Management Company Sends No-Smoking Notices to All Tenants (Again)

Earlier this week, a management company again provided notices to tenants reminding them of their no-smoking policy. We’re told by various tenants that this marks a series of at least three no smoking notices received over the course of a little over a year.

Unfortunately, most tenants who have reached out to us regarding this latest notice seem to think that it will fall upon deaf ears. One tenant, who only wishes to be identified by the initial “S.”, told us the following this morning:

“Year after year we get these no smoking notices. I live on floor 2 and I get smoke coming to my apartment from my neighbours beside below and above me. These notices don’t mean much when tenants do not listen and management doesn't seem to take smoke complaints seriously.”

A husband and wife who also wish to remain anonymous but say they reside on the 3rd floor also tell us that they have complained to management about smoking several times but that it remains an issue, while other tenants have said they've even provided proof of smokers identities to management over the years but that those tenants "are still here."

There also seems to be confusion over what it means to be grandfathered in as a smoker, which has been mentioned to tenants by management but never mentioned in their notices. One tenant on the 1st floor says she has lived in the building for many years and has always smoked and that management is aware and have not asked her to stop.

We also spoke to several property management companies yesterday, who tell us the following: "We as management do our best to ensure that none of our tenants are bothered by smoking. Our premises are smoke-free, but we realize that not all tenants will abide by this policy. If we are provided clear cut evidence showing a tenant smoking, we will evict that tenant immediately." While another company says, "We have separate wings of our building. One wing is smoke-free, while another is not, and we are transparent with our tenants in telling them that there are smokers on our property but also welcome tenants to write us if smoke becomes problem for them and we will do our best to resolve it for them."

So what do you think? Are these notices fruitless? The general consensus appears to suggest that that's the case, and while many management companies seem to do everything they can to try and mitigate the issue, others do not - but it's not like they necessarily can, either.