Can HOA's ban smoking in your Unit?

Interesting blog Marquis!

MarQuis - Welcome to Active Rain. Nice first post. As a non-smoker I can understand the other 3 tenants issues. Smoke will easily get through shared walls and leave your own cloths with a bit of a smoke odor. I also can see the one homeowners point. But when sharing common walls or space you do wave some of your privacy issues.

Most HOAs are bound by a set of bylaws or CCRs (or both), which means in a lot of cases "majority rules".  So choose your neighbors wisely, read the CCRs and hire a good lawyer!  :)

Maybe it's just me but why should the other residents have to put up with the reek of cigerette smoke?  Is it their fault their neighbors have such a disgusting habit?  I have no sympathy I'm afraid, if it was in the CC&r's the smokers were at fault, however to come back and change the rules I think is dirty. 

With all the new evidence that second hand smoke is so dangerous, I do understand the non smokers issues and lets face it Realtors how easy do you find it to resale a home of a smoking resident, I do not accpet these listings and as i'm allergic to cigerette smoke, I also cannot show these homes, I have to ask a friend to do this for me. 

Does anyone else have this problem? 

MarQuis,

I was going to leave this alone, but you pressed one of my hot buttons.

I've devloped a lot of appartment projects, and managed many. I've never had smoke seep thru the walls. I don't smoke and never have, but this is absurd. What next? Shouldn't someone limit the food consumed so that no one experience flatulence in the unit? If smoke passes thru the walls there are a lot of other smells! Should PJ's be required and opaque? I don't know you or your readers well enough to go on with this.

Now to my pet peeve: You contribute to the mis-impression that condominiums are some form of architecture, they are not! Despite the ill- informed mis-using the term to refer to the individual ownership of an apartments, specifically flats with attached common areas, condo has nothing to do with the type of property!

Condo have indivual ownership of a defined area combined with a common interest in additional areas, regardless of the type of improvements of even lack there of.

Last year Brenda, my wife and I sold our "Townhouse" it was a condominium. Townhouse is a fancy term for a multi-story row-house, (as in all standing in a row) the same as garden-apartment meaning single story units, the common walls define row-houses not the type of ownership.

When we first moved to NV I opened a mortgage office at Inclined Village in a mixed use condo project. At the ground level of each condo was a commercial space over each commercial space was a two story living unit. No flats.

I've sold or financed all types of condos not all of them residential. The most interesting was a condo-bounded warehouse, where your space was indicated by lines painted on the floor of the ware house. We've all seen shopping centers with signs saying "Pads" for sale, those pads/small lots are condos.

This may be over kill, but you pressed my button.

Bill

William J Archambault Jr

The Real Estate Investment Institute

http://www.reii.org

I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Archambault, Jr.

I think the news from MarQuis' posting is only "absurd" if your premise of "I've never had smoke seep through walls" is correct.  If you're not correct and second hand smoke is in fact seeping through walls (or vents or whatever), then either you have to admit what science suggests (that second hand smoke is unsafe) or deny the scientific evidence and claim that its a mere annoyance (like the smell of sizzling bacon annoys the vegan next door).  In my opinion, second hand smoke should not enter my living space regardless of whether I'm in a condo, townhouse, SFR or anything else.  I wouldn't want someone to spit on me...yet that's probably safer than breathing in the multitude of dangerous chemicals from second hand smoke that I can't see or feel.

As for your pet peeve on the "condo" usage...this is a tricky little area.  Words have multiple meanings, and Websters defines "condominium" as "A BUILDING CONTAINING CONDOMINIUMS"...which is in fact an architectural structure.  Yes, there are other definitions (as you correctly pointed out) which focus on "ownership" and not the building.  But your accurate definition is not the only one out there...and certainly is not the prevailing usage or common understanding of the term.

Language is an art form, and most words do not have a clear, unique or single meaning.  Furthermore, context can change (or clarify) the meanings of words.

Jason. MarQuis, Gentlemen,

You've both hit on the one thing that I can't argue with:

"I have not personally had smoke seeping through my walls but that does not mean other people have not had this experience."

Fortunately for me this is a discussion not an argument.

My "absurd" label was directed at the HOA's ruling not the blog! The blogs is great. It got us talking and thinking, and who knows how many others.

I don't smoke, can't stand the smell, I believe all the stories about second hand smoke, and I've lost a very close friend to lung cancer. There is always more than one way to cure problems and limiting peoples rights after the fact, is always wrong! Besides if smoke seeps through the wall so will every other offensive fume. Better to fix the walls, personally I could get violent if forced to smell cooking cabbage or liver. My concern is that this is expos facto (after the fact) I'd have no problem if this were in the original CC&R's in fact I'd stand up and cheer, the only thing that would make me happier would be prohibiting smoking any where on the property. But, what is great for people buying is not fair to impose after they've purchased.

I understand the common vernacular that says that condos are apartment like flats. The same vernacular says that all real estate licensees are realtors. Except for the signs I defie you to drive by an apartment building and tell me from the architecture weather it's apartments or condos! Words have meanings! As professionals we have two sometimes conflicting needs, the need to comunecate and the need to be accurate, you can never be to accurate. Think about selling a condo, and telling the buyers that the project next door is a condo, only to have them find out after closing that the buildings are "section 8" apartments. I like Webster's book too, but professionally give me Black's Law Dictionary, with the same meanings I'm be judged on.

Jason, thanks for responding to me. It's not nesessary for us to agree to be respectful or friendly.

MarQuis, I missed the fact that this was your first post, very well done you've made people think about an important subject. I look forward to hearing more from you.

Bill

Bill,

Well said.  Thanks for the reply.

Jason