The Corley Team Real Estate Blog

We’re used to seeing “no smoking” signs in public places – like airports and restaurants. According to MSNBC, a growing number of landlords are enforcing smoking bans in more private places – like apartment complexes and condos. In fact, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued a notice encouraging landlords to consider smoke-free policies, which would essentially force people to stop lighting up in their own home! You can probably guess why.

Rita Turner directs the Center for Tobacco Regulation, Litigation and Advocacy at the University of Maryland Law School. She says many landlords are being sued these days, as people wake up to the reality that cigarette smoke doesn’t stay in one place. In apartment buildings, it can seep through doorways and vents, and enter other apartments down the hall, or even on other floors. There’s no such thing as “risk-free” exposure to secondhand smoke. Research has shown it’s very dangerous to your health – causing everything from asthma, respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome, heart disease, and – of course – lung cancer.

So far, most landlords say adding a “no smoking” clause to their lease has attracted more residents than it’s detracted. In fact, some landlords now advertise their smoke-free living spaces among other popular “green” amenities – like saline swimming pools, solar-powered trash compactors, or recycling bins. That doesn’t mean you have to move if you live in a building that still allows smoking. Lawyers say most apartment leases have something called a “nuisance clause.” It’s there to protect you from neighbors who make excessive noise, or do things that put your safety and well-being at risk. So, if a neighbor’s smoking bothers you, you have the right to file a complaint based on that “nuisance clause.”