FAQ: Can I Restrict Tenants From Smoking in My Property?
Smoking is one of the most costly and damaging events that can happen inside a rental property. In fact, smoking alone can cost a landlord up to 10% of their profit!
Keeping your property smoke-free is more than just controlling a nuisance—it’s protecting the health and well-being of other tenants and neighbors. A smoke-free property also means you’ll have less smell and staining to deal with after the tenants move out.
It’s Your Right to Designate the Property “Smoke-Free”
The state of Nevada support’s a landlord’s right to designate his or her rental property as smoke-free.
Smokers are not a protected legal class and smoking is not a right, so laws cannot stop a landlord from implementing regulations and restrictions about smoking.
If your tenant is smoking and you have a no smoking policy you will want to notify them of the violation and document it with a “No Smoking Notice.” And, yes, you can evict if the smoking tenant doesn’t comply with your policy. It proceeds the same way any lease violation does—with an official notice to comply or quit, then filing an eviction notice with the court system.
Is it Illegal to Refuse to Rent to Smokers?
As a landlord, you can refuse to rent to smokers. In other words, you can reject an application if you are told that the applicant intends to smoke in your rental property.
So, if you are interested in keeping your rental property 100% smoke-free, it is not illegal for you to refuse smoking tenants. It is your right and responsibility to set up and maintain your property the way you want, as long as it is legal.
Smoke-Free Trends
Nowadays, it may mean better business in the long run to keep smokers out of your rental property. Smoking tenants increase the likelihood of damage to the unit—burn and scorch marks, odor removal services, and even fires.
Landlords are also the target of an increasing number of lawsuits by non-smoking tenants who are affected by secondhand smoke and claiming that landlords either don’t enforce a no smoking policy or don’t have a good enough ventilation system to take care of smoke. You can avoid this altogether when your property is smoke-free.
