Any luck having tenants smoke outside?

Question

I have a rental that's in a challenged area.  SO far, my best applicant is a section 8 tenant where gov't pays 90% of rent.  I visited her current home, where she's been for 7 years, and it reaks of smoke.  We agreed she would smoke outside if I approved her lease and also agreed to sign an affidavit to terminate her lease if there was smoke present during our quarterly inspections.  I typically pass on smokers but has anybody had luck with smokers only smoking outside?

Mike Pennington · Answer

Follow your gut.  It gets cold in Virginia in the wintertime.  The flip-side is if she is in your house for 7 years, you can afford to repaint, carpet, and clean.

M Marie M. · Answer

I have had roommates, including those renting from me who were smokers. They have considered smoking with their heads out the window, or in the doorway, or just outside the exterior door  as counting as smoking outside. To them it was outside, to me, inside. You may want to clarify, "outside" or just accept she may wind up smoking inside.

Kevin Harrison · Answer

Being a smoker that never smokes inside myself I know there are others like me. with that being said, if she smokes inside now she is going to do it when she moves. maybe not at first but after a couple of weeks of you not being around thoughts like "well just this one time wouldn't hurt" or "he'll never notice".

Don't do it.

Linval T. · Answer

@Kris Haskins - Basically you are caught between a rock and a hard place for several reasons.

1. You admittedly are located in a challenged area, so, it's not easy to give tenant notice and get another financially capable one.

2. It's a long term section 8 tenant with 90% rent guarantee.

3. Now, 7 years later you are trying to enforce the lease agreement. In my view you should have been more responsive/attentive during the 1st and ensuing years.

4. My theory is that this section 8 tenant has no plan to move soon, and you are not living there to inhale the smoke daily.

So, you can elect to get rid of a good paying tenant because of a smoke problem or let her stay and when she goes you would/should have made more than enough money to offset the repair costs.

Jassem A. · Answer

You're probably going to have bigger things to worry about than people smoking in the property if it is in a challenged area.  Get ready to have dog urine/feces everywhere, trash strewn throughout the house and backyard, broken windows, fires, drugs, tenants who steal utilities and cause the house to become condemned, tenants who appear to intentionally break things, snakes, prostitutes, crackheads that steal any metal or anything of nominal value in or around the house if it perceived to be vacant.

I've never even bothered to ask whether any of the applicants smoke because my assumption is that they probably do and I really don't see it as a factor.  I'm usually more worried about whether they can pay and whether they have rental judgments.  If they do have judgments, the next question is whether they destroyed those properties.  I usually try to get a double security deposit or first/last/full deposit if there are any recent judgments because it will take 2 months to get them out and you will be left with a mess to clean up in most cases.

Kris Haskins · Answer

Question.  Since I'm in a tough situation, how does charging a double nonrefundable deposit sound?  Plus lease termination for smoking?  that my be a bit harsh..

Kris Haskins · Answer

yes yes, the evils of buying a bad property.  I think we all have done this.  My lesson learned;  Don't by small properties in a  bad area.  Just too early in my career to know it was a bad house.

Luka Milicevic · Answer

At some point she is going to smoke inside. You can pretty much bank on that, and even if she doesn't the smoke smell will still come into your house via her clothing and hair.

Since you are very limited on tenants this might not be a bad choice. I typically wouldn't allow a smoker, however; in this situation it might work. If it's section 8 the rent checks will be coming in and she will be a long term tenant. You can afford a carpet replacement and new paint at the end of her term.

Mary B. · Answer

I just thought of how often I've visited a friend or relatives house and if the owner smokes it seems a good amount of the people there did as well...birds of a feather I guess.

lol, one family trip we took some years back my cousin(who was giving the trip) had just gotten off of the intercom stating that there was to be no smoking on the bus. As I'm getting up heading to the restroom my aunt (by marriage :-)) is sitting in a seat in the back now(she originally was sitting up front) smoking a cigarette. I was stunned as I'd never seen anyone with the audacity to do that. Maybe its because her husband was the bus driver and my cousin is her daughter...  I state this to show how often people won't heed even a demand never mind a request to abide by while in a house, car or bus. Mainly because there isn't any immediate or direct consequences that they feel threatened by enough to not to disobey.

Kudos,

Mary

Kris Haskins · Answer

That's a good point.  Never thought about the friends smoking.  I think I'm going to pass on this one.  I've actually never rented to a smoker so I have no experience.  In my 11 years, I've always just passed.  My mentor told me NEVER to rent to smokers and it has been good advice so far.  But it would be bad having a vacancy during the holidays.

Any luck having tenants smoke outside?

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