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Updated 11 months ago on . Most recent reply
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Evicted for smoking off property?
I didn’t smoke or vape when I rented from my landlord who has a no smoking policy for his units and property. No problem, I go out to the city owned sidewalk and sit on the curb, off property. I always pick up my butts so their aren’t complaints or anything for my landlord to get upset about. I’ve been honest with him the whole time and told him I was smoking (bc I didn’t want him to hear it from anyone else) I assured him I don’t do it on property or in the unit and cameras in and out of my apartment can confirm that. Tonight he told me I needed to quit because it’s a non smoking unit and he doesn’t want to have to pursue anything bc he would have to drive 70 miles each way to attend court. What? I told him again I’m not smoking on the property or in his unit and he said it doesn’t matter, he can evict me for being a smoker. So my question is that, can he evict me, can he dictate what I do off property and evict me for smoking? He was pretty confident he can until I reminded him about my cameras. Then when I said if this needs to go to court(since he threatened it first) then that’s what we will do, he then nervously said “well hopefully we don’t have to.” Can I be evicted for smoking off of his property and at least 30 feet from anyones door?
Most Popular Reply
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Dude, if I had a dollar for every smoking tenant who insists, just like you, that they NEVER SMOKE IN THE UNIT...they always lie. I'm not saying you're a liar, I'm just saying you'll find your argument has a very poor track record in general. I used to smoke myself. I used to be a tenant. And, hell yeah, I lied, too. When it was pouring rain out there, I'd put in a box fan in the window, sit behind it, and blow my smoke out through the fan. I couldn't smell it in the apartment. I thought no one else could, either. Until I quit smoking. Then I realized my little one-bedroom reeked of stale tobacco smoke.
If I lived 70 miles away from my unit, I wouldn't want someone like you in my property, either. It's nothing personal. You're just a bad bet, and the longer you stay, the more pervasive your stench will be in the unit. Even though you don't probably smell it (again, I never did when I smoked), your clothes stink, your fingers stink, your breath stinks. The miasma of your smoking (even outdoors) lingers indoors and sets in for people whose sense of smell isn't trained to ignore the stench. It will cost money and effort to get rid of that stench permanently.