My wife and I live in Greensboro NC, and we recently moved in to a newly built apartment. We are the first tennants and we live there for 3 months before the people below us moved in. Now are whole apartment smells like cigarette smoke and it is soaking into everything we own. It is obviously coming from the people below us who smoke constantly. It is definitly not good for our health and it is ruining our things. What rights do we have and what rights do the smoking tennants below us have. Do they have the right to smoke so much that it will destroy their apartment and ruin our things also. Please help us out.
-Andrew
I need legal advice
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ElectricDisciple
- Posts: 297
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 4:42 am
Andrew:
If you haven't already talked to your landlord/lady, you should start there. Many times we go for the jugular, without doing the obvious. It may be that the landlord/lady installs better filtration, and other precautions and everyone gets along fine. If that doesn't work, try the Better Business Bureau, and the Housing Authority of Greensboro. I'm not a lawyer, but these would be things that would check first. The Housing Authority should be notified if this should cause a detriment to you, your wife, or your children's health. I would like to think that renters should make sure that their property is suitable for living in before renting it out to others. Let me know how things turn out okay???
ED
If you haven't already talked to your landlord/lady, you should start there. Many times we go for the jugular, without doing the obvious. It may be that the landlord/lady installs better filtration, and other precautions and everyone gets along fine. If that doesn't work, try the Better Business Bureau, and the Housing Authority of Greensboro. I'm not a lawyer, but these would be things that would check first. The Housing Authority should be notified if this should cause a detriment to you, your wife, or your children's health. I would like to think that renters should make sure that their property is suitable for living in before renting it out to others. Let me know how things turn out okay???
ED
We have had many talks with our landlords, they are willing to let us out of our lease, but we don't want to move again and it will cost us alot of money. Now, I fear that are furniture and things are being ruined. We all ready have a covering of tar on are washer and dryer(this is were the smoke is coming from) It just seems to me that it should be easy to evict the people below us. I just hope are things aren't ruined.
Anyone else have any insight.
Anyone else have any insight.
Living the dream
Andrew, in the long run, it sounds like you stand to lose more money by staying where you are. I'm truly sad for you.
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Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd, Runs marathons to raise money and awareness about children orphaned by AIDS
Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd, Runs marathons to raise money and awareness about children orphaned by AIDS
I've learned something about apartments: they do as little as possible as long as they can.
Want results? Go in to the office on a very busy day -- such as when rent is due, or on a weekend when there's lots of prospective new tenants. Talk loudly about all your problems. Make a scene. Insist on talking only to the manager of the apartment complex. Amazing how that gets things done. The next step: follow up. Call, or better yet, stop in to the office DAILY for progress checks. Again, feel free to make a scene. Don't get unruly, just be loud and make sure you're within earshot of other people.
Want results? Go in to the office on a very busy day -- such as when rent is due, or on a weekend when there's lots of prospective new tenants. Talk loudly about all your problems. Make a scene. Insist on talking only to the manager of the apartment complex. Amazing how that gets things done. The next step: follow up. Call, or better yet, stop in to the office DAILY for progress checks. Again, feel free to make a scene. Don't get unruly, just be loud and make sure you're within earshot of other people.
Sarcasm is a tool the weak use to avoid confrontation. People with any balls just outright lie.
[quote="Meadows"]I try not to put it in my mouth now, but when I do, I hold it with just my lips.[/quote]
[quote="Meadows"]I try not to put it in my mouth now, but when I do, I hold it with just my lips.[/quote]
Ok, you tlaked to the land lord right? he is willing to let you out of your lease right? but you liked the apartment complex and like where you live right? What we do insituations like that with our tennets is talk to them and see what other apartments we have open for rent and let them choose somthing that suits them. In your case it sounds like a larger complex with probably 20% of there apartments empty. Talk to your land lord and see if you could just move to another unit.
ANd alot of times it isnt good to make your landlord upset with you or make them loose business, because honestly Andrew the land lords could be complete assholes and not let you out of your lease and then you would be completely stuck, but it seems to me that you have a good landlord taht is willing to do what he can. and the only thing he can do is let you out of your lease. good luck man hope everything turns out good
ANd alot of times it isnt good to make your landlord upset with you or make them loose business, because honestly Andrew the land lords could be complete assholes and not let you out of your lease and then you would be completely stuck, but it seems to me that you have a good landlord taht is willing to do what he can. and the only thing he can do is let you out of your lease. good luck man hope everything turns out good
Look in your lease, you are screwed unless it has something that states that the complex is "smoke free" or that the complex has been advertised as such. I'm not a lawyer but it might be something to check out. I'd have to agree with Allah, it is not the landlords problem as to the legal habits of his tennants, he is just being nice to let you out. The only other thing that would make it the landlords problem is if there would be a building code violation.
If you have a separate forced-air heating/cooling system the outside air intake could also be adjusted (opened more) to provide more positive pressure. The lower appartment could be adjusted for a more neutral pressure and you could switch the fan to "on" at the thermastat. Odds are this would not be enough to get rid of all the smell but might help a little. It would also increase your heating bill. You would need to discuss this with your landlord.
It really sucks you have to deal with this, good luck.
If you have a separate forced-air heating/cooling system the outside air intake could also be adjusted (opened more) to provide more positive pressure. The lower appartment could be adjusted for a more neutral pressure and you could switch the fan to "on" at the thermastat. Odds are this would not be enough to get rid of all the smell but might help a little. It would also increase your heating bill. You would need to discuss this with your landlord.
It really sucks you have to deal with this, good luck.
Greensboro is big enough that it may have adopted a Uniform Landlord Tenant Act or something with a similar name. Look it up online and see if it has anything that might help you. Also read your lease thoroughly. It may have something in it that you can use to get the landlord to do more to remedy the problem with the smoke, although agreeing to let you out of the lease is a big step. These things may or may not help, but its worth a look.
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~ Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore Show)