How do I announce smoking restrictions ?
Giving your tenants advance notice about smoking restrictions will help you gain compliance with the policy. You might want to go “over and above” your normal procedures for announcing rule changes. A little bit of extra work at the beginning could help you avoid headaches later on.
Use our Tenant Handout to talk to tenants about the benefits smoking restrictions and our Model Resident Notification Letter to announce your policy.
Make sure everyone knows about the new rule:
- Hold a meeting
- Send memos to tenants
- Talk to individual tenants
- Post flyers in the halls
- Give tenants at least 30 days notice (60-90 is better)
- Point out the rule when they sign or renew their lease
- Post signs and stickers in your building
- Market your building as smoking-restricted
- If tenants protest against smoking restrictions, remember there is no right to smoke and that smoking is not a disability. You have the legal right to create rules that protect your property from damage and fires. Smoking restrictions also protect your nonsmoking tenants from secondhand smoke, which protects you from potential liability.