When you call on the services of a licensed locksmith, if you don't have the necessary documentation, they won't carry out the work you require. 

A licensed and professional locksmith will ask you a series of questions before requesting the appropriate proof of ownership. This is to ensure that you are who you say you are, and that your motives are lawful. Therefore, if a person with ill-intentions were to attempt to hire a licensed locksmith to assist them in carrying out the following activities, they would be disappointed.

Open a Stolen Safe

Licensed locksmiths will refuse to open a safe unless the person claiming to be the owner can prove that the safe belongs to them. A locksmith will accept receipts of purchase as proof of ownership. If no receipt is available, the owner can also call the safe manufacturer to obtain a record of when the safe was purchased by that person.

If neither of these are available, then the locksmith will either suggest another form of proof or decline to open the safe. The locksmith will also request one or more forms of identification.

Let a Crook into Your Home

While it might seem possible for a crook, especially one that is familiar with a homeowner, to fool a locksmith into letting them into a property, it rarely is. Again, in the rare event that a locksmith does allow someone into a property that does not belong to them, they will be on full alert, requesting significant proof of identity from within the property itself.

Experienced locksmiths are not easily fooled and will call the police if they suspect foul play is afoot. Likewise, if a person does not provide proof identity, property records or proof of access rights, the locksmith will decline the job.  

Change the Locks for Anyone but the Owner

As in the above scenarios, if a person requests to change the locks of a property but does not have proof of property ownership along with identification, their request will be denied. However, if an ex-spouse who is still the part owner of the house, but is separated from their residing, albeit absent spouse, wishes to change the locks, they are legally allowed to do so.

Perhaps in the long-distant past, before the proper regulations were laid out, it may have been possible for unscrupulous characters to hire locksmiths for unsavoury deeds. Today, however, the only place the aforementioned scenarios might occur is in the pages of a work of fiction.

If you're ever locked out of your home, contact an emergency locksmith for assistance.