Can renters have a security system in Oklahoma City?

The city does not care whose name is on the deed

Oklahoma City's alarm rule is written about the act rather than about ownership. Municipal Code section 43-84 says no person shall operate, connect or maintain an alarm system at a particular location without obtaining an alarm system permit from the City, within 15 days of the system becoming operational. A tenant operating a system is a person operating a system.

Source: City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-84 — alarm system permit required; City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees

The permit also has to be posted on the premises where it is visible from outside, on or immediately beside the front or main entrance. In a house that is straightforward. In an apartment it is worth asking your management office where they want it, rather than discovering after the fact that you have put a document on a door the lease says you may not decorate.

Source: City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-84 — alarm system permit required

It is $27.00 for the initial permit and $17.00 a year to renew, one permit covers both a security alarm and a fire alarm at the same address, and there is no online application. You download the form, fill it in and mail it with payment.

Source: Oklahoma City Police Department, Alarm permit — requirements, fees and false alarm fees; City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees

The building's master permit is not your permit

This is the detail that catches almost every apartment resident, and it runs the opposite way to what people assume. The owner or property manager of a complex holds a master permit for the property. That does not cover you, and individual tenants are required to obtain their own permit for their unit within 15 days.

Source: City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees

Read that as a reason to register rather than a reason to avoid it. The alternative is not that the fees go to somebody else. It is an unpermitted address, which is a violation of section 43-84 and which also means the police department has no record associating your unit with your emergency contacts or your alarm company.

Source: City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-84 — alarm system permit required; City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees

Your lease is the second rulebook, and it is the stricter one

The city tells you to register. Your lease tells you what you may physically do to the unit, and that is where most renters actually get stuck. We are not going to summarize your lease for you, because leases in this metro differ substantially and the one that matters is the one you signed.

• Look for the clause on alterations, improvements or fixtures. That is the one that governs drilling, screwing and anything adhesive.
• Look for the clause on door and lock changes. A smart lock is usually treated as a lock change rather than as a gadget.
• Look for the clause on the landlord's right of entry, because a system that arms automatically can lock out a maintenance visit you agreed to.
• Look for anything about telephone, cable or internet service alterations, which is where a wired panel connection can quietly become a lease issue.
• Look for what condition the unit has to be returned in, because that defines what counts as damage at move-out.

Ask in writing and keep the answer. A property manager saying yes in an email costs them nothing and protects you two years later when a different manager is doing the walkthrough.

What fits a unit you are going to hand back

The pattern is simple enough. Anything that goes inside your own four walls and comes off cleanly is usually fine. Anything that touches the exterior, the door hardware, the wiring or a shared surface needs a conversation first.

The shared-wall problem nobody mentions

Apartments and duplexes create two failure modes that a detached house does not have, and both of them are about sound and sightlines rather than technology.

• A siren in a shared building is heard by people who cannot do anything about it and who quickly learn to ignore it. A loud local siren is less useful here than it is on a half acre.
• A camera that covers your door usually also covers a neighbor's door, a walkway, or a parking space that is not yours. That is worth thinking about before you mount it, both as a courtesy and because your neighbors are the people you most want on your side.
• Motion sensors near a party wall pick up vibration from the other side, which is a recurring and very annoying source of false alarms.
• Maintenance staff with a key are not an unusual event, they are a routine one. Everybody who is entitled to enter needs to be part of your plan rather than a surprise to it.

The fourth one causes more false alarms in rentals than anything else. Agree with your management office how entry notice works, and put whoever will enter on the contact list or give them a code that identifies them.

If there is already a system in the unit

Plenty of Oklahoma City rentals come with the bones of an old system: a keypad by the door, a panel in a closet, contacts on the doors. Treat it as unknown equipment until proven otherwise.

Move-out, and what goes with you

A rental has a known end date, which is an advantage if you plan for it from the start. Buy equipment that unclips, keep the original packaging for anything that has to be returned, and photograph every mounting point before and after.

The permit does not come with you. An Oklahoma City alarm permit does not transfer to a new location, so a move to another unit or another house means applying again at the new address, even if it is across the parking lot. Your false alarm history does not travel either, which is the one genuinely good part of that rule.

Source: Oklahoma City Police Department, Alarm permit — requirements, fees and false alarm fees; City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees; City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-86 — excessive false alarms

The monitoring contract is the part that can outlive the lease. If you signed a multi-year agreement for a one-year lease, ask now what moving does to the term rather than in the week you are packing.

If the landlord says no

It happens, and there is usually more room than the first answer suggests. A refusal is often about drilling, exterior appearance, or a fear of being left with holes, rather than about the idea of a tenant having an alarm.

• Offer specifics. A written list of exactly what would be mounted and how it attaches is much easier to say yes to than a general request.
• Offer to restore. Committing in writing to remove everything and make good any marks removes most of the objection.
• Ask about the parts that need no permission at all. A hub on a shelf, a sensor on a window frame and an indoor camera on a bookcase change very little about the unit.
• Ask whether the answer changes for equipment that stays. Some owners will agree to a system they end up keeping.
• If the objection is about the door, separate it. Locks and cameras are different conversations and one refusal does not have to settle both.

What you should not do is install anything that needs permission and hope nobody notices. Anything visible at a walkthrough will be noticed, and it is the kind of dispute that gets settled out of a deposit.

The short version

• Renters in Oklahoma City need their own alarm permit, within 15 days of the system going live, at $27.00 initial and $17.00 a year.
• A complex's master permit does not cover your unit, and your permit is what enforcement measures for your address.
• The lease controls what you may fasten, drill or change. Get permission in writing and keep it.
• Wireless sensors, a plug-in hub and indoor cameras fit a rental. Doors, exteriors and wiring need a conversation.
• Maintenance staff with a key are the most common cause of false alarms in rentals. Plan for them rather than be surprised by them.
• Treat any system already in the unit as unknown until you know what it reports over and who pays for it.
• The permit does not move with you, and neither does your false alarm history.

Source: Oklahoma City Police Department, Alarm permit — requirements, fees and false alarm fees; City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-84 — alarm system permit required; City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code § 43-86 — excessive false alarms; City of Oklahoma City, Ordinance No. 26,140 — Municipal Code ch. 43 art. III (alarm systems) and § 60-43-11/13 fees

Common questions

Do renters need an alarm permit in Oklahoma City?

Yes. Oklahoma City requires a permit from any person who operates, connects or maintains an alarm system at a location inside city limits, within 15 days of the system becoming operational, and tenants are not excepted. In an apartment complex the owner or property manager holds a master permit for the property, but each tenant must still obtain their own permit for their unit.

Does my apartment complex's alarm permit cover my unit?

No. The complex's master permit belongs to the owner or property manager. An individual tenant must obtain a separate permit for their own unit within 15 days, and where a tenant holds one, that permit rather than the complex's is what enforcement is measured against for that address. A false alarm at your unit lands on your record.

Can my landlord stop me from installing a security system?

Your lease governs what you may physically do to the unit, including fastening, drilling, altering door hardware and changing wiring, so the practical answer usually depends on the clause about alterations and fixtures rather than on the alarm itself. Ask in writing, offer a specific list of what would be mounted and how it attaches, and commit in writing to removing it and making good.

What kind of security system works best in a rental?

Equipment that attaches without permanent changes and comes off cleanly. Wireless door and window sensors, a hub that plugs into an outlet, and indoor cameras are usually workable. Doorbell cameras, exterior cameras, outdoor wiring and smart locks are the ones that need explicit permission, because they touch surfaces, hardware or areas that are not exclusively yours.

There is already an alarm panel in my rental. Can I use it?

Ask the landlord in writing whether it is monitored, by whom, who pays for it, and what it reports over, because a panel wired to a phone line that was disconnected years ago is a keypad rather than an alarm. Assume every stored code and phone number belongs to a previous tenant until it has been changed. If it is reactivated in your name, the Oklahoma City permit requirement applies to you.

What happens to my alarm permit when I move to a new apartment?

It does not come with you. An Oklahoma City alarm permit does not transfer to a new location, so moving to another unit means applying again at the new address and paying the initial fee, even if the new unit is in the same complex. The one benefit is that your false alarm history does not travel either, so the new address starts clean.

Keep reading

• Do I need an alarm permit in Oklahoma City?

  Oklahoma City requires an alarm permit for every monitored alarm system, home or business. Here is who needs one, what it costs, how to get it, and what happens when the police get called out to a false alarm.

• Wireless vs wired home security systems

  Two decisions get filed under the word wireless: how the sensors reach the panel, and how the panel reaches the monitoring station. Here is which one actually matters.

• How do I move my security system to a new Oklahoma City home?

  Three separate things have to move when you do: the permit, the contract and the hardware. They move on different timelines, only one of them is automatic, and the one most people forget is the one the city fines you for.