No Smokers clause in lease

S

Sootygirl

Hi all, would adding a 'no smokers' or 'no smoking inside the house' clause in a lease be legal? Would it be classed as being discriminating? Why would it be any different to saying 'no pets'? People who smoke heavily inside a house cause more damage than pets IMO. If the house reeked of ciggy smoke, could the cost of washing walls and ceilings {or painting in extreme cases} be covered by the bond?

A few ciggy's wouldnt hurt, but MAYBE such a clause would deter the 4 pack a day'er.....
 
We have a no smoking policy as part of our property management service. It is worded in such a way that it it not asking them not to smoke (to aviod discrimination laws) it is worded that it is asking them to "choose not to smoke"

A good pm should be able to draw one up for you that is within property legislation in your state.

Regarding pets: asking for no pets is really just a bluff and relies on tenants not knowing laws as well as you do ;). In SA at least part of the tenancy leglislation states that a landlord should allow "quiet enjoyment of the property to the tenant". That means that if a tenant does choose to have a pet even if their lease states "no pets" it cannot be used as grounds for teminating the lease or rising the rent!

Better to add a pet clause and let them choose to have a pet or not (unelss there are strata rules, then it is a different ball game).
 
Xenia said:
We have a no smoking policy as part of our property management service. It is worded in such a way that it it not asking them not to smoke (to aviod discrimination laws) it is worded that it is asking them to "choose not to smoke"
Click to expand...

I'm with Simon. How would you enforce it? What are the penalties for smoking and is that legal?
Alex
 
We don't enforce it!

They are basically agreeing that if they "choose" to smoke they are happy to be responsible for any damage done to the property as a result of their choice.

Our clause states clearly the type of damage that they may be liable for, it is very specific with no room for ambiguity.

Saying all that, it has also acted (so far) as a deterant and tenants have been choosing not to smoke ;)
 
I was having a think about this as I walked the dog just now.

If you asked if they smoked on the application form then you could use that info when deciding which tenant you chose. Of course you should never articulate this to the unlucky ones - just say "sorry but you didn't get it".

Unless you just got the one application which is pretty rare in my local market and Sydney too from what I read in the paper and see on the telly.
 
I used to put a no smoking of any kind in the apartment or any common areas of the building....it was never challenged legally, but one tenant pulled me up and I just said that it was more for the illegal type of smoking rather than the legal cigarettes...
 
how could it be anymore illegal than not being able to smoke in designated areas e.g. pubs? I don't think you are discriminating by refusing smokers. It is easily enforceable as you can smell it as soon as you walk in the house! rectification would involve repainting and cleaning or replacing caprets/curtains.
 
Ausprop, the unions brought about the ban on smoking in clubs and pubs to protect the staff from cigarette smoke. What someone does in their 'own home' is ok {as long as its legal}.
I know tenants cant be accountable for normal wear and tear, however since nicotine smell and stains arn't normal wear and tear, if they choose to smoke, they should pay for putting the place back the way it was pre smoking tenant.
I guess its a very grey area. Thanks to everyone for your insights.
 
I agree that smoking can cause more damage than pets. The smell gets into the curtains, carpet etc. We get around this by advertising our properties as "Prefer non-smoker" and we also have a clause in the lease that any smokers must go outside. With regular inspections its usually pretty obvious if someone is breaking the rules, but so far we've had no issue.
 
the results of smoking

I have just moved into a house my parents own in Brissy that they previously had rented. The previous tennants smoked heaps a cigs and dope. I have been told that it was the local drug house by my neighbours and it was raided a few times. I have even found hydro equipment with leaves in it (now at the dump).

Long story short - the house stank of ciggys/dope and I had to throw out all the curtains. The walls and ceiling are yellow and putrid. The cleaners washed them down with sugar soap but you can see yellow swirls on the ceiling and the outline of pictures on the wall. I now have to repaint the whole house and it took me 2 wks to get rid of the stench.

My issue is with the PM - the ppty was inspected every 6mths and they said she was a very clean woman and they had no issues with her! How could they not notice the stench?

A rather extreme case but there you go.
cheers
amanda
 
It also annoys other tenants. Another tenant has been smoking in the balcony below and in the stairwell.

Annoys the heck out of me, especially since it means I have to get to open house inspection an hour early to air the stairwell out.
 
Ecogirl said:
My issue is with the PM - the ppty was inspected every 6mths and they said she was a very clean woman and they had no issues with her! How could they not notice the stench?
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Many PM’s don’t notice quite a few things, proves that we should trod along with them during inspections to check if PM does the right thing.

Quite a few PM’s are convinced that they are asked to do too much for mere 7% to 8%
 
I hear what you say George, but surely the work they do for a "mere" 7% or 8% is a bit of a joke.

On an IP of $395 per week at 8% they make $32 per week for doing nothing for most of the time. Sure, they do the checks at the beginning of a tenancy, and the condition report and lease etc, but they take at lease one week's rent ($395) for doing that and the remaining 51 weeks what do they actually do apart from a cursory inspection, which it seems sometimes is not worth the paper it is reported on? Not worth $32 per week in my book.

I just think it is money better in my pocket, especially if you luck out and get a "bad" PM.

Wylie
 
Hi all,

I'm getting a no indoor smoking clause put in my next lease due to the fact that the last two lots of tenants left cig burns on my carpet, which was new when the house was first rented. Both sets of tenants have had to replace carpet, the first ones the hall carpet, and the ones that have just vacated are replacing the lounge carpet.

My PM said that you can have this clause in, and they are able to breach the tenants if there is obviously been smoking in the house when they do their inspections, ie ashtray full of butts on the kitchen counter or whatever. It also gives you more of a leg to stand on with repairs due to damage caused from cigarettes (ie holes in carpet).

As smoking is not a discriminable category covered by any state or federal anti-discrimination act, it is perfectly legal to stipulate no smoking in your property.

Cheers
 
I had one of my IP's become empty late last year so used the opportunity to re-carpet the whole house. Looked really good and PM got new tenant in the following day. Due to the tenant's mother's ill health, she has had to break lease, inspection revealed cigarette burns on the new carpet, less than 3 months after it being laid. I know it sounds harsh, but some people don't deserve nice things.

JIM
 
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