Reduce Operating Costs

• By going smoke-free, you can avoid full replacements of carpeting, floors, fixtures, walls, seals and major appliances less often.
• Turn-around times are reduced between tenants.
• Many insurance companies will decrease your property-casualty insurance for creating a smoke-free property.
• Fire risk is significantly reduced (smoking was the leading cause of home fire deaths between 2012 and 2016).

Attract More Tenants

• The number of people who smoke continues to decline – about 15.5 percent of American adults currently smoke. So it stands to reason that the other portion of our population would prefer to live in a smoke-free environment.
• Up to 65 percent of an apartment’s air can come from other units in the building – secondhand smoke drifts, and no ventilation, air purification or wall sealing system can prevent it.
• It should be noted that all public housing properties have been smoke-free as of July 31, 2018. This means that the 2 million people who live in these buildings have safer, cleaner, healthier places to call home.

HOW TO GO SMOKE-FREE

Renting smoke-free is a growing trend in multi-unit housing. A smoke-free policy is legal, and is NOT discriminatory. Owners/managers can designate individual units, entire buildings (recommended), all units (recommended) or an entire campus (recommended) and are required by Nebraska state law to designate any multi-unit housing enclosed common spaces (hallways, entryways, courtyards, workout rooms, etc.) to be free of secondhand smoke.

Property owner obligations

It is legal for apartment managers/owners to designate any space on the property as smoke- and/or tobacco-free, and impose fines or disciplinary action up to and including lease termination, with a signed lease addendum.

People who smoke/use tobacco products are not protected under state or federal anti-discrimination laws.

Tenants who experience medical asthma or other respiratory diseases can take legal action against a property owner(s) who does not take adequate measures to protect those residents from secondhand smoke.

MOTAC at (402) 996-8428 via

Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare

4715 S 132nd Street | Omaha, NE | 68137



Emily Ortner – (402) 546-0881

Douglas County Health Department


Natalia Trinidad – Español (402) 552-6819

Maurer College of Public Health

UNMC, Center for Reducing Health Disparities

40th & Dewey Streets | Omaha, NE | 68198