smoking from neighbors are causing health issues

[jtrnonsmoker]

What is the name of your state? Texas

My husband and I live in an apartment with our two young children. Our son is asthmatic and our daughter is 4 mos. old. We have been here for 3 years and not had too many problems. Some new neightbors moved in, nice folks, but chain smokers.

The smell has invaded our apartment through the a/c vent. My daughter and I are at home most of the time and are struggling with the poor air quality. We have purchased expensive air cleaners and our 2nd bathroom is virtually unusable.

We talked to the landlord two or more weeks ago and have not recieved a response. What can we do? We know they have a right to smoke in their own home, but what about our right to breathe clean air? Our son's asthma is a huge concern. We really can't afford to move, but are thinking about it. We have a lease that is not up for several months, can we leave without penalties due to health issues? Any advice would be great. We are desperate.

 

[BL]

When you rented , did you bring these health concerns to the Landlord's attention , and did you make sure you were going to be living in a smoke free place ?

If you failed to do that up front , and your landlord doesn't have a policy of No Smoking /smoke , then legally you can't just break the lease .

Your best bet is to try and talk to the neighbors , and the landlord to see if there is a solution . Air cleaners as you have found out do not work well. Open windows helps but it's not a cure .

Maybe your landlord will be sympathetic and let you break your lease . If so get it in writing .

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Texas

My husband and I live in an apartment with our two young children. Our son is asthmatic and our daughter is 4 mos. old. We have been here for 3 years and not had too many problems. Some new neightbors moved in, nice folks, but chain smokers.

The smell has invaded our apartment through the a/c vent. My daughter and I are at home most of the time and are struggling with the poor air quality. We have purchased expensive air cleaners and our 2nd bathroom is virtually unusable.

We talked to the landlord two or more weeks ago and have not recieved a response. What can we do? We know they have a right to smoke in their own home, but what about our right to breathe clean air? Our son's asthma is a huge concern. We really can't afford to move, but are thinking about it. We have a lease that is not up for several months, can we leave without penalties due to health issues? Any advice would be great. We are desperate.

**A: write certified rrr letter to the landlord and contact the health department.

 

[jtrnonsmoker]

Thanks for the advice. I think that I will contact the health department. It seems that the neighbors right to smoke should not interfere with my child's right to breathe. It never occured to me that we had to specify smoke free. I assumed that we just would have that since we chose not to smoke and don't allow anyone else to smoke in our home. I can't believe it is legal to have a/c vents that allow smoke to move from one apartment to another.

 

[BL]

We don't even have air vents .We have radiator heat from the boiler .

We had a couple a tenants below us that smoked heavily . We could smell it strongly .

We talked to our Landlord , and he said he can't tell them not to smoke . He didn't believe we smelled anything and said smoke can't travel through walls and floors .
What a Joke . He brought us an old used small air cleaner . It didn't help a bit . I purchased a bigger better one . Again it didn't work .

I called our housing authority and they said if a landlord choses , he can rent smoke free . He chose not to .
They were problem tenants and didn't last only a few months , but in the winter It's kind a hard to open your windows for fresh air .