When Secondhand Smoke Invades Your Home
Homeowners and renters can take action against cigarette-smoking neighbors.
Non-smoking laws in public places have swept the nation, but until recently, if the smoke wafting into your house, condominium, or apartment from your neighbor’s cigarette bothered you, all you could do was move out. The situation is changing, however, and non-smokers bothered by their neighbors’ smoking may find that they can now take action.
Enforce a No-Smoking Lease
If the smoke that disturbs you comes from someone who rents, find out if the rental agreement contains a no-smoking clause; these clauses are becoming more common. If it does, then the tenant is violating the lease and you may be able to convince the landlord to enforce the clause (that is, tell the smoker to stop or move out). If the smoker refuses to honor the clause, it's up to the landlord to take the next step (evict the smoker). When a lot of neighbors complain, the landlord may be more motivated to take action.
Even if the lease does not prohibit smoking, the landlord may have grounds to evict the smoking tenant if the cigarette smoke is truly troublesome and interferes with your ability to enjoy living in your own apartment unit. All tenants enjoy the right to "quiet enjoyment," a quaint-sounding legal principle that gives tenants the right to occupy their apartments in peace and also imposes upon them the responsibility of not disturbing their neighbors. (Some leases and rental agreements include a clause that spells out this principle, but it applies to everyone even if it's not in the rental documents.)
 | Do the neighborhood kids have the right to play sidewalk baseball at all hours? |  |
It's the landlord's job to enforce both sides of this bargain. If the neighbor’s smoking makes your own apartment reek of cigarettes to a degree that seriously disturbs you on a daily basis, the smoking tenant is probably interfering with your right to quiet enjoyment. Again, you'll have to convince the landlord to take action, by asking the smoker to stop or face eviction. For more information on evictions, see How Evictions Work: Rules for Landlords and Property Managers.
|
|
