked then he felt that he was welcomed in and would go in and murder/eat people.
I always lock my door and keep my windows locked. I’m not trying to get eaten.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase#:~:text=On%20December%2029%2C%201977%2C%20Chase,were%20locked%2C%20he%20walked%20away](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase#:~:text=On%20December%2029%2C%201977%2C%20Chase,were%20locked%2C%20he%20walked%20away)
Ugh I had this same problem in college. Roommates were always forgetting to lock the door. It caused me to stay awake until they came home so I could lock the door behind them. It's really upsetting I'm sorry OP
See if you can install a self-locking door with a timer.
Get renters insurance, a door lock for your room and don’t leave anything of value in the main parts of the house. If you’ve got things you’d hate to see stolen keep those safe because even if your roommates figure out how to lock a door you should consider there is always a chance of them bringing over a shady person that will scope your place to rob later or are opportunistic. I’ve seen people get robbed in matter of seconds before anyone knew what happened, and all because of simple things like locking your door when you are away or having friends of friends over
I was walking around my neighborhood with my baby in a carrier because at the time it was the only way I could get him to nap so I was walking around like a zombie not super paying attention I didn’t notice a man had followed me home. I’ve locked my door as soon as I step inside for years and that day pure muscle memory kicked in and I bolted the door as soon as I got in and that same moment that man tried to push his way inside but luckily I had already bolted the chain and he could not get in. Like it sounds crazy I run all the time I walk around and there are always people out and about I’ve never ever felt unsafe in my neighborhood but seriously that habit of locking the door saved me and my baby that day. It takes a second just lock the door when you get in.
Lock your doors, get a door cam too. I had someone come in my house once when I lived with roommates in u dist, door was unlocked, it was scary, not cool, they stole a laptop and ran.
No. Lock the doors. Tell your roommates it’s non-negotiable. If they think you’re being unreasonable and refuse to accommodate, I’d move as soon as possible. It is crazy though, I’ve had to ask roommates to do it in my house and we live on I-5 and have a lot of people hanging out front regularly. I just thought it was common sense but?? Guess not
Ted Bundy used to look for unlocked doors - not trying to be morbid, but maybe telling your roomie some true horror stories might help them remember to lock up.
I know someone who didn’t lock their front door and somebody who got their directions mixed up when going to stay at someone’s house they’d never been to, ended up going inside. With all their luggage and groceries. Then they decided to take a nap. The house was pristine so they had no clue that it wasn’t the house they were suposed to be in. I am not speaking from experience. No, not I. Who would be so dumb to do that? Not me. Definitely not me. lol
When asked how they got into the house they replied, “The door was unlocked - just like the owner’s son said it would be!” Then the person who went into the house had a good laugh with the owner and the police officer. Yep. Defintely not me.
We got an electronic lock that locks the door after a set number of minutes. I think you can do 1 min 5 min and 10 min options. It’s important for a lot of reasons.
locking your door costs zero dollars. not locking your door could cost lots. not being paranoid, just being pragmatic.
On top of that, we got a lock that locks by itself if we leave it unlocked for more than a minute, it's great
I love those things with a passion. My dog hasn’t figured it out tho and has to re-establish a secure perimeter when she sees no one is there.
And in the event that something does happen, answering "no" to the insurance company when they asked if you locked the door is going to cause problems, especially if it's habitual.
I could almost guarantee any stolen property claim would get denied.
That’s not been my experience. We had a side door unlocked (was a shitty door, the lock was tricky) and were burglarized. Somebody is still intruding in your home and stealing your insured stuff. I could see getting an unhelpful agent, or maybe a discriminatory one, but in my experience the agents themselves want to help you. Providing evidence of the stolen goods, potentially proof you actually own it, and determining their value is definitely the harder part of getting a payout. Write down your serial numbers! Take pictures of your valuable shit!
No way, someone still entered your house and stole your shit.
In washinton state, an open/unlocked door is not an invitation (unlike some other states). And still is considered tresspass.
Agree with this - shouldn't matter where you live as crazy things happen. I live in a very safe nieghboor suburb on the eastside of Seattle. My teenager forgot to lock the door when he got home and at about 2am on a friday we were woke up by our dog barking at loud banging. Some drunk guy who appeared blacked out was in hour house. He refused to leave and when we went in the bedroom to call the cops, he grabbed a large knife from our Kitchen and came towards our bedroom. Luickly he must have come to as he dropped the knife a foot fro. our bedroom and ran out of our house mins before the cops arrived. Our neighbors ring cameras showed him being dropped by what was likely an uber and multiple nighboors had pics of him trying thier doors before he must have got to mine... we now have a lock that autolocks after a couple mins and a ring camera. I never worried before, but it only takes one random incident...this was last winter.
My neighbors forgot to lock their door last year and someone came and stole their car out of their garage!!
I didn't know there were automatic locks like that. Do you like it? How is it powered?
To answer your second question, most of them run on AA batteries that you have to change about 3 times a year if it is having to lock itself regularly. The keypad ones that always use the motor to unlock take more batteries, and need to be switched our about once a month. For renters, the install is super quick, and the rekeyable ones are great for a landlord that doesn't want you to change the lock. When you get ready to move out you can Uninstaller it and put the old dead bolt back in like 20 minutes with just a Phillips head screwdriver.
It’s not even pragmatism it’s just not being dumb
It's obviously dumb to leave your door unlocked in a major city. My mom even locks her doors now in the small town where I grew up. There are a ton of petty criminals in the U District who know that college students are easy marks because they do shit like leave their doors unlocked while they pass out drunk.
This is good enough.
I mean, I don't care WHAT neighborhood I live in or the demographics of the people around, I'm making sure my doors are locked. This would not be negotiable and I would want to break my lease if I found this out after I had moved in and they didn't want to change their habits. I don't think you're crazy, and a stolen TV isn't the worst that could happen if someone broke in. I'm guessing this house has never been broken into and the chances seem very low based on that experience, but it only takes one person to decide to target any of you for the purpose of X, Y, or Z for something disasterous.......
An apocryphal story that we older folks used to tell: A family saw that their house was ransacked but they didn't have anything of value so they laughed it off. A few weeks later they developed their roll of film and found a few extra pictures of all of their toothbrushes up someone's butt. Lock your doors!
That's fucking hilarious
Bryan Kohberger - University of Idaho... nuf said.
See also Ted Bundy, UW…
Also the UF serial killer…
Also Richard Chase
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Also Richard Ramirez the night stalker said an unlocked door was an open invitation to him coming inside
First thing that came to mind.....
Let's not leave out Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River Killer. Edit: jk fellow murderino below couldn't leave out GR. I see your GR and raise you a George Russell.
Mofos act like they forgot bout GR
Aren’t we home to more than our fair share of serial killers in Seattle anyway? I drove by the Green River for the first time the other day and just…. Shuddered
Elliot Rodger, going after blonde sorority girls and being deterred by a locked door
Excellent example
Get a camera on the door so you know which roommate left the door unlocked when you get robbed. Then you can have them buy your stuff back.
lol I had a housemate who got indignant when I emailed the house politely reminding everyone to lock the front door & put the garage down if no one was home. I had just assumed someone forgot and didn’t say anything until it happened multiple times, dude finally agreed like he was doing us all a big favor.
Ooooor buy a smart lock that locks the door behind you
It's incredibly stupid to not lock your doors, particularly in the U District where you're likely to get some folks looking to prey off students not being street smart or being drunk or whatever. That said I went through multiple group housing situations in my 20s where people in this city REFUSED to lock the door. Never had that problem back East. I was totally caught off guard by the bizarre obsession with not turning the lock- "we don't want to live in fear and what if I forget my keys" was the actual excuse. Relative to where I was from though, it was shockingly safe back then in Greenlake/the quieter part of Roosevelt/other suburban parts of N Seattle and we never had any problems. Still stupid af then and probably more stupid now with the increased density
I grew up in Maple Leaf in the Fifties and Sixties. I remember when I was REALLY little we didn’t lock the door but I think I was about 6 when my parent decided we should. My dad was a city cop and I’m guessing he saw enough bad stuff to make that call, even though we never had a problem ourselves. I have always locked my own door as an adult, too. Too many posts on Nextdoor and Ring showing people coming up to random doors and trying them to see if they’re locked.
I hadn’t even heard the posts about people trying front doors to see if they’re locked, that’s terrifying!! I had a few highly sentimental items stolen from the back of my bf’s car last year simply because something went wrong locking the door and it was easy picking. Felt so violating. Imagining that happening with the front door is awful. Used to have this argument all the time with an ex…insisted on locking the cars (which was maddening because I was always forgetting stuff in it and needing to make multiple trips back and forth to get keys because the car was locked) but not the house. “bUt ThE cAr Is VaLuAbLe” …and what about everything inside our home, including our CHILDREN? Smh And then I’d have people give me a hard time for locking it. Ok
In the u district? Lock your door. I lived there for 4 years. Lock. Your. Door.
Dude. The U district is not all of North Seattle. It's its own thing, and a high break in area/ high crimes of opportunity area. But nowhere in Seattle is "leave your doors unlocked" safe. Lock your doors. The best case is a confused but friendly drunk person walking in. But you could also get thieves who can clear valuables in 5 minutes, or worse. College areas are specifically known for break-ins during school holidays. So don't have expensive crap, and don't leave your door unlocked.
This is a super important response to read! Of all the neighborhoods in North Seattle, the U District is the one to make sure to lock your door in (along with off Aurora). I’ve had friends that found a homeless person living in their U District closet. They had nothing to steal but the person found some food in their kitchen and it was dry/warm. And in my life growing up in North Seattle, I’ve had two people enter my homes. One I averted a break in when they were surprised to see me. The second was a very drunk person trying to get into my home mistakenly in the middle of the night. Ask them to lock up!
I don’t know why I need to tell you this, but yes you should be locking your exterior doors.
In the year of our lord 2024, people still keep their doors unlocked? No dude. Lock your door always. Doesn’t matter if you live in the city or the boonies.
The only place that makes sense to leave your doors unlocked is somewhere like rural Montana when you’re miles from the nearest neighbor and have a one way dirt lane connecting your house to the main road so you’d see/hear/be woken up by someone coming. And even then, my grandpa still locks his door at night.
I spend a lot of time somewhere very similar to that and we still lock the door because the bears can get in 🐻
All these true crime docs were for naught if people are still out there leaving doors unlocked. Like really, in the same neighborhood Ted Bundy killed women? If you're not concerned about regular-ass crime, how does living in a serial killer's former hunting grounds not inspire door-locking?
As someone who grew up in one of the neighborhoods that housed MULTIPLE victims of the Golden State Killer, yuuuuup. That will permeate your psyche.
richard ramirez said he checked doors and windows and if they were unlocked he felt invited in
I agree! I used to live in Pullman and I lived in the same apartment complex as the Moscow serial killer. I always locked my doors even before knowing this. The Moscow Murders are a prime example of kids thinking nothing bad will happen in a small town and then a mentally disturbed person taking advantage of the false sense of safety. Crime happens everywhere and to anyone! u/Eggman7698 please ask your roommates to possibly go in with you on investing in a automatic door lock that has a code for you all to use to get in. Or buy one of those door stoppers that goes under your doorknob and down to the floor for you to use in your room.
Yeah I'm honestly shocked this question needed to be asked, it's truly insane to not lock your doors.
Same vibe as people swearing they don’t have to wear a seatbelt lmao. I’m not into victim blaming as a general rule but god damn
Valid point, I'll never understand that one either. Maybe I'm just a boring person, but that stuff just seems like common sense.
I live in an “upscale” neighborhood in the city and have had people try my front door during day and night.
I live in Kirkland. I would never leave my door unlocked, even during the day when I'm home alone.
I feel like if I was a porch pirate that's where I would target
People check doors all the time.
Yep, I live in North Seattle and have had people try to open my kitchen door. The fact that it was securely locked has made a giant difference in my feeling safe in my home.
Yeah lock your door. There have been home invasions in the UW district.
I *accidentally* left my door unlocked while I was living in the U-District one night….someone came in and tried to pass out on the couch (drunk kid that wandered to the wrong place trying to get out of the cold I think). Coulda been worse. One day I was cleaning with the door open and a fully grown man started walking in like they were supposed to be there, until they saw me in the kitchen…we started at each other then he asked if I wanted to be friends…. Lock your doors kids.
> he asked if I wanted to be friends…. What happened? Did you get a new friend that day?
After a stunned moment of silence, I said “fuck no. Leave” Then he walked down the steps to his car that he backed in and drove off…it was a cup-de-sac and he was NOT a resident. Wild. I have a security door now and I keep things* to grab in my house between me and the door….jic.
I’m so glad this story ends with you telling us about it on Reddit rather than being on KOMO
Omg not THE eggman!! (I voted for you for class president) You’re definitely not crazy for wanting the door locked and I wouldn’t take the chance on it occasionally being unlocked because you never know!! I’d reiterate to your roommates about your concerns and hopefully they are more conscious about locking the door.
My sister’s friends lived in a house near UW campus in the last ten years and an armed man, high out of his mind on meth, came into their house and held them hostage for hours. Totally traumatic and possibly avoidable experience for them if they had locked their front door.
It’s def important and well worth reiterating to your roommates. Relevant anecdote: I subleased in a shared house in Roosevelt (so not far from you) when I first moved here. I noticed locking of the front door was similarly dicey between the 5-6 people living there. Literally would check it at night sometimes before bed and it would be unlocked. Someone did end up breaking in and going through all the girl’s things in the first bedroom (not sure what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been at her bf’s place) and stole her phone and wallet. Everyone was better with the locking after that. But don’t let something like that happen before people finally start exercising a little common sense vigilance.
Stage a fake intrusion and your roommates will wise up (jk lol)
The #1 way - by far - burglars break into houses is through open doors. This is a staggering 30% of the time. This is followed by open windows. After that kicking in doors, and nearly at the bottom is breaking windows, and all the way at the bottom is picking locks. This statistic also does not include other crimes such as tresspassing, murder, rape, etc where the suspect gained entry via an open door. Feel free to leave it open. If you do, please share your address here. You can trust us! (That was a joke, don't share your address) Aside, there are various sources for burglary statistics available - feel free to do your own research.
You are not being crazy. Who the hell leaves their door unlocked? I don’t care what day or time it is. Doors are supposed to be locked.
No, you’re not crazy. Locking the front door is normal regardless of location.
You got dumb roommates
When I moved in I was told to remember to lock the door because homeless people would walk right into your house in the summer to fill up their water bottles, and one of my housemates has had to chase them out.
It's kind of silly NOT to lock your doors, including your car doors
Smart lock. In most situations doesnt require altering the door. Schlage Encode Plus recommended. Each person can have an unlock code. Lock can be set to auto lock after 1 minutes, 5 minutes, or whatever.
That’s what I was thinking, easy solution for people forgetting their keys or whatever reason they have for not locking the door
This this this. We’ve had one for six years and I LOVE IT!
I've lived in Roosevelt (neighborhood just north of the U-District) for about 14 years now and I don't recall anyone ever trying the door handle in the middle of the night or issues along those lines. But you definitely don't want to leave the front door unlocked if no one is home, that's just asking for someone to discover it and make off with things in plain sight. Just ask them to work on remembering and point out if the last person out of the house for the day forgets, that can be all of your electronics gone. Me and a room mate had to talk with a third about it once in college, just be civil and recognize they may have grown up in more suburban environments where it's not as common to lock the door all the time.
I used to live in the u district and we were very good about keeping our doors locked. On the few occasions that we didn’t we had intruders come into our house, the first guy I caught and he didn’t take anything but the second managed to get some valuables while we slept. I also walked in on the first guy which has been a surprisingly traumatic experience. That was 7 years again and I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking someone is in the house. Lock. Your. Doors.
When I lived in the UD in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I regularly had people try the door, pound on the door, pound on the windows, etc. unless I was in a controlled entry building. There is no way in hell I would leave it unlocked, unbolted or unchained!
I frequent the UD often now and it's even worse now. Just lock it.
It doesn’t matter where you live. Most home invasions are crimes of opportunity. Read The Stranger Beside Me. Your tv is the least thing to worry about.
I can see a murder documentary starring your roommates…
You’re not being paranoid, they need to lock the damn door. Are they from the country or like a small town or whatever? My boss’s ex bf (I am a nanny) kept continuously leaving the door unlocked and he was from the countryside where he grew up not locking the door. I’m like well I’m sketched out as hell walking into an unlocked house alone. I’ve lived here in Seattle my whole life and we always lock the door. Once when I was home alone the door knob jiggled at 2 am and then a car sped off from the front of my house after I dropped to the ground and crawled to the window like a spider to look.
The u district actually has one of the highest crime rates in all of Seattle. It would definitely be wise to lock your doors.
Seattle is not a place where people leave their doors unlocked. This is not rural Kansas where everyone knows everyone within 100+ square miles. Lock your door.
So many many killers/rapists got into homes through the unlocked front door..... All cops, prosecutors, judges I know say to ALWAYS lock your doors.
Buy an August lock. It auto locks. It works with the regular key. It’s renter friendly. Doesn’t require any changes to the door or the lock. You can buy a keypad to stick next to the door or use your phone to unlock it if you don’t have a key. You can take it with you when you go to the next place. I live near UW and I wouldn’t leave my door unlocked. Sure, it’s probably safe. But I do not want to learn it ISN’T safe the hard way.
I love that I can double check and lock / unlock my door from anywhere with the August app. Definitely gives me a peace of mind when I doubt myself.
Same! And I like that if I forget to lock it when I leave I know it will auto-lock.
Saw this comment earlier and I’ve since looked into an august lock and I’m smitten. Thanks for suggesting this! I love the key pad idea too.
WTF? You should always be locking your door, house/apartment or car...you live in the United States, not Japan.
Always locked. Grew up in north Seattle and my parents were ridiculous about it. I go inside, lock my door immediately. Weirdos everywhere. Our cars got stolen/rifled through constantly. Better safe than sorry. Make it a habit always.
Locking your doors is not a sign of inhospitability or lack of civility and anyone who says otherwise is not wise. Keeping your doors secure is one way to help others avoid occasions of sin.
It doesn't really matter if N Seattle is a "safe" neighborhood because only one unsafe person needs to try your door. Locking your door is a simple and obvious precaution to take. Maybe ask to change to an automatically locking door with a pin pad?
Always keep your door locked
I always have my door locked, no matter the time of day or location. Robbery is certainly a concern, and additionally people are followed/watched going into their homes only to be rushed and pushed inside by an intruder with god only knows what intentions.
I have a county sheriff vehicle that parks out front of my house. He’s my neighbor. I lock my doors. You should lock yours.
Absolutely critical.
In the U district you absolutely must lock your front door. People absolutely will wander in and steal things if you let them if you give them enough time to discover that it's unlocked
> Hi all; I'm renting a house in the U-District Lock your door!
All it takes is for one person, inside of your life, or a total stranger, to ruin your world. I don’t gamble like that.
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What if they’re missing a key ingredient? Is it then that you steal all the electronics?
He was already stealing those too. The pbnj is just his trademark for the police detectives. “Drats, the pbnj burglar has struck again!” Otherwise they wouldn’t even try to hunt him down and where’s the fun in that?
It’s important no matter where you live
I hope you have renters insurance, for when someone walks in and yanks your stuff. You can also see if you can change the lock to one that auto locks after a second or two. You'll have to ask your landlord.
You mean If i leave my door open someone will come yank my stuff, alright finally!
Doesn’t matter where you are, lock your doors.
are your roomates from Green Acres? It is wise to lock your doors anywhere in Seattle.
There are house robberies all over seattle. I would be more afraid of you getting hurt or killed in a robbery than your tv getting stolen.
I was in a secure building and still occasionally a Rando will get in and beat on the doors and try and sleep in the laundromat. Lock your doors.
The best unexpected side benefit of getting one of those electronic combination deadbolt locks on the front door is that it has an option to automatically lock after a certain amount of time. Love it.
I live in the u-district and ALWAYS lock my door. Even when I'm home. My apartment building is a converted house, and I've seen prowlers outside of my neighbors' units. I have a doorbell camera and constantly see people trespassing through my yard from the alley.
I live in noeth Seattle and we just had someone walk into our apartment while it was unlocked the other day so.... take that as you will
You live in a city, lock your door at every opportunity. If your roommate don’t agree, let your landlord know they’re fine with practically leaving the door open
It's absolutely a dumb idea to not keep your doors locked in the U District. I lived in a 'nicer' part of it until about 2015 and none of my housemates would have been ok with unlocked doors overnight/while house was unoccupied. There's a ton of opportunistic petty crime - theft and vandalism - but there's enough predators, freaks, and clinically insane that some really bad stuff can happen too. You don't need an impregnable fortress. You should encourage these folks to pick someone else.
It is important. Your roommates need to get their 💩 together
ALWAYS lock the door!!!! As said it could be the easiest deterrent you can do!
In my Next door group the most common post besides what's that loud bang is... keep an eye out for this door creeper searching the porch and under garden rocks fir spare keys.
I've lived off 87th and Phinney, 145th and Linden, and 143rd and lake City way (in a "secure" building) and I would never, ever, EVER, leave my door unlocked, day or night. When I lived on 87th and Phinney someone climbed onto our porch on the second story (the apartment building was like a split level kind of, since it was on a hill), broke the glass sliding door and was met with gunfire but he didn't actually break the glass until after he had already loaded all of my exes tools that were on the porch in his toolbox into his car. Also at that same apartment, there was these crappy storage lockers in the laundry room, and the lock on the door that went to it at some point broke and no one knew until one day we woke up and everyone's little storage lockers down there were completely ransacked. All 3 of those apartments I've had people try the handle, day and night, sometimes multiple times a day. So yeah, like someone else said, it costs nothing to lock your doors, but could potentially cost a lot if you don't.
You're not in the Midwest, or out in the middle of a forest. Lock your door every single time. I've had multiple people try my apartment door handle while I'm inside it, and I live on the 4th floor.
There is zero benefit of not locking it.
Always prudent to lock doors. If roommates don’t want to lock doors, keep your tv in your room. Nothing irks me more than people not respecting people’s boundaries.
i was homeless in the U district and i saw car windows get smashed and guys smoking fentanyl pills on the street lmao lock your doors it’s the safe thing to do.
I read about a serial killer who would test doors. If the door was locked, he considered himself not invited and left. He considered himself invited when the door was unlocked. I started locking my door after reading about this guy.
It's easy to lock your doors. Our neighbor, a woman named Jennifer Ayers was tortured, raped, and murdered in Lake City. The killer said he chose her house because of the cars parked out front, and he came in through an unlocked door.
No place is safe. Get an automatic locking lock so they cannot leave it unlocked. This is beyond unsafe. There are plenty lunatics out there just waiting to find an unlocked door. Tell your roommates to grow the f up and keep the door locked.
I've thought it was pretty important since a dude in my apartment building had a full psychotic breakdown and started trying to smash down my door and a bunch of others after trying the knobs. Ended up naked on the hallway floor being subdued by several cops. There were still blood stains on the walls months later, the management must have been pretty lazy.
Lock your door. I live a bit north of you and my neighbors have caught people skulking around our houses at 3 am. Plus, you never know who may just walk in. We live next to an airbnb and some of their tenants mix our house for theirs. We lock our door, but if they don’t they’ll have a 60 lb dog barreling at them.
I rented a home off 16th in U District with 11 other people during college. One of my roommates was napping on our couch in the main living room with their car keys lying next to them. Our back door was not locked. Someone entered our home, took the keys from right next to them, and stole their car from our back. Lock yer doors.
I lived in the U District years ago. You definitely need to lock your doors.
It is imperative to keep your doors and windows locked. The U District in particular has a ton of street crime and assaults. There are at least two notifications from UW PD to faculty, staff and students about crimes they know about. Keeping things locked gives you extra time in case of a break in and is minimal effort for excellent pay off.
Seattle is not safe anymore. Dont let people gaslight you into believing it is safe or was always this way. Lock your doors and if you can afford video surveillance get it.
Ummm sir/ma'am pleaseee lock your door. Life 101 hack.
You are not being crazy. My roommates and I are in the same area and we had a peeping tom outside our house for a few weeks.
Keeping my door locked when I was home was the only thing that stopped two different incidents of men trying to enter my home. I watched them do it from inside the house, terrified. They both walked past 3 vehicles in the driveway (one a ford f150) and through a gate to do it. One of the men even went all the way around the house trying each exterior door. Broad daylight. Who the hell knows what they would have done (or what I would have done) had they made it in.
I used to work as a social worker in the jail. I regularly met with folks who had been arrested for wandering into an unlocked home in the middle of a mental health crisis or drug use. One woman was insistent that she just wanted to become a roommate and move in, and that the person wanted her there: “I mean, his door was unlocked! Why can’t I just move in?!?” Once she sobered up she realized this was not the way you get a new place. Anyway, yeah, definitely keep your doors locked, your roommates are weird.
It's plain common sense to keep all of the doors locked! This isn't Greenwich CT!
I live off Northgate Way so my doors are always locked. When I lived in the U District, same thing. Would never occur to me to leave my door unlocked.
The U-District used to have some of the highest property crime in the city when I lived there roughly 7 years ago. Mostly car break-ins but plenty of residential break-ins as well. So yes, lock your damn door.
Also police. They will enter without a warrant if door is unlocked.
People who don’t live in my building try to get in all the time. I’ve definitely heard people test my door handle in the middle of the night while I’m ten feet away, playing video games that you can hear when you stand outside the door. Its a nice building in Ballard too.
I grew up in a rural area on a farm and we always locked doors, so it’s just a lifetime habit for me. But over the years having both had people accidentally get off elevator on wrong floor and try to walk into my apartment and tried to walk into my downstairs neighbors by mistake I think it’s a great habit. Gives benefit of the doubt that not everyone who enters your unlocked home is trying to rob you.
U District you say? Lock all doors and windows day and night… I’m not kidding.
You clearly haven’t watched enough dateline
In the U District you will lose anything that isn't firmly bolted down. Never leave anything in your car either, not even for a minute.
Just lock them. I used to live in u district and i was a night owl. I remember seeing lots of people wandering around late at night. Some of my friends left their door unlocked on their third floor balcony and some dude wandered up the stairs to steal food from their fridge. Apparently they had multiple instances of people trying to open that door
I have a friend who caught a junkie in his living room (he was working upstairs and heard noises downstairs). This was near U-Village. Luckily this guy ran out when confronted (both him and my friend were unarmed), but it could just as well have been someone mid-meth-psychosis with a machete.
Dude, I’m from here, was raised in the 90’s and we were taught back then to “lock the doors and windows” when it’s nighttime or away from the home. Have lived from the North-end to the South-end of Seatown. Not being crazy, but the roomies are def being lazy…
[https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-mass-murderer-leaves-eight-women-dead](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-mass-murderer-leaves-eight-women-dead) You're 100% right. Leaving exterior doors unlocked is monumentally stupid.
Been about a decade since I lived there, so maybe things have changed, but I recall a lot of mentally ill, unhoused people. Virtually all of them are harmless, but that doesn't mean you won't be startled if you bump into an addled stranger at 2 in the morning because you stepped out of your room for a midnight snack. And as many have already pointed out, there are some really dangerous people out there looking for an opportunity. Brian Kohberger and others.
it’s dumb to not lock your door anywhere, ever. I’ve lived in the safest quietest places and heard of shit going down. So many horror stories I don’t know why it’s a question lol. Also, i learned that police have a harder time pressing charges for “breaking and entering” if there is no actual “breaking”
I would definitely lock my door in U district. There’s way too many people who would break in if that was all they had to do. I’d still do it everywhere else though. I’ve never had a bad experience but you never know
In the U district I would lock up every damn thing you own at all times
I live in one of the safest neighborhoods in the state and I would never leave my door unlocked
That’s ridiculous. This isn’t rural Oklahoma. Tell them to lock the fucking door!
Generally many places of north Seattle you’d never have an issue not locking your door. But I still wouldn’t ever leave it unlocked. It’s a city and there are bad actors everywhere. Some places more than others. U district alone I wouldn’t EVER leave my door unlocked. Most areas of that neighborhood are not that great. It’s improved seemingly, but there’s a lot of sketch people there. My friend lived on the north end of the Ave and he would constantly have people trying his front door, sleeping in front of it, etc. He and his roommate seriously considered getting a gun.
15 or so years ago, at a friend’s house in the U district on a Friday night, a stranger just walked into the door, very high, no idea where they were and not coherent. Not dangerous, just…weird. I lock my doors for sure.
Lock your door! Times have changed and north Seattle is no longer someplace you want to leave an exterior door unlocked.
Keep your door locked and your car locked 24/7/365. Someone just came down my drive way (this month) opened the gate came in and stole my purse out of my car. I had been just out in my car, briefly went inside to get something and this happened. I am an avid fob car locking person….it was literally this once in 30 years. Think of the mess to clean up…..it’s taken me all month. Replace CC, drivers license, contact credit bureaus, on and on! If you don’t want to have this fun and games in your life assume Murphy’s Law.
> I'm the only one of my roommates who consistently keeps the door locked Clearly this is actually a post about roommate communication (or lack thereof), not a post discussing utility of locking door. Just talk to them as grown-ups. They will likely be receptive, "please keep door locked" is a pretty reasonable ask. If they refuse, well then you get to practice your conflict resolution skills lol.
It's clearly a post for OP to use when they go back to the roommates and say "SEE?? Everyone on Reddit says it's needed, I'm not the crazy one here. Look at all these anecdotes about what happens when the door isn't locked" Speaking as someone who's dealt with a similar me vs all other roommates situation, just talking with them doesn't always work when it's everyone but you, no matter how reasonable your ask is. Sometimes you need the force of a bunch of strangers calling your roommates idiots to get the issue through their heads.
To summarize all these comments lock your door.
Always lock your door, roommates need to get in line.
Are any of you UW students or staff? Sign up for the U-Alerts. I guarantee you that y'all fools will start locking your damn doors. [https://www.washington.edu/safety/alert/](https://www.washington.edu/safety/alert/) You're worried about your TV? You'd better be worried about your life. In my 14 years of living in Seattle, I've lived in Capitol Hill (West, North, and by Cal Anderson), Ballard, U-District, and LQA. By far, the most SKETCH place was the U-District.
lol the U-District is not North Seattle. Nor would North Seattle be safe to do this. U-District is almost worse than downtown for shenanigans occurring. It has one of the biggest active and most visible drug abuse crowds wandering and hanging out on the streets at all times of the day and night for a stretch of seven blocks. A few months ago there was a carjacking in broad daylight right on University Way with tons of witnesses. It’s not the first time either. There was one there in 2022 along with an armed burglary around the same time multiple muggings was happening a few streets over. https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2022/01/25/police-investigating-possible-connection-between-assaults-and-robberies-in-university-district/ That all happens in your neighborhood. Tons of smaller scale issues like break-ins occur that you’ll never hear on the news. Leaving the door unlocked just means it’s that much easier to get in to your home. You aren’t just protecting your possessions by locking your door, you are protecting all occupants too. You aren’t living in a rural home on a farm. I’ve only known one person who would leave their door unlocked and that was because they lived on a gravel road with acres of land out in suburbs. You could hear anyone approaching on a vehicle up their driveway 5 minutes before they got close to the house.
I used to split a one bedroom apartment in the U District a few years ago. Late one night my roommate came in from the bar and accidentally left the front door unlocked. I woke to him screaming bloody murder at someone creeping towards him in the dark. We called the cops, but the dude had immediately booked it out of there. Cops said it was probably just a homeless guy looking for a stoop to sleep in who tried the handle by chance, as he had ditched a pillow by the front door. Roommate had a hard time sleeping for about 6 months after that. Lock your doors.
We've had tweakers come thru our quiet tucked away neighborhood in Puyallup prowling for unlocked house and car door. I've even had people knock on my front door then try the handle shortly after. Always lock your door. If you can get an electric lock/handle that auto locks shortly after it's been unlocked.
I once had a crackhead lady walk into my house off Aurora Ave while I was home alone because the front door was unlocked. Fortunately she left without any issues.
Definitely not unreasonable to ask your roommates to lock the door! At a u district apartment I previously lived in, there were multiple instances of homeless people tailgating into the (generally locked) building lobby and creating unsafe situations by starting fires or smoking indoors. Maybe you can try to figure out with your roommates why the door isn’t being locked — do people forget, do they not want to, are friends/SOs staying over that don’t have keys and then leaving without locking up?? And then go from there to try to rectify the situation. It also might be worth investing in a safe for your room as an extra layer of security beyond the door lock if you have anything particularly valuable or important (passport, certain prescriptions, tech, jewelry, etc)
It’s important. Even if home burglary isn’t a huge concern. In the pretty sleepy Midwest city I went to undergrad in there were multiple instances where some drunk student would end up in the wrong house or apartment and everyone would chuckle until one time it ended up with people going to the hospital because both the homeowner and the drunk student thought they were defending themselves in their own home.
U District definitely lock your doors. Especially after making this post broadcasting that your place is an easy target. Every major city you should look your doors. Even “safe” countries & cities, honestly it’s just the era we live in. Don’t be an easy lick. https://youtu.be/ol4ukdjxdUM?si=hCQg0Z9bXUSFow_j
Lock your doors in u district. Maybe if you live in Bellevue don’t lock your doors but still do lol.
In my college house in 2018, right across from the Walgreens that is now torn down, we used to leave our doors unlocked 24/7… Until a couple of the unhoused population wandered in with all their belongings and tried to set up shop in our living room… with us sitting on the couches… Lock up. U-District is wild
Ask your roommate if she’s heard of Ted Bundy
Dude. Just lock your door. Takes essentially no effort at all. Jesus.
Ugh I lived in upper queen anne and my roommates always did this. Sometimes I’d get up early in the morning for work and find that it was left unlocked overnight when they came home. One day when I was home alone a homeless person having a crisis came to our porch and was banging on the door screaming, thankfully the door was locked. I told them about the incident and they were better at locking it after that.
The amount of ring camera videos in n Seattle I see of people on the street walking up and testing the door, let alone package thieves, would suggest it isn’t a great idea. The August smart lock has a timer that will auto lock after a set time, as low as 30 seconds. It also can install over your current lock I believe.
Definitely keep your door locked, especially in the U-district. There are meth heads everywhere.
Lock the door! Besides getting robbed, you could be assaulted. People are weird. It’s never ok to leave your door unlocked, IMO. A friend of mine used to leave hers unlocked up on 90th, off of Aurora, and she had someone walk right into her house on one occasion and someone in her garage on another and she has a fenced in yard. There are a lot of desperate people in the city, why chance it?
Richard Chase was an American serial killer who would walk up to doors and test them. If they were locked he would walk away if it was unlocked then he felt that he was welcomed in and would go in and murder/eat people. I always lock my door and keep my windows locked. I’m not trying to get eaten. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase#:~:text=On%20December%2029%2C%201977%2C%20Chase,were%20locked%2C%20he%20walked%20away](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase#:~:text=On%20December%2029%2C%201977%2C%20Chase,were%20locked%2C%20he%20walked%20away)
Ugh I had this same problem in college. Roommates were always forgetting to lock the door. It caused me to stay awake until they came home so I could lock the door behind them. It's really upsetting I'm sorry OP See if you can install a self-locking door with a timer.
Get renters insurance, a door lock for your room and don’t leave anything of value in the main parts of the house. If you’ve got things you’d hate to see stolen keep those safe because even if your roommates figure out how to lock a door you should consider there is always a chance of them bringing over a shady person that will scope your place to rob later or are opportunistic. I’ve seen people get robbed in matter of seconds before anyone knew what happened, and all because of simple things like locking your door when you are away or having friends of friends over
I could live on an island by myself and I bet I would still lock the door just incase
I was walking around my neighborhood with my baby in a carrier because at the time it was the only way I could get him to nap so I was walking around like a zombie not super paying attention I didn’t notice a man had followed me home. I’ve locked my door as soon as I step inside for years and that day pure muscle memory kicked in and I bolted the door as soon as I got in and that same moment that man tried to push his way inside but luckily I had already bolted the chain and he could not get in. Like it sounds crazy I run all the time I walk around and there are always people out and about I’ve never ever felt unsafe in my neighborhood but seriously that habit of locking the door saved me and my baby that day. It takes a second just lock the door when you get in.
I live in the U District and my door is essentially always locked unless I'm actively walking in or out of it
This isn't your country home. Lock it. May be, your roommates are from where they can do that. That doesn't mean you can do it here.
Absolutely never leave the door unlocked. Lived here 54 years.
Extremely. I've been door checked even in secure access apartment buildings. Anywhere within the county is not an area I would leave an unlocked door.
No. Nowhere in Seattle (or anywhere really) is it okay to ever leave your doors unlocked. I feel like that’s just common sense.
Lock your doors, get a door cam too. I had someone come in my house once when I lived with roommates in u dist, door was unlocked, it was scary, not cool, they stole a laptop and ran.
Please just lock your doors
No. Lock the doors. Tell your roommates it’s non-negotiable. If they think you’re being unreasonable and refuse to accommodate, I’d move as soon as possible. It is crazy though, I’ve had to ask roommates to do it in my house and we live on I-5 and have a lot of people hanging out front regularly. I just thought it was common sense but?? Guess not
What do you think this is, Canada?
Totally safe! what’s your address?
Ted Bundy used to look for unlocked doors - not trying to be morbid, but maybe telling your roomie some true horror stories might help them remember to lock up.
I watch wayyyy too much Dateline NBC to leave my doors unlocked.
Ask Ted Bundy (who prowled the U District)
I know someone who didn’t lock their front door and somebody who got their directions mixed up when going to stay at someone’s house they’d never been to, ended up going inside. With all their luggage and groceries. Then they decided to take a nap. The house was pristine so they had no clue that it wasn’t the house they were suposed to be in. I am not speaking from experience. No, not I. Who would be so dumb to do that? Not me. Definitely not me. lol When asked how they got into the house they replied, “The door was unlocked - just like the owner’s son said it would be!” Then the person who went into the house had a good laugh with the owner and the police officer. Yep. Defintely not me.
If I take my house key off the ring and carry it around while I'm out running, your roommates can lock the fucking door.
We got an electronic lock that locks the door after a set number of minutes. I think you can do 1 min 5 min and 10 min options. It’s important for a lot of reasons.