Smoke-free Apartments
Landlords/Managers: You may be eligible for a $100 gift card!
The first 25 landlords/managers who have three or more apartments in Genesee, Orleans, or Wyoming Counties and who have a WRITTEN No-Smoking policy will receive a $100 gift card to Home Depot or Valu Home Center!
To be eligible for a $100 gift card to Home Depot or
Valu Home Center, you must meet these conditions:
1. Have three or more units in Genesee, Orleans, or Wyoming counties.
2. You must have a written policy that states that your apartments are smoke
free. (We can help you with the language and what to do if you currently have
smoking tenants. NOTE: the policy only requires that tenants not smoke in the
apartments; it doesn’t require that they never smoke.)
3. You must be among the first 25 landlords/managers to provide written documentation
that your apartments are smoke free.
For more information:
•> Property Owners Questions and Answers
•> Landlords' and Property Owners' Guide to Smoke-Free Housing
Secondhand smoke is smoke exhaled by a smoker or drifting from the burning end of a lit cigarette or other tobacco product.
Unwanted secondhand smoke can travel within a building through shared ventilation, heating systems, cracks in walls, openings around plumbing, under doors and through poor insulation.
People who live in multi-unit dwellings have a right to be concerned when unwanted smoke drifts into their apartments from smoking neighbors.
Secondhand Smoke Health Hazards
- Secondhand smoke is NOT just a nuisance. It is a known health hazard.
- There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Secondhand smoke causes respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, especially in infants, children and older persons, as well as other illnesses and diseases.
- Existing conditions like asthma, heart disease, emphysema and other chronic illnesses are made worse by secondhand smoke exposure.
Smoke-Free Housing is Good for Building Owners and Managers
Multi-unit dwellings, where smokers live, have higher cleaning and remodeling costs including frequent re-painting, plus carpet and flooring replacement costs.
Smoking is the number one cause of apartment fires, damaging buildings and killing residents.
Smoking causes damage to residential property from fires, cigarette burns, and smoke residue on walls and curtains.
Units where a smoker has lived, or where the smell of a neighbor’s smoke is detectable, are harder to sell and/or rent.
Some insurance companies offer lower premiums for residence buildings that are smokefree.
Smoke Free NOW will provide free support and templates to change your lease
to make it include smokefree language.
For more information, call 1-877-SFN-1020.
Any landlord/manager who institutes a policy requiring that all their apartments be smoke free will gain these advantages:
- No liability for being sued under the Americans With Disabilities Act for not providing a non-smoking apartment policy.
- Lower cost for cleanup of non-smoking apartments.
- Higher resale value of building.
- More and more tenants are requiring non-smoking apartments
- Free listing of your apartments on statewide website