Reliable, Transparent Key Control: Every Condo Board's Fiduciary Duty

As a condo board member, your fiduciary duty requires you to act in the best interest of your community. This responsibility extends to every aspect of managing the association, including how you secure and track key access. Here’s why effective key control matters: 

1. Board Members Should Protect Their Communities 

The term “fiduciary duty” sounds formal and technical, but the Community Associations Institute (CAI) offers a more inspiring perspective: You’re like a superhero.  

Your role demands courage, integrity, determination, strategic thinking, responsibility, and service. When you can protect your community, you should take action. 
 

2. Poor Key Control Creates Liability Risks 

Failing to protect your community takes many forms: poor vendor oversight, misuse of funds, or inadequate enforcement of rules. It also includes mismanagement or misuse of keys, making key security and access tracking an essential part of your responsibilities.  

Key control policies fall under multiple common fiduciary duty claim areas, such as: 

• Use of association property
• Vendor and building issues  
• Staff issues  
• Operation of the association
• Premises liability issues  
• Enforcement of covenants 

Inadequate key control significantly increases your risk and liability exposure — especially if your community uses master keys.  

3. Key Security Breaches Damage Residents’ Trust 

It’s common practice for condo communities to keep resident keys or master keys on file for emergencies. But residents value the security their keys represent, and many hesitate to hand them over. When key management falls short, residents’ peace of mind disappears, leaving them feeling vulnerable and distrustful. Some real-world examples of key security breaches include:  

• Board members misusing keys, such as lending a resident’s key to someone or entering a resident’s home without permission
• Leaving keys accessible to unauthorized users  
• Failing to track employees’ key access   
  
  

📖 Related Reading

• A Wake-Up Call for Condo Boards: 5 Incidents That Jeopardized Residents 
• Three Condo Concierge Horror Stories 

4. Effective Key Control Reduces Security Vulnerabilities 

It’s easy to acknowledge that key management is important, but what does it look like in practice? First, store keys securely where unauthorized users can’t access them. You also need complete, verifiable key logs to document who’s accessed keys, when, and why.  

Manual methods, such as pegboards and physical logbooks, don’t provide secure storage or a reliable audit trail. These methods create significant security vulnerabilities and increase error rates.  

Instead, implement an electronic key control system that secures keys inside an electronic drawer only authorized users can access. Rather than requiring users to log each transaction manually, the system should automatically create a record the moment someone removes a key. 

Electronic key control systems can help you: 

• Consistently enforce key control policies by automatically authenticating users.
• Protect against claims through a verifiable audit trail.
• Restrict key retrieval by role or time.
• Support transparency and accountability by notifying residents when the key to their home is removed. 

When new board members join, familiarize them with your key control policies and train them how to use your system. 

The right key management policies and systems protect both your community and board from harm — and from legal exposure to fiduciary duty claims. Just like the superhero CAI describes, you’re using your abilities to protect those who depend on you, creating a safer, more secure community for everyone.