"The members of our affordable housing associations have come to realize that providing safe, clean, and affordable housing goes hand-in-hand with providing healthy housing."
Joseph B. Diehl
Executive Director
The Affordable Housing Management Association of Washington
Joseph B. Diehl
Executive Director
The Affordable Housing Management Association of Washington
Everyone should be able to breathe clean air where they live. As a tenant, it's important to understand what protections you can request from your property manager or owner. To learn more and get practical tools to talk to them about going smoke-free, download these infographics:
- Smoke-free Housing: The Right Decision for Business and Health (PDF)
- Smoke-free Housing: A Blueprint to Going Smoke-free (PDF)
Here are a few facts about the right to go smoke-free:
- No-smoking rules are permitted under both federal and Washington laws, even in assisted housing.
- Smoking is not a protected behavior. For more information, read an analysis of smokers' rights (PDF) by the Technical Assistance Legal Center (PDF).
- Property owners and managers can choose to make their entire buildings smoke-free. Some choose to apply the rule to portions of the building or the entire property.
- Non-smokers with certain disabilities are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or the Fair Housing Act (PDF).
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) supports no-smoking rules.
- The majority of Washington's 37 housing authorities have made some or all of their buildings smoke-free.
- The Smoke-Free Environments Law Project conducted an analysis of federal and state laws, HUD rules, and legal cases (PDF) and found “unequivocally that a ban on smoking for new tenants who move into public or section 8 housing is permissible in all 50 states.”