Legal action to STOP neighbors smoking in/out apartment complex? (RANTS!)

[blackfang]

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[LBJ10]

My husband and I cheered when they made smoking in restaurants and bars illegal here. It’s okay if people want to smoke, but they need to be mindful of other people. When smoking was still legal, we would always ask for the non-smoking section. Even then, we wouldn’t be away from the smoke. I remember one restaurant that didn’t have a solid separation between the sections, there was just a half-wall thing. Anyway, I remember sitting in the “non-smoking” section only to have a trail of smoke travel from some guy sitting 10-15 feet away and right to our table. Ugh, so annoying! I’m glad we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Especially since my father-in-law used to smoke and sometimes when we would go out to eat with them he would smoke right across the table from me. Sure made my food taste gross.

Have you tried talking to your neighbors? Sometimes dirty looks and slamming of windows only make things worse. Actually talking to them politely about it might allow them to see your side of it and realize that you’re not some snotty you-know-what. They might see that you have valid concerns and they may agree to compromise. Maybe move further away from the building to smoke or something.

[Monkeybun]

You know, smokers are people too. Having no respect for someone just because they smoke is just wrong.

That said, unless there is a clause in the lease about smoking, you are out of luck. It is not illegal to smoke outside of a persons own home. And documenting a pet’s health problem, which has to be actually proven anyway, has no legal standing.

Bottom line, is that if your lease says nothing about it being a no smoking property, only thing you can do is move to one that is.

[LoveChaCha]

Police won’t do anything about stuff like that, unless the animal has harmed yours

You NEED to talk to your neighbors about this issue. I think that there needs to be a boundary drawn, and it is really disrespectful to judge someone just because they smoke. I don’t like being around smoking, but it is their choice. It is interfering with your life, so I suggest that you talk to them about it so that they know. if they do not do anything, I would suggest talking to the landlord and trying to straighten things out.

Take a deep breath and relax, before things get blown out of proportion. It is best to talk things out when you are calm.

[longhairmike]

if you have any guy friends with a trained spastic colon, you can retaliate by exposing them to intentional 2nd hand fumes…

[blackfang]

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[Beka27]

I don’t agree with trying to dictate how people live in their own homes. They pay their rent just like you do and if smoking is permitted in the apartment, that is their right. I would recommend you seek housing that has a firm no-smoking policy, or has separate smoke-free buildings.

[blackfang]

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[RabbitPam]

“Monkeybun – No, you are wrong.” Taurus, as legitimate as your complaint may be, or not, you still are going to make it worse with a confrontational attitude. Monkeybun, for example, is not necessarily wrong. But are you even showing her respect for her opinion here with that statement?

I think you are setting yourself up for a very prolonged and expensive conflict. So be it. You seem to be full steam ahead in taking legal action. Fine. But why are you asking us here, if you’ve already decided what you want to do next? Are you asking us to support you in your aggressive tirade against these people? (and I DO understand frustration in this type of thing. I am allergic to perfumes and had a coworker who was told not to wear it by Human Resources and her boss, so she’d sneak it and wait to see if I’d notice.) You are being abrasively contradictory to us if we happen to disagree with you.
(And by the way, I do think that continued reports to your Office Management IS the way to go. There are a number of mutual rights involved.)

Taurus, please take a breath and read the posts in the forums before you jump on with a rant. It’s just a request to think before you write. You’re very, very wound up about this, and not asking for help or advice, so think of this as the place to be calm and distracted rather than a place to unload all that anger. It leaves us no way to be helpful if we’re going to get our heads bitten off, too.

[Kate Monster]

I can definitely understand about incredibly annoying neighbors, I’ve had more of those than I care to remember. If you haven’t, I will suggest that when talking either to these people or your landlord that you try to be both reasonable and specific in the action you want taken. Again, I have no idea what all you’ve said so I may be suggesting something that you’ve already done, but maybe instead of saying that the smoke is bothering you and you don’t want them smoking, which they probably interpret as ‘you can’t smoke anywhere’ and is maybe too vague for the landlord to have any idea as what to do about it, request that there be a designated smoking area on the property, preferably with those little cigarette trash cans (I have no idea what they are called) to keep the area cleaner and the smoke hopefully away from your window.

[Michelle&Lolli]

I read your original post. I understand how frustrating it is. At my last apartment, I lived below a chain smoker. he smoked in the hallway and the smell drifted out of his door and windows if they were opened. I have asthma and it aggravated my breathing. Also, if I turned my furnace/air conditioner off, the smell drifted into my apartment that way. Yes, it aggravated me in general. But………aside from closing windows and getting an air purifier, there was not anything I could do.

Sadly in many states, renters sure don’t seem to have very many rights. From my own research, if something is not specifically stated in the lease, there is no legal ground for either side. If you can’t afford to move, then you need to make the best of it. Talk to the neighbors to explain your position in a calm and civil way. See if you can come to some kind of agreement where they don’t smoke close to the buns window. And buy an air purifier. Unless you end up living on a deserted island, no matter where you live (house or apartment) you are ALWAYS going to have to deal with neighbors doing things that you don’t agree with or annoy you. And as long as they are not violating the lease or on their own property, there is not a darn thing you can do about it.

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