Page 58 - AAGLA-JAN 2022

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sidewalks, and parks will still be permitted somehow, but no smoking regulations are coming our way – and that’s a good thing despite my sarcasm about a homelessness crisis we cannot seem to get ahead of.
Under the UCLA study, they (they as in the “Bruins”) found that nearly 50% of renters had been exposed to unwanted secondhand smoke at one time or another at their homes. That’s a huge number...UCLA surveyed more than 5,000 renters and about 200 rental property owners (we tried to get more, but many of you were too reluctant to respond – it was difficult to convince you to take the $50 gift cards being offered...missed your chance, sorry).
Sadly, as we non-smokers know, most smokers do not believe they are hurting anyone or they chose to ignore the adverse health impacts of secondhand smoke drifting into other units through open windows and vents. The UCLA study also found that:
• 55% of tenants who live with someone with a chronic disease reported they had been exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes in the past year.
• 54% of tenants with children reported exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Of those tenants reporting smoke drifting into their homes, 39% came from tobacco, 36% came from marijuana, and 9% from E-cigs. The balance came from barbeques or fires, or some other unknown source.
• Also, 74% of renters had reported smoke came from outdoors, 64% reported it came from another unit, and 41% reported that smoke drifted in from both outdoors and another unit.
• Interestingly, 16% of tenants surveyed reported that they smoked or allowed someone to smoke in their apartment unit. Now, why would you allow that?!! It must have been the kids’ friends.
Overwhelmingly, 92% of rental property owners favored smoke-free policies...again, the reason is that smoking damages units, turnover is more costly, and smoking causes
tenants to complain about one another. That being said, housing providers want nothing to do with enforcement of smoke-free policies, and also do not want to be required to perform additional administrative tasks such as providing notices to renters or posting costly signs. While “no-smoking” may be a provision in their leases, most rental property owners do not want to go so far as to evict a renter for smoking in violation of a lease – which given current regulations today, most tenant protection ordinance make it very difficult to evict a renter for smoking in violation of their lease, and the origin of the smoke may be difficult to prove. And let’s not forget, evictions are costly and time consuming. Our hands are tied...basically. Some jurisdictions, like West Hollywood, outright prohibit evicting a tenant for smoking in violation of that City’s no-smoking at multifamily properties, the West Hollywood property owners have no real enforcement mechanism.
The UCLA study found that 3 out of 5 tenants live in buildings with some form of smoking ban, whether in common areas or individual units. But as I mentioned these policies can be difficult to implement, particularly in rent-controlled jurisdictions. That is why so many tenants reported to UCLA exposure to smoke in their rental units. Also, if a tenant who smokes has rented their unit before a no smoking policy was put in place, an owner typically cannot require them to stop unless the smoking ban is subject to local ordinance, particularly in rent-controlled jurisdictions.
In the absence of a prohibition by local ordinance, landlords can only ask existing tenants to voluntarily refrain from smoking. I have found the city-wide ban on smoking to be the best way to prohibit smoking in multifamily rental housing because it removes the enforcement obligation from the owner, and renters are more willing to comply when there is a threat of a fine imposed that might be imposed by the city. From our Association’s perspective, when it comes to smoke- free policies, we are almost always supportive provided the policies relieve our members of significant administrative obligations, excessive costs, and enforcement obligations.
Our ultimate goal is to assist you, our members, with providing safe and affordable housing at a fair return. Accordingly, policies to protect our residents from the health risks of
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