What can you do if tenants move into your non-smoking rental with furniture and items that smell of smoking is the question this week for Ask Landlord Hank. Remember Hank is not an attorney and is not offering legal advice. If you have a question for him please fill out his form below.
Dear Landlord Hank:
A tenant and his family moved into our non-smoking rental home (the lease states no smoking on the property whatsoever). They are not yet living there. They moved their belonging in a week ago.
We received permission to enter the property to have electrical work done by a technician. An unexpected failure of the garage door occurred. It was bad timing, but it was fixed the day after the issue arose.
The electrician and later the realtor and I noticed the strong smell of cigarette smell from the furniture and bags and boxes the tenant moved into our non-smoking house. When the realtor screened them, she told them it was a non-smoking property, and this is stated in the lease.
When confronted, they simply stated that they didn’t smoke in the house or on the property. They do admit they moved their items from a house where smoking occurs. When I told them it was damaging my property, they got defensive and now want to move out. I also want them to move. I told them I would not have rented to them had I known they were smokers.
We recently painted every level of this 3-story home and installed all new carpeting in areas without hardwood flooring.
We are willing to let them out of the lease. I want to get a quote and retain the portion of the security deposit for the expense it will take to remove the smoke odors. It smells just like they smoked on the property.
What do you think about this situation? Thanks.
-Victoria
Hi Landlady Victoria,
I would definitely let these tenants break the lease and leave your place.
The old fashioned way to get rid of smoke was to wash walls with vinegar, etc. but now you can buy or rent an Ozone generator. This is a miracle. You put this in your house with the HVAC system running and then leave and let it clean the property.
It could take three days at your place but the smell will be gone.
Now, is it worth it to possibly go to court over this and perhaps lose?
The tenants’ furniture smelled of smoke but they didn’t smoke in the house, so a judge may say that reasonably the tenants didn’t smoke in your property so technically they complied with the lease.
I’d let them leave and use the deposit if there was any other damage beside the smoke odor.
Sincerely,
Hank Rossi
Each week I answer questions from landlords and property managers across the country in my “Dear Landlord Hank” blog in the digital magazine Rental Housing Journal.   https://rentalhousingjournal.com/asklandlordhank
Ask Landlord Hank Your Question
Ask veteran landlord and property manager Hank Rossi your questions from tenant screening to leases to pets and more! He provides answers each week to landlords.
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