One of the most common complaints I receive from tenants is about their neighbors smoking. It is a difficult complaint to handle, as you are caught between two tenants: one not wanting to breathe second-hand smoke, the other wanting to feel at home and do as they please in their apartment.
While it is my goal to get all properties managed or leased by Lingsch Realty smoke-free, we cannot change the lease terms of existing tenants whose leases do not stipulate that their apartments are non-smoking.
As most of you know, San Francisco recently enacted legislation to outlaw smoking in common areas. However, even if tenants are abiding by these laws, non-smoking tenants can still be bothered by second-hand smoke.
In early February 2013 Mayor Lee signed into law a Tobacco Smoke Disclosure Policy for San Francisco Rental Housing Providers. The policy requires that rental property owners with less than one hundred percent (100%) smoke free rental properties must:
1. Include in vacancy listings the unit designation as smoke free or smoking optional.
a. Designate all units as either smoke free or smoking-optional based on their current lease agreements. Owners with 50 residential units or less will until January 1, 2014 to develop a completed list of their apartments’ designations
b. Owners of 51 or more residential units will have until January 1, 2015 to develop a completed list of their apartments’ designations.
2. Disclose in writing to all applicants who will be offered the apartment areas within the building, including individual apartments, where smoking is optional, prior to entering into a new lease.
3. Maintain and update a master list that lists the location of all smoking optional units in a building (based on their lease agreements,) and is available to all tenants upon request.
Lingsch Realty will be putting together the required disclosures for all its regular management clients. If you are not a regular management client, but would like help in this matter, please let us know.
Best,
Natalie M. Drees