1
Adopt A Smokefree Housing Policy
-
Smoke
drifting from lit tobacco products and/or exhaled by smokers
seeps into the living spaces of other tenants and common
areas of residential buildings. Secondhand smoke (SHS)
travels through lighting fixtures, cracks in walls, around
plumbing, under doors and shared heating/ventilation.
-
Smokefree Policy: Leases that prohibit carrying or using
lit tobacco products in both public and private areas
of multi-unit housing are legal ways for landlords and
management companies to protect property and tenants from
the damage caused by secondhand smoke.*1
2
Save Money
Avoid the excess building maintenance costs caused
by smoking:
-
Extensive
cleaning when smokers vacate a residence.
-
Increased repainting.
-
More frequent rug and window treatment cleaning and replacement.
-
Repair or replacement of floors and countertops burned
by cigarettes.
3
Protect Property and Lives
-
Cigarettes
are a leading
cause of residential building fires.1
-
Cigarette-caused fires are the #1 reason for fire death
in the US.2
-
In New York, cigarette-caused fires kill 5 times more
people than fires from other causes.3
-
Discounts on fire, life and property insurance are offered
by some companies to smokefree buildings.4
|
4
Invest in the Demand
-
In
New York, 74% of non-smokers favor no-smoking policies
where they live.5
-
Many renters view smokefree housing as a desirable amenity.
-
50% of NYC renters expressed a willingness to pay more
to live in a smokefree building (2005 survey).
-
Smokefree policies help to maintain property values:6
-
Apartments that smell of secondhand smoke are harder
to rent.
-
Coops and condos are harder to sell.
-
Promote your smokefree property to realtors, consumers
and in newspaper ads.
5
For the Health of it
-
More than a nuisance or bad smell: Secondhand smoke is
class ‘A’ carcinogen, like radon and asbestos,
with more than 4,000 toxic chemicals that seep from unit
to unit.7
-
Among the many illnesses caused or made worse by SHS are:
lung cancer, asthma, sinus infections, ear infections,
chronic cough, sudden infant death syndrome and heart
disease.8
6
Liability Protection
-
Public
tolerance for exposure to SHS at home appears to be rapidly
decreasing as the hazards become known.9
-
An increasing number of secondhand smoke and housing cases
are being heard in the courts.10
-
Tenants with pre-existing physical conditions aggravated
by SHS may file complaints under the FHA (Fair
Housing Act).11
-
Landlords, management companies, condo associations, coop
owners and smokers are vulnerable to nuisance suits, warrant
of habitability suits, quiet enjoyment suits and FHA complaints.12
-
Adopting smokefree building policies are legal and a way
to avoid possible future secondhand smoke law suits.
| RECENT
NYC CASE: In 2006 (Poyck
v. Bryant), a NYC judge ruled that tenants who
broke a lease because of secondhand smoke exposure
were not liable for $12,000 in back rent. The landlord’s
failure to take action to protect the tenants from
SHS was considered a ‘breach of warrant of
habitability,’ guaranteed in every lease. |
*indicates
a definition or exception |
