[CA] Deadbolt broken. Front door won’t lock and landlord is unreachable

Location: California, USA. Posting on behalf of a friend.

I live in a building with 4 units total. My landlord lives in one of the other units, but is out of town and not responding to any calls or texts.

The front door to the building has a deadbolt which can be unlocked with either a physical key or a keypad. Tenants are not given a physical key. We are only given the current keypad code.

Yesterday, the keypad stopped working. It won’t lock from the outside, and it’s not responsive to any inputs. We have no contact info for any maintenance personnel. It’s been 2 days now.

• Can we call a locksmith to try to repair the deadbolt keypad? Can we somehow charge the landlord or our renters insurance for this?

• Can we ask a locksmith to try and make a physical key for us, as a temporary measure?

• Do we just have to leave the front door unlocked while waiting around for the landlord to get back? What if someone tries to break in during this time; are we liable for that?