Guidelines For
Listing Smoke
Free Apartments
Before listing your property on our free website they must be 100%
smoke free
in all units and other interior spaces in each smoke-free building and
must
have a written smoke-free policy provided to all tenants. NO SMOKING
signs
should be conspicuously posted on common area doors. We recommend that
the
smoke-free policy include outdoor patios, balconies, sidewalks and an
area
within a reasonable distance, preferably at least 25 feet from the
building.
Much more
information about
smoke-free apartments for landlords is at
http://www.mismokefreeapartment.org/landlords.html
Tenants Want Smoke-Free
Buildings!
A largely unmet
demand for
smoke-free housing exists in Nebraska. In 2005 a Douglas County survey
of
renters found:
- More
than 70% say they are likely to choose a non-smoking building over a
similar building that allows smoking.
- 38%
of renters would pay more rent to live in a multifamily building where
smoking was not allowed.
- Almost
half (44%) of respondents report that secondhand smoke gets into their
rental residence from somewhere else in or around the building.
- 70%
of residents who encounter secondhand smoke in their homes say that it
bothers them.
- 36%
say that it bothers them a lot and some of them even enough to move.
If you have a
smoke-free policy for all apartments in one or more of your buildings
add it
(for free) by clicking on "List Your Properties" on the left side of
this screen.
People
who smoke are not protected under Nebraska’s or Federal
anti-discrimination
laws. You may choose to rent
or not to
rent to people who smoke. The following websites go into great detail
about
this information for owners, managers and tenants.
An interesting
discussion on
this issue may be found at: http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/UnitsDec2007.pdf
Helpful Resources