Banning tobacco completely would just be easier.....
Landlords have right to ban apartment smoking
Montreal Gazette
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Smokers should read the fine print before signing or renewing an apartment lease this year.
With the deadline looming Saturday to renew leases for July 1 occupancy, a Quebec landlords group has reminded members to spell out in the lease whether tenants can smoke in their apartments.
The Quebec Rental Board says landlords can include a no-smoking clause in a lease, said Hans Brouillette, spokesperson for the Corporation des Propriétaires Immobiliers du Québec.
Most landlords didnt even know they had that right, Brouillette said.
The information could be useful to building owners coping with tobacco-yellowed walls, burned kitchen counters and complaints from other tenants about smoke odours, he noted.
While no-smoking clauses might be legal, Quebec landlords might face lengthy legal battles to invoke that right.
The provincial tobacco law, which went into effect in May 2006, prohibits smoking in common areas of residential buildings of six units or more.
But the law is unclear on whether landlords can ban smoking inside an apartment.
That kind of clause in the lease has yet to be tested, said Jean-Pierre Le Blanc, spokesperson for the Quebec Rental Board. Well have to wait for (court) judgments in coming months and years.
Landlords can legally write a no-tobacco clause into a new lease, but they are on slippery ground if they try to change existing leases, Le Blanc said.
The rental board has sided in recent years with smokers who contested such changes, he noted. The tenants said, I rented it like that (as a smoker), and Im not going to stop smoking.
Smokers might also find sympathy if they complain about smoking bans to the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
That could infringe on personal freedoms, and the respect of privacy, commission spokesperson Diep Truong said.
The commission has yet. to her knowledge, to deal with complaints on the subject, Truong added.
Landlords have right to ban apartment smoking
Montreal Gazette
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Smokers should read the fine print before signing or renewing an apartment lease this year.
With the deadline looming Saturday to renew leases for July 1 occupancy, a Quebec landlords group has reminded members to spell out in the lease whether tenants can smoke in their apartments.
The Quebec Rental Board says landlords can include a no-smoking clause in a lease, said Hans Brouillette, spokesperson for the Corporation des Propriétaires Immobiliers du Québec.
Most landlords didnt even know they had that right, Brouillette said.
The information could be useful to building owners coping with tobacco-yellowed walls, burned kitchen counters and complaints from other tenants about smoke odours, he noted.
While no-smoking clauses might be legal, Quebec landlords might face lengthy legal battles to invoke that right.
The provincial tobacco law, which went into effect in May 2006, prohibits smoking in common areas of residential buildings of six units or more.
But the law is unclear on whether landlords can ban smoking inside an apartment.
That kind of clause in the lease has yet to be tested, said Jean-Pierre Le Blanc, spokesperson for the Quebec Rental Board. Well have to wait for (court) judgments in coming months and years.
Landlords can legally write a no-tobacco clause into a new lease, but they are on slippery ground if they try to change existing leases, Le Blanc said.
The rental board has sided in recent years with smokers who contested such changes, he noted. The tenants said, I rented it like that (as a smoker), and Im not going to stop smoking.
Smokers might also find sympathy if they complain about smoking bans to the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
That could infringe on personal freedoms, and the respect of privacy, commission spokesperson Diep Truong said.
The commission has yet. to her knowledge, to deal with complaints on the subject, Truong added.
