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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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More Condo Owners and Landlords Are Banning Smoking from Units [10/18-2]
Excerpts from: No smoke, no ire More condo owners, landlords breathe easier by banning smoking from units
By Chris Berdik Boston Globe [10/17/04]
Susan Battista's condo in a South End brownstone was far from airtight. When
her downstairs neighbors sauted onions, for example, she could smell it. And if
those neighbors smoked, Battista reasoned, then she, her husband, and their
3-year old daughter would all breathe it. So this spring, when one longtime
neighbor moved out, Battista and the other owners changed the condo bylaws to
make their building smoke-free.
"We had all been one big, happy family. But you always worry when you have new people come in," said Battista.
As the percentage of Massachusetts smokers drops and the number of places where smoking is acceptable continues to dwindle after the recent workplace smoking ban, the "no smoking" sign is slowly spreading to where people live.
Because restrictions on individual condo units can be made only in the condo's master deed or bylaws, typically requiring a 75 percent approval vote from the owners, it's still not common for condo buildings to be completely smoke-free like Battista's. But more and more associations are barring smoking in building common areas, like hallways, courtyards, lobbies, and roof decks, a move that can be made by the condo's board of trustees alone.
Robert Weintraub, director of property management for Boston Realty Works, said 15 percent of the condos his company manages have passed such smoking restrictions, all within the past 18 months. Mark Mediate, founder of Mediate Management, said "almost all" of the 55 condo buildings in his company's portfolio have recently banished smoking in common areas.
Condo dwellers give several reasons for restricting smoking. Most cite health concerns, since the Environmental Protection Agency has long considered secondhand smoke to be a Class A carcinogen, as dangerous as asbestos. Robert Kline, a senior attorney with the Tobacco Control Resource Center at Northeastern University, says that in a multi-unit building, smoke can travel through open windows, under doors, gaps in floors and walls from plumbing and wiring, and through shared heating and ventilation systems.
While some worry about the health risks of secondhand smoke, others just hate the smell.
"When your unit smells like an ashtray, it's not very pleasant at all," said Jim Tallent, who recently tried to ban smoking in his waterfront condo tower after heavy smokers moved into a nearby unit. His bylaw amendment did not get the needed 75 percent approval.
Another reason given for going smoke-free is safety. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "careless smoking" is the leading cause of fire deaths. Paul Weston, a database developer who rents out the first floor of his Malden home, said there was a fatal fire on his street a few years back started by somebody smoking in bed. It was part of the reason Weston put a no-smoking clause in the lease when a new tenant moved in about a year ago.
"The lease designates a smoking area outside the building," he noted. "Sounds like overkill. But with rental housing, you need to be specific."
Weston, a member of the Massachusetts Rental Housing Association, says younger landlords are more willing to put a no-smoking clause in a lease, as the percentage of smokers in Massachusetts continues to diminish -- from 27 percent of adults in 1986 to 18 percent in 2002, the latest figures available from the state health department. Nevertheless, many landlords believe they can't or shouldn't try to control a person's behavior in his or her home.
"What we've been told is that we can't interfere with people's right to smoke," said Kline of the Tobacco Control Resource Center. "But there is no right to smoke."
Landlords can legally prohibit smoking in rental units just as they can prohibit pets. But banning smoking is also a business decision. Many landlords are concerned about driving away possible tenants. Asked whether any of his company's rentals had been designated smoke-free, Weintraub of Boston Realty Works responded, "No way. The rental market is bad enough. The last thing we need to do is make them smoke-free."
But Kline and other tobacco control advocates counter that landlords who allow smoking open themselves up to liability when nonsmoking tenants seek relief from secondhand smoke. They cite, for example, a 1998 case from the Boston Housing Court in which a judge ruled in favor of tenants who withheld rent when their building's owner failed to keep cigarette smoke from a downstairs bar from entering their apartment.
And when it comes to condos, realtors say tobacco residue and smoke odor from a previous owner makes the place a much harder sale down the line.
"It's a turnoff for buyers," said David Crowley, a Boston realtor. "They're looking for something that's crisp and clean and fresh. And they're paying good money for that."
"Previously, when so many people smoked, it wasn't a strange odor coming from a home," noted Joanne Connolly, a realtor in the western suburbs. "But now, most homes are relatively smoke-free. So when you do have a home that has smokers in it, it's a lot more noticeable."
A home for sale with a strong smoke odor has less of what Boston realtor Roberta Orlandino calls "curb appeal." Orlandino says it took her five months to sell a condo in the Back Bay that was covered in tobacco residue, while Boston-area condos now average only a month and a half on the market, according to MLS Property Information Network.
The realtor "wanted to sell the unit, rather than turn anybody away," Battista explained. But Battista and her fellow owners argued that a guarantee against secondhand smoke would attract more buyers than a smoking ban would dissuade. As it turned out, said Battista, "the unit sold its first day on the market, for the asking price." 
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