I don’t. If I charged myself a stupidity fee every time I forgot to lock the door I’d be rich. Oh wait…
I suggest a smart lock for you since your guests are not so smart.
I do have a smart Lock but it isn’t an auto lock. Any recommendations?
I had this issue a good many times. I think Americans were particularly likely to do this - for reasons already discussed - that they were used to autolocks.
I solved the problem by installing a numeric lock (link) that autolocks but won’t lock you out (as long as you remember the code.)
I have smartlocks we can set to autolock. Sadly, that would require the guest to actually close the door. For some reason, over half of them feel the need to leave the outside doors wide open despite clear signs saying, “PLEASE CLOSE THE DOOR” on over single external door. This is not doing good things for my utility bills.
This is bordering on vandalism!
This is for a full-house rental?
I take it they have to open the doors first to get out? You can set an IoT alarm that goes off if door left open for more than a set time. You can even have it send an email to you, and possibly the guest too, that the door has been left open.
Another approach, in parallel or separately, is to notify a fee will be charged if doors left open.
We have three private rooms in our house–separate guest area and separate entrances. I work nights and I can’t count how many times I’ve come home at 7AM to find the guest entrance next to the garage wide open. My sister tells me she is also constantly shutting it and reminding guests to shut it. We’re looking in to an auto shut kind of thing for the doors (attaches at the top and pushes it shut) in the hopes that we can solve the problem. As it is, it is not only killing me in utilities, but it is also a wide open invitation to anyone who cares to rob my house, At least the guest area. My own part of the house is locked away from the guest entrances and the guests and my sister’s rooms have keypad locks on them.
The smartlocks send a message to my phone when a door is open through my Wink app, but it is somewhat unreliable for some reason. Regardless, there isn’t much I can do about it other than get frustrated when I’m on 12 hour night shifts and my sister and boys are sleeping. 
I wouldn’t give up if I were you. Where are you based?
In any case, I’m working on building a system that can handle this sort of an issue. Maybe I’ll post it here once I have something, and if it’s interesting to anyone.
I’m in Utah, just outside Salt Lake City. Its a good, nice neighborhood, but of course even good neighborhoods get robbed. I shan’t give up, of course–I think an automatic door closer thingy might do the trick. There are 3 different doors they leave open that need to be shut, but I’m sure we can figure something out!
Good to hear.
As it’s easier to try the option of charging a fee if doors left open, I’d be curious to see if that works first.
Automatic door closers seem a bit of an investment, plus as a matter of principle, guests must learn to be considerate enough when using someone’s home and pay the price otherwise.
Lowe’s or Home Depot has door closers for around $30. Then add e-locks set to auto-lock. We rent to college students and this is our setup for external doors. Works wonderfully. Don’t get frustrated - get smart.
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I am here to represent Forgetful Door-not-lockers everywhere. Of course @corvidae gets very annoyed with guests who do not comply with rules that she feels essential to her security, but, as mentioned above, habit is something that is very hard to overcome.
We leave our doors wide open in the day during the Summer months, and I think that some of our guests feel (at least at first) uncomfortable about this. German guests are particularly worried and if we go out in the evening, guests who come in by the front door before us very kindly double lock the door so that we are locked out! However, by the end of a week they tend to become as lax as we are and leave the patio doors open with abandon.
My daughter in London has multiple locks and bolts and I am constantly in trouble when I stay there because I’ve done the wrong combination of yale, mortice, bolts and chains …
My rule is thtat if the door is already locked when you come in or go out then you need to lock it after you. If it’s unlocked then you can leave it unlocked. If I’m home our door is generally unlocked. If I go out or go to bed then we obviously lock it. Never had a problem with our house guests not locking up after themselves. Have had a problem with guests leaving windows open when they check out of our standalone property which annoys the hell out of me, especially given there’s a sign on the wall by the door reminding them to make sure windows are secure.
The problem for me with non-door closers and lockers is that my dogs can get out and get killed if the front door is left open. I know that habits that have become muscle memory are hard to break, but sometimes it’s vital to do things someone else’s way. I was taught that you leave doors and gates how you found them. As I’ve always had dogs; I have a lifelong habit of closing front doors. I am constantly astonished by guests who go back and fourth to their car leaving the front door wide open. I even had a guest who came home late and tipsy from a concert leave the front door wide open. I found out in the morning when our dog tried to go out to greet the mail carrier. The mail carrier was not amused.
I’m sure if I thought there was a danger to doggies I’d make a definite effort to close doors. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned daughter’s insistence on doors being closed was to keep their elderly cat from wandering out onto the road. Sadly, Ron is no more (old age rather than accident) but they now have a house rabbit who is MUCH quicker at bolting out of any door left open. Theoretically he has the run of the house when not in his pen, but if he’s out, all rugs, curtains and cushions are in mortal danger!