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Long Beach and Other California Landlords Prefer If You Butt Out
Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist
If you live in an apartment and you don't appreciate your neighbors' cigarette smoke drifting in from common areas into your area, is there anything you can do besides close your window? Or move?In Long Beach, landlords and tenants interested in finding out their options plan to meet this afternoon for the "Smoke Free Apartments Community Forum" hosted by the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, explains the Press-Telegram.
The days of smokers lighting up wherever they please seem to be getting shorter than an unfiltered Marlboro; several cities in California have banned smoking in most public spaces, like Glendale, where as of November you were breaking the law by lighting up anywhere from the park to the courtyard of your apartment building.
But can a landlord ban their tenants from smoking?
The answer is yes, so long as "they include appropriate language in rental agreements." In fact, many landlords are opting to do so, finding that a smoke-free building has them "seeing the economic benefits of banning smoking at their apartments, including lower fire insurance rates and easier-to-clean drapes, carpets, walls and floors when units turn over."
Smoke-free apartments could become the law in California, although the State Bill introduced to the legislators last year passed the senate but didn't make its way to the assembly. In the meanwhile, if you reside in Long Beach, you may want to join today's meeting, otherwise, don't hold your breath...just close your window.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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