As you are hopefully aware, landlords are now required, as part of the rental agreement, to disclose their smoking policy to their tenants.

According to the new Oregon law that went into effect January 1st, “The disclosure must state whether smoking is prohibited on the premises, allowed on the entire premises or allowed in limited areas on the premises. If the smoking policy allows smoking in limited areas on the premises, the disclosure must identify the areas on the premises where smoking is allowed.”
This means that whether you allow smoking everywhere or nowhere or anything in between, THAT is your policy and it must be disclosed on the rental agreement.
See sample language at www.smokefreehousinginfo.com. Both Metro Multifamily Housing Association and Oregon Rental Housing Association have no-smoking addenda forms that will help you spell out where smoking is prohibited on the premises.
Make sure you are in compliance with the new law. While you are at it, why not adopt a no-smoking policy for your properties? Ask around; many landlords are taking advantage of the strong market demand for smokefree rentals and are adopting no-smoking policies. For so many reasons, no-smoking policies are the smart business decision.
The website mentioned above provides tools for you to use as you adopt no-smoking policies such as model lease language (for both private and public properties), sample tenant surveys, model tenant letters, enforcement and communication tools, etc. You will also find a variety of no-smoking signs and posters designating where smoking is prohibited. Signs are not required under the new law but they go a long way toward achieving good tenant compliance.

Diane Laughter of Health In Sight LLC staffs the Oregon Smokefree Housing Project. The work is funded by the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program, Oregon Public Health Division.

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