Choose Smoke-Free Housing
A smoke-free policy can:

Save you money.

Reduce risk of fires

Increase appeal to renters

Protect your employees', tenants and guests health.

Property Owner/Manager
Smoke-free housing is a growing trend in multi-family housing. According to the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), approximately 86% of residents in Sarpy and Cass County do not allow smoking inside their home.
Areas of multi-family housing units should already be smoke-free:
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Entry or exit areas
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Gyms
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Laundry rooms
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Elevators
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Restrooms
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Common traffic areas
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Lobby areas
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Indoor swimming pools
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Recreational rooms
Property Owner Rights
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It is legal for apartment managers/owners to designate common areas, certain apartments or all of the apartments in a building as smoke-free.
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People who smoke are not protected under state and national anti-discrimination laws.
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Property owners have the legal right to restrict or prohibit smoking in their building(s), just as they are free to prohibit pets.
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Tenants who suffer from asthma or other respiratory diseases can take legal action against a property owner who does not take adequate measures to protect those residents from secondhand smoke.
Making a Smoke-Free Change
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Set a time frame for the change.
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Educate tenants of change and cessation services.
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Introduce new leases or addendum's.
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Post signs.
T.E.A.M. is gathering information from multi-family housing property owners/managers in Sarpy & Cass Counties. If you are a property owner/manager please take a few minutes to complete this short survey. If you have questions about the survey, please call (402) 593-3022.
Interested in making your property tobacco-free? Contact T.E.A.M for your free tool kit or view our tool kit online below.
Residents
As a resident in a rental property, you have the right to live free of the leading cause of preventable death in the United States: secondhand smoke.
Secondhand Smoke in Your Home
The 2006 U.S Surgeon General’s report found:
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There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke
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Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke.
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Ventilation and other air cleaning technologies cannot completely control exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke
Click here for more information on resident rights and how to support smoke-free housing