Smoking in apartment homes became illegal Jan. 1 in Carlsbad, California, (population 113,000), a wealthy, coastal city north of San Diego.
So far, the law in Carlsbad is a rarity.
However, apartment managers have a strong motive to discourage smoking. Tobacco smoke can damage apartments, staining paint and even starting fires. Secondhand smoke can irritate neighbors and damage their health.
More and more apartment developers and owners are banning smoking in new apartments they build. But managers do not have many ways to compel residents to stop smoking, especially at communities where residents have been allowed to smoke in their homes in the past.
“It is very difficult to take those legacy properties and make the units smoke-free,” says Robin Madison, vice president of operational policy and compliance for The Michaels Organization, an apartment company headquartered in Camden, New Jersey. “We currently don't ban smoking in those legacy properties.”
Managers Left to Enforce Bans
Only time will tell whether Carlsbad will be the first of many jurisdictions to ban smoking in rental homes. Carlsbad prohibits both tobacco and cannabis products, including vaping, both inside and outside rental apartment homes in buildings with three or more units, including condominiums, townhomes, and seniors housing, except for certain designated outdoor spaces.
Property managers in Carlsbad have the responsibility of enforcing the new law.
“The city’s police department and code enforcement division have minimal resources to conduct additional enforcement efforts,” according to a staff report on the new ordinance from the Carlsbad City Council.
Experts interviewed could not name another town or city that bans smoking tobacco products inside apartment. Many ban smoking or vaping tobacco products in common areas or near doorways and windows of multifamily communities. (In summer 2024, a state law in Minnesota took effect that bans smoking or vaping cannabis in apartment homes across the whole state—not including medical marijuana.)
Many developers and owners, including Michaels, make smoking a violation of the lease inside the new apartments they open.
Anecdotal evidence from resident surveys shows that renters often prefer to live without smoke. “A growing number of residents are seeking smoke-free housing,” according to best practices from the National Apartment Association (NAA). “Offering smoke-free housing may prove a competitive advantage for your apartment community.”
Neighbors can suffer serious health problems from secondhand tobacco smoke that can travel through lighting fixtures, cracks in walls, around plumbing, under doors, and in shared heating and ventilation, according to NAA.
“The only means of eliminating health risks associated with regulating smoking in multi-unit housing indoor exposure is to ban all smoking activity,” according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers.
The cost of cleaning and preparing a vacant apartment to lease can also be thousands of dollars higher than usual if that unit has been occupied by a smoker.
“Smoking can cause extensive damage to apartment units,” according to NAA.
All of the surfaces in an apartment vacated by a smoker could need scrubbing to remove nicotine. To cover stains and remove the smell of smoke, managers may need to apply multiple coats of paint and replace any indoor carpeting.
"It can take up to two times the cost or more to turn a smoking unit compared to a non-smoking unit," says Michaels’ Madison.
Property insurance can also be more expensive in properties where residents smoke. Cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products are a leading cause of residential building fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Despite all these problems, banning smoking is difficult in properties where is residents have been allowed to smoke. If quitting smoking were easy, many of these residents would have stopped long ago.
If a resident continues to smoke in their home after they sign a lease that bans smoking, property managers can write the smoker a stern letter. Eventually, managers can threaten eviction, because they have violated the terms of their lease.
However, in many jurisdictions, it can be difficult to evict a renter for failing to pay rent. Housing courts in many cities and towns have long backlogs. “Getting an eviction for smoking doesn't even hit the radar,” says Madison.
In the meantime, smokers that receive these complaints sometimes continue to break the rules—though they may try to be less conspicuous.
"Often folks go into their cars [to smoke]," says Madison. These cars are often parked within 25 feet of an entranceway or a window—a lease violation at many communities. However, neighbors are less likely to complain about smoke that is more or less contained within someone’s car.
Vaping or e-cigarettes are also typically banned at apartment properties that prohibit smoking. However, once again, neighbors are much less likely to complain.
“Do we get as many complaints about vaping versus smoking?” asks Madison. “Absolutely not.”
