How often have you come home to your apartment where the hallway smells of stale smoke? If your answer is “never” then you don’t really have to worry about this. However, the rest of us do.
As of next year, there will be a new law in place could ban smoking in all areas of residential buildings—rentals, co-ops, and condos—and that includes inside your home.
Under the new law the building will have to create a smoking policy that “would be required to be provided annually to tenants, and incorporated into leases and purchase agreements.” Now, while there is no requirement of what the building owners need to include in this policy, it will give the building owner or board the ability to dictate whether or not you can smoke within your home or on your balcony.
The legislation text states that all building owners will be obligated to come up with a policy that “addresses all indoor locations…including common areas and dwelling units, and all outdoor areas of the premises, including common courtyards, rooftops, balconies, and patios, and any outdoor areas connected to dwelling units.”
The law won’t be in effect until August of 2018, and will only affect new tenants moving forward, not the ones that are still within their lease or rental agreements at that time.
Featured image source: Photo by Bart Scholliers on Unsplash