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Now that you are protected from secondhand smoke at work and in most public places, how can you ensure you aren't exposed in your own home?
Smokefree housing is the TREND in real estate
No-smoking policies for condos are a good idea:
- Secondhand smoke, a deadly toxin, drifts throughout a building, entering units through crawl spaces, light fixtures and walls.
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According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, secondhand smoke cannot be controlled by ventilation, air cleaning or the separation of smokers from non-smokers. ASHRAE encourages smoke-free policies as "the only complete solution to the problem of secondhand smoke" (ASHRAE Report 6/30/05).
- Secondhand smoke can cause tensions between neighbors.
- Market demand for smokefree homes is high: 87% of Oregonians and 88% of Washingtonians do not allow smoking inside their homes.
Adopting no-smoking policies for condos is legal:
- Adopting no-smoking policies, even in individual units, at the time the condominium is created is the simplest.
- If secondhand smoke infiltration violates the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCR’s nuisance clause, condo associations may prohibit smoking to the extent needed to abate the nuisance fully, up to and including prohibiting smoking in individual units.
- If smokers sue, saying that the rule was not in place when they bought their unit, courts will probably continue to agree with condominiums that go smokefree. The majority of the courts apply the standard of “reasonableness”.
- Download Legal Options for Condo Owners
Adopting no-smoking policies for condos is doable:
Condo Owners:
- Begin attending your association board meetings.
- Find out how decisions are made.
- Speak up during an open forum or ask your board to be added to the agenda.
Condo Association Boards:
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