Tenants - Smoke-free Living Guide

Secondhand smoke exposure

While New York’s smokefree workplace laws protect workers from secondhand smoke exposure, no laws protect people from secondhand smoke (SHS) where they live. SHS drifts from smokers’ apartments to those of non-smokers, forcing many apartment, coop, condo, and public housing residents to breathe secondhand smoke.

 

If you or your family are exposed to unwanted SHS from a neighboring tenant, try these tips to help combat the problem.

 

Know the facts

• Smoke drifting from lit tobacco products and/or exhaled by smokers seeps into the living spaces of other tenants and common areas of the building. SHS travels through lighting fixtures, cracks in walls, around plumbing, under doors and shared heating/ventilation.
• More than a nuisance or bad smell: Secondhand smoke is a class ‘A’ carcinogen, like radon and asbestos. Its toxicity warranted a 2006 report from the U.S. Surgeon General, which included a section on secondhand smoke exposure in
  the home.
• 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.
• Smoking is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution. You have a right to ask landlords/management companies to protect you from unwanted SHS and to expect reasonable action.
• It’s legal for landlords/management companies of private and public housing to adopt smokefree building policies which protect your health and their property.*

Document the problem

• Write down how often SHS enters your home, when it’s noticeable, where it seems to come from and how it affects your family.
• Obtain a letter from a physician stating how the SHS is impacting you/your family’s health.
• Find other neighbors also affected by the smoke who will join you to address the problem.

Talk it Out

• Consider friendly ways to talk to the smoker. Offer solutions. Smokers are not always aware of their impact on neighbors.
• Phone, write or meet with your landlord/building management.
  If necessary, make an appointment. Provide documentation on health and SHS.
• List how the smoke is affecting you and ask the landlord for solutions. Offer solutions: like asking the smoker to smoke outside or reduce smoking.
• Follow-up with a letter documenting conversations with the landlord. Thank him/her/them for their time and ask for notification when something is done.

Explore legal solutions

• Last resort: find an attorney who knows tenant law.
• Tenants are beginning to bring lawsuits regarding secondhand smoke, and some are winning.
• The basis for a lawsuit could include: nuisance, quiet enjoyment breach and breach of habitability.
• Some cases can be filed by disabled persons under the Fairness in Housing Act.
  Caution: Law suits are costly, with no guarantee of winning and the results can be minor, like, ‘you can break your lease and move without penalty.’

Advocate for Smokefree Housing

• Gather support from neighbors to urge your landlord/building management to write a smokefree policy into the lease (See “Making Your Building Smokefree”.)