Purpose
Tenant and all members of the Tenant’s family or household are parties to a written lease with Landlord (the Lease). This Addendum states the following additional terms, conditions, and rules which are hereby incorporated into the Lease.
A breach of this Lease Addendum shall give each party all the rights contained herein, as well as the rights in the Lease.
The parties desire to mitigate:
- Irritation and known health effects of secondhand smoke
- Increased maintenance, cleaning, and redecorating costs from smoking
- Increased risk of fire from smoking
- Higher costs of fire insurance for a non-smoke-free building
Definitions
- Smoking: inhaling, exhaling, burning, operating, or carrying any lighted or heated Tobacco Product or Vapor Product, as defined herein.
- Tobacco Product: any item made of tobacco intended for human consumption, including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco. Tobacco Product does not include traditional tobacco.
- Traditional tobacco (Ċanśaśa): The cuttings or shavings of plants in their natural form such as red willow bark, sage, and sweet grass. Traditional tobacco has no additives and is used for medicinal purposes, ceremony, prayer, and social gatherings.
- [Facility] Property: includes, but is not limited to [locations].
Policy
- Tenant agrees and acknowledges that the premises to be occupied by Tenant and members of Tenant’s household have been designated as a smoke-free living environment.
- Tenant and members of Tenant’s households shall not smoke anywhere in the unit rented by Tenant, or the building where the Tenant’s dwelling is located, or in any of the common areas or adjoining grounds of such building or other parts of the rental grounds, nor shall Tenant permit any guests or visitors under the control of Tenant to do so.
- [If you provide an outdoor smoking area, specify by stating: Exception: Tenant, members of Tenant’s household, and any guests or visitors under control of Tenant can only smoke in the designated smoking area outside of the complex, located…].
Traditional Tobacco Use
In respect for the traditional tobacco use of American Indians, traditional tobacco used in the practice of cultural or religious activities will be allowed at the discretion of the Landlord and must be approved in advance.
Dissemination
Landlord shall post no-smoking signs at entrances and exits, common areas, hallways, and places adjoining the grounds of the apartment complex. Tenant shall inform Tenant’s guests of the no-smoking policy.
Enforcement
Tenant to Alert Landlord of Violations
Tenant shall promptly give the Landlord a written statement of any incident where tobacco smoke is migrating into the Tenant’s unit from sources outside the Tenant’s apartment unit.
Landlord Not a Guarantor of Smoke-Free Environment
- Tenant acknowledges that Landlord’s adoption of a smoke-free living environment, and the efforts to designate the rental complex as smoke-free, do not make the Landlord or any of its managing agents the guarantor of Tenant’s health or of the smoke-free condition of the Tenant’s unit and the common areas.
- However, Landlord shall take reasonable steps to enforce the smoke-free terms of its leases and to make the complex smoke-free.
- Landlord is not required to take steps in response to smoking unless Landlord knows of said smoking or has been given written notice of said smoking.
Other Tenants are Third-Party Beneficiaries of Tenant’s Agreement
- Tenant agrees that the other Tenants at the complex are the third-party beneficiaries of Tenant’s smoke-free addendum agreements with Landlord. (In layman’s terms, this means that Tenant’s commitments in this Addendum are made to the other Tenants as well as to the Landlord.)
- A Tenant may sue another Tenant for an injunction to prohibit smoking or for damages but does not have the right to evict another Tenant.
- Any suit between Tenants herein shall not create a presumption that the Landlord breached this Addendum.
Effect of Breach and Right to Terminate Lease
- A breach of this Lease Addendum shall give each party all the rights contained herein, as well as the rights in the Lease.
- A material breach of this Addendum shall be a material breach of the Lease and grounds for immediate termination of the Lease by the Landlord.
Disclaimer by Landlord
Tenant acknowledges that Landlord’s adoption of a smoke-free living environment and the efforts to designate the rental complex as smoke-free to not in any way change the standard of care that the Landlord or managing agent would have to a Tenant household to render buildings and premises designated as smoke-free any safer, more habitable, or improved in terms of air quality standards than any other rental premises. Landlord specifically disclaims any implied or express warranties that the building, common areas, or Tenant’s premises will have any higher or improved air quality standards than any other rental property.
Landlord cannot and does not warrant or promise that the rental premises or common areas will be free from secondhand smoke. Tenant acknowledges that Landlord’s ability to police, monitor, or enforce the agreement of this Addendum is dependent in significant part on voluntary compliance by Tenant and Tenant’s guests. Tenants with respiratory ailments, allergies, or any other physical or mental condition relating to smoke are put on notice that Landlord does not assume any higher duty of care to enforce this Addendum than any other Landlord obligation under the Lease.
Effect on Current Tenants
Tenant acknowledges that current tenants residing in the complex under a prior lease will not be immediately subject to the No-Smoking Policy. As current tenants move out or enter into new leases, the smoke-free policy will become effective for their unit or new lease.
Effective Date
The Addendum set forth above is effective [date] for [housing name and location] and was last updated [date].
Updated February 2023.