A lease agreement usually includes a set of rules that a tenant must follow or else they risk being evicted. One of the rules that can either be included or not, is smoking inside the premises. Not all landlords will allow smoking as there are a lot of risks involved.
You might be one of those landlords that are not bothered by smoking cigarettes or even marijuana. It is not stated in the Fair Housing Act that they protect the rights of smokers, so the landlords have the option not to allow it.
If you are a first-time landlord or a landlord who wants to consider changing his “no smoking” policy, then these insights just might help you. Let us weigh the pros and cons of this activity.
· Benefits
A lot of people do smoke. It has become a leisure activity for some that smoking can help them relax. It is a must for most of them to smoke at least 2-4 times a day and some of them want to do this in the comfort of their home.
Allowing smoking can attract more tenants. People usually do not want to feel restricted when they are in their own home.
· Downside
- Smoking is a fire hazard. They will not only lose their home in case of a fire, you will lose your income generating property as well.
- If it is an apartment building, the non-smoking tenants may complain of second-hand smoke that is equally dangerous to their health as the one smoking.
- There is also a thing called third-hand smoke that happens when the toxins from cigarettes are sucked up by rugs or curtains and will stay there. They can be hazardous to someone’s health.
- Smoking can also emit an odor that might not be pleasant for some people.
- It can leave yellowish stains on the walls and you will not maintain the pristine property that you wanted.
- Future tenants may not want to rent out your property if they find out that the previous owners are smokers. This could increase your vacancy rate and decrease your income.
Finalize your lease agreement.
Before you start creating your property listing at Padleads, make sure that you have your lease agreement prepared. Because once you do that, applicants will come pouring in after you forward your listing to popular web pages for house hunters. Once they submit their applications to you, you will not have the time to outline a contract anymore.
Since there are no laws that will be violated, you have an option to not allow it and you will not be charged with anything. But remember to specify this in your contract. Not including a no-smoking policy in the agreement will not grant you any authority to reprimand them.
If you do allow smoking, it should still be stipulated in the lease agreement if you have a designated area where you will allow smoking.
Who will take responsibility for any defacement in the property?
Usually, if a property experiences any damages due to it being an old structure, it is the landlord’s job to fix or upgrade it. However, damages caused by smoking is not a landlord’s responsibility and can be charged to the tenant through their security deposit. List down the damages they made and it is advisable to gather proof for you to have as a record.
Can they smoke marijuana?
If you have a no-smoking policy, then no. Some states have legalized this but it is still federally illegal. You have to protect yourself from the law at all times, remember that.
Invest in getting insurance that will help you in any event of a fire. Accidents do happen and you should have a backup plan prepared. If the fire was caused by a smoking tenant, then they should cover the cost of the losses.
The decision on this will rely on you and whatever you choose, so make sure that you are prepared. Some people will be pleased and some will not but do not forget that you are the landlord and you make the rules.