Costs and Benefits of Implementing a Smoke-Free Policy in Multi-Unit Dwellings
Costs of Allowing Smoking in a Multi-Unit Property
Health Harms from Secondhand Smoke Exposure
Secondhand smoke in indoor environments is a serious health and economic concern for owners and managers of multi-unit dwellings, as well as for tenants residing in multi-unit properties. In 2006 the United States Surgeon General concluded that secondhand smoke exposure causes serious health problems in nonsmokers, including heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory problems, and that the only way to prevent these health dangers is to completely eliminate smoking in indoor environments.[1] A 2010 Surgeon General’s report added that any exposure to tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, is harmful, and that the damage from exposure is immediate.[2]
Economic Costs of Allowing Smoking in Multi-Unit Dwellings
In addition to the health risks, the economic cost of allowing smoking by residents of multi-unit dwellings is significant and includes costs related to the risk of fire, maintenance, rehab and resale. Between 2006 and 2008, an average of 9,000 smoking-related fires occurred annually in residential buildings in the United States, accounting for 2 percent of residential building fires responded to by fire departments and resulting in an average of approximately 450 deaths, 1,025 injuries, and $303 million in property loss each year. Dollar loss from residential smoking fires is higher than residential nonsmoking fires at nearly twice the loss per fire.[3] Multi-unit apartment owners estimate that it costs anywhere from $500 to over $8,000 extra to rehabilitate an apartment which has housed a smoker versus a non-smoker. Extra costs include scrubbing, priming and re-painting walls covered with tar and nicotine, replacing carpet, replacing counter tops that have cigarette burns, and scrubbing fans in bathrooms and kitchens that have tar and nicotine.[4]
Benefits of a Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Property
Increased Resale Value
When it comes times to sell a property research suggests that smoke-free apartment buildings may have increased resale value. Agents who have assisted people selling or shopping for everything from starter-home Capes to Victorian mansions, agree: as the number of public places in which a person can smoke has shrunk, so has the number of home buyers who are even willing to consider a house with smoking in its past.[5]
Resident Preference
Eighty percent of Michigan residents are nonsmokers,[6] and nonsmokers in Michigan overwhelmingly prefer smoke-free environments[7]. Even many smokers prefer to smoke outside rather than smoke in their home, either for aesthetic reasons or to protect other members of their household from the health harms associated with secondhand smoke exposure. The market potential for multi-unit property owners is therefore considerably higher if their property is smoke-free.
Legal Benefits
Implementing a 100 percent smoke-free policy in multi-unit dwellings is legal and entirely the choice of the landowner. Conversely, allowing smoking in a multi-unit property may put the property owner at risk of legal liability. There are several ways a property owner could be held liable by tenants if smoking is allowed in a multi-unit property. First, liability may arise through common law theories including breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, negligence, nuisance, breach of warranty of habitability, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespass, and constructive eviction. Second, nonsmoking tenants afflicted with breathing disorders may use the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or the Fair Housing Act to bring legal action against landlords for not making reasonable accommodations to protect these tenants from secondhand smoke in common areas or in their apartments. Finally, in some cases allowing smoking in a multi-unit property may violate state and local building codes or state sanitary codes.[8]
Support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
In the case of public housing and other affordable housing, HUD strongly encourages public and Indian housing authorities and other HUD-assisted owners and managers to adopt smoke-free policies.[9][10]
Low Implementation Costs
The costs associated with implementation of a smoke-free policy in a multi-unit property are small, particularly when compared to the health and economic benefits of such a policy. Depending on a property owner’s preference for implementation, costs may include time associated with developing an implementation timeline or plan, holding a meeting with tenants to inform them of the policy change, and consultation with an attorney on legally informing tenants and change of lease language.
Free Assistance Available In Michigan
In Michigan, property owners benefit from an established resource that provides assistance to property owners seeking to implement a smoke-free policy. The Center for Social Gerontology’s Smoke-Free Environments Law Project offers resources and consultation free of charge by calling (734) 665-1126. In addition, information is available at www.mismokefreeapartment.org .
[1] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General—Executive Summary. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006
[2] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD. 2010.
[3] U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Topical Fire Report Series: Smoking-Related Fires in Residential Buildings. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Fire Administration, National Fire Data Center, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Volume 11, Issue 4. September 2010. www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/reports/index.shtm
[4] Smoke-Free Environments Law Project. Save Money, Save Your Building. www.mismokefreeapartment.org November, 2010.
[5] New York Times. Real Estate and Secondhand Smoke: On Tobacco Road, It’s a Tougher Sell. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE1DE103BF93BA35751C0A9629C8B63 February 8, 2004.
[6] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adult and Community Health, 2009.
[7] Smoke-Free Environments Law Project. Public Opinion on Smoke-Free Environments- Michigan Voter Surveys on Smoke-Free Environments and Related Topics. http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm November, 2010.
[8] Smoke-Free Environments Law Project. Your Risks. www.mismokefreeapartment.org November, 2010.
[9] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Notice: PIH-2009-21 (HA). Office of Public and Indian Housing, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. July 17, 2009.
[10] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Notice: H-2010-21. Washington D.C. September 15, 2010.