The Smart Move for landlords and tenants!
Smoke-free housing means multi-unit dwellings in which all residences and rooms are smoke-free, including all apartments, hallways and common areas. To prevent smoke from drifting into open windows and doors balconies, terraces and entryways must also be smoke-free. To control cigarette litter, outdoor areas including lawns and parking lots should be designated as smoke-free.
Tenant demand for smoke-free housing is at a all-time high in light of growing awareness of the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS.) Whenever smoking is permitted anywhere in a building, adjacent or nearby apartments are at susceptible to SHS that drifts with air currents through ventilation and heating ducts, through cracks and gaps in ceilings and walls, under doors and out of windows. If a tenant can smell cooking odors from another apartment, there is a good chance they would be subject to SHS exposure.
Toxic residue from tobacco use also clings to walls, carpets, drapery and furniture posing a hazard to all tenants that follow a smoker in an apartment. Recently this has been named "Third-hand smoke" and its hazards confirmed.
T-Free is compiling a list of smoke-free apartments and rental units in Tompkins County. The list will evolve as more landlords and property managers sign on.
Resources
Smoke-free housing is more than a local trend, it is both statewide and nationwide. Following are links to other Web sites with information for tenants and for landlords, and that provide examples of how smoke-free housing is promoted.
Steps
to Smoke-Free Housing NY: A new site about smoke-free rentals in
NYS
For tenants | For landlords
Smoke-Free Apartments in Rochester, NY (SHAC: Smoking & Health Action Coalition of Monroe County)
Western Mass Smoke Free Apartments (Hampshire County, MA)
MI Smoke Free Apartment (Smoke free housing for Michigan)
Indiana Smoke Free Apartments toolkit
Smoke Free for ME (Smoke free housing for Maine)
Live Smoke Free (Minnesota's Smoke Free Housing Program)
Smoke-free Housing NW (American Lung Association Oregon Chapter and Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program)
Model Policy for Smoke free Condo or Apartment (Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights)
Smoke Free Housing Consultants
Apartments.com: Smoke Free Apartments
Officials eye ban on smoky dwellings (Boston Globe, Sep 28 07)
*Links are provided for reference purposes only. Consumer and rental laws and protections vary widely from state to state, and within states, and information found on the sites listed here may not apply in New York State or jurisdictions within New York State.