A Break In, and a Lesson Learned . . .

We had quite a scare at our house today . . . I left a bit earlier than usual from the house to take the children to Inflatable Zone.  I had been out of the house for about an hour when Mike called.  Apparently the back door of our house had been opened and the house alarm went off.  Mike was checking to see where I was, and he immediately asked the alarm company to send the police. 

I loaded up the kids again - Sammy was very good about the fact that he needed to leave when we had just gotten there - he obediently loaded up in the car again, and we headed back to our house.  When we pulled up, there were 8 cop cars parked in the front, as well as an animal control unit.  I had put Kona in the master bathroom before we left, and being the guard dog that he is, he was absolutely vicious!

The gate to the backyard had been found open, and the backdoor was found wide open as well.  The police needed to clear the house, and they also wanted me to get the dog out, rather than sending in animal control.  Sammy and Sophia stayed in the heated truck, and I headed into the danger zone . . . I could hear Kona's barking from the middle of the front yard - whoever tried to get into the house probably was scared!  The police cleared the house far enough for me to enter the hallway and head for the master, and when I went into the room Kona's barking increased even more. 

When I opened the bathroom door, he crouched down like he was about to spring onto me, and his teeth were bared in a growl.  As soon as he saw me, I said, "Kona!" and he ran to me and buried his head in my lap.  Poor Kona - he was being so brave, trying to protect our house!  Kona and I retreated to the front yard again, and allowed the police to finish clearing the rest of the house. 

After they finished, it was determined that there were no signs of forced entry at the back door, and nothing was amiss in the home.  However, I locked the back door right before we left, and with the gate being open and the door open wide as well, I was pretty concerned.  We had our house on the market for almost a year prior to moving back from the Huntsville area.  During that time, it was listed with 3 different realtors.  Each time, we got the key back, but who knows who all had access to the lockbox during that time, and perhaps someone made a copy and held onto it.

I truly believe that someone used a key, opened our back door, and then retreated when the alarm went off.  Thank goodness we were not at home, and thank goodness I remembered to set the alarm when we left!  I'm also glad Kona was in the house - he was quite the hero!
All in all, when we moved back, we probably should have had the locks changed immediately, but we were so focused on getting the house ready for Sophia's arrival that it just slipped our minds.  Not anymore!  I called B&B Locksmith and they sent a technician over right away.  $120 later, we had new locks, 7 new keys, and another little nugget of information that seriously irritates the fire out of me . . .

When we purchased the home from the builder, they told us by using a specific type of key they had changed all the locks in the house to only be able to be opened by our key, instead of the master keys that the builder, contractors, and subcontractors all had access to.  However, the locksmith informed me that only Quikset locks work like that, and ours were not Quikset.  Apparently, our home was still able to be opened by all of the master keys.  Doesn't that make you feel safe?

So . . . lesson learned - when you buy a house, or move into a house, do yourself a favor - spend a little over $100 and gain some peace of mind that no one else has access to your home.  Your family needs that, and so do you!