Neighbor's cigarette smoke coming into our home

[SHRED]

We live in a townhome with a small backyard butted to another townhome's yard.

The neighbors behind us smoke.
A good portion of every day is spent by them smoking in their backyard (they are renters).
Their smoke follows the prevailing breeze and starting in the morning and then throughout the day and night, everyday, it goes into our back sliding glass door which we now have to keep closed.
No fresh air for us.
Our frustration level is peaking. We have not dealt with this because we think there is no possible resolution.
We know the landlord (who moved to the east coast) and are pretty sure she requires them to smoke outside.

We want to approach the neighbors and discuss this without going mad.
How would you?
What solutions could we offer? I thought asking them to take it to the front would be an option but they surely wouldn't do that since the backyard is where the space is.


frustrating


---

[caitxrawks]

1. blerugh

Wish I could help. We share a foyer with our three neighbors (it's like one big old house that was converted into apartments) and I smell their cigarette smoke wafting into our living room all the time. I'm currently one month smoke-free and it KILLS me sometimes.

I'm sorta in denial...like I keep hoping it will go away, lol.

[backwoodsbob]

2. if they are doing the outside as required..

not a damned thing you can do.sorry

[SHRED]

3. Isn't it strange that we have sound ordinances and...

...many other code enforcement issues yet the very air we breath can be fouled for others by cigarettes and nothing can be done?

[HopeHoops]

4. How about a lawn sprinkler "accidentally" set wrong.

:evilgrin:

I'm thinking the ones that make the "pshew-pshew-pshew-pshew" noise as they reverse direction to start another pass. If you just *HAPPEN* to set the stop point a LITTLE too far to their side, well...

[Bossy Monkey]

5. Contact the landlord first. You're assuming that they're required to smoke outside,

but you don't know. This is the first thing you have to find out. If you're correct, it's with the landlord that you have to seek a resolution anyway.

[MrsBrady]

6. are you you in a townhome within a home owner's association...

....and/or

you should check with the owner anyway...you don't actually know the terms of their lease.
It may be that they are not supposed to be smoking at all.
I would check.

[quakerboy]

18. Can a lease

determine your right to cancer if you take it outside?

[MrsBrady]

20. um...I don't understand your comment

are you being sarcastic?

If her neighbor's lease indicates that they are not to smoke in the unit, it could include on the balcony or on the property at all, depending on the lease.

She posted an OP and I am trying to help.
I did work in property management for 4 years, a few years ago.

[quakerboy]

31. That was my question

I was being slightly sarcastic, in my reference to cancer.

And knew that you could make a unit non-smoking, though I was unsure of how enforceable that was (my parents owned a rental property for a brief time when I was a kid, and they had a heck of a time with it).

But I did not know you could extend that to exterior portions. So I asked.

[petronius]

43. In California they can, I'd assume other states are the same

My complex is nominally no-smoking, inside and out, although it doesn't seem to be enforced.

I think it's easier to ban it for common areas, but it can be included in the lease to cover private areas as well...

[MrsBrady]

21. dupe

[MrsBrady]

22. dupe

[SHRED]

25. we have no HOA

[Skittles]

7. I would talk to them in a civil manner

take the chance they might sympathize and move elsewhere to smoke

[madinmaryland]

13. Maybe you should be scheduled to kick some neighbor ass!

:D

[PeaceNikki]

27. This.

I will NEVER understand why this isn't the logical first course of action for issues with neighbors.

Why play some passive aggressive game? :shrug:

[quakerboy]

32. I tend to agree

Though we know nothing of any history with these neighbors.

I have had a few neighbors who make it immediately apparent that this would be a disastrous approach. For instance, at my last place, if you had gone to one set of noisy neighbors to ask them not to turn on the mega bass car stereo when they went to 7-11 at 4 am each day, your car would have ended up keyed by their kids.

But by and large, it is the best way to handle things.

[elehhhhna]

8. A good sized box fan, on their side of the fence,

maybe you can pop for the power, might fix this. IF they use is when they're out there and IF they aim it away from your property and IF they are stationary while smoking (which is likely). Seriously.

[elleng]

11. Good idea.

[Kali]

15. my thought was a fan too

only I would probably place it near the door and aim it away from the house

but yeah talk to them first, maybe there is a solution that they can participate in - ask for their help - they might be assholes and tell you tough shit, but they might be nice and be mortified that they are poisoning your air

[Arugula Latte]

9. Gawd, you have my sympathy.

That sounds horrible. I don't know if many smokers realize just how strong and unpleasant their smoke is, and also how far it travels, how long it lingers and how much they smell of it when they're not smoking. I walked by a guy in a store the other day and was almost knocked over by the strong stench of cigarette smoke coming off of his clothes and hair.

[Taitertots]

10. You have to start smoking......Smoking pollock n/t

[EternalOptimist01]

12. Gross!

Cig. smoke makes me want to vomit.

[madinmaryland]

14. Welcome to DU!!

:hi:

[snagglepuss]

16. Talk to them. THey may not realize it's a problem. If that doesn't work,

talk to the landlord and or town house association. If nothing works then set up speakers outside and play either polkas or bag pipe music, preferably a marching band of bag pipes. You don't have to blare the speakers. Endless bag pipe music can be like nails on a chalk board. At that point perhaps your neighbors will be in a mood to negotiate.

[pacalo]

19. You & I had the same idea. Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" played over & over

could do some good, too.

[eShirl]

17. With our last downstairs neighbors, we had to buy a HEPA air filter

just to get the smoke down to where our eyes weren't stinging. It was like living over a bar. (Well, back when people could smoke in bars.)

They must have been serious chain smokers; our current neighbor told us she smokes and we didn't even know.

[applegrove]

23. Buy them a big honking air filter and ask them to plug it in outside and smoke into it????

[DainBramaged]

24. And eventually some of you will take their rights and beat them down and force a problem

as if they were convicted sex offenders who didn't let the authorities know who they were.

I find it amazing how people here think that no matter what, only THEIR rights matter.

Nannies, the meat of DU.

[quakerboy]

33. So who's rights matter?

[DainBramaged]

35. I guess he on DU who screams the loudest....

Just like the woman who complained that her neighbors weren't recycling, DU has become the site where the nannies gravitate.

[quakerboy]

36. The who that what now?

I missed that one.

However, I think you missed one as well. I'm pretty sure the internet is the place where people who want to get all up in each-others business gravitate. That and work places, neighborhoods, churches, and any other place where there are multiple people in one locality.


That said, what would be your solution to the situation as presented in the OP? Should the smokers have to give up smoking? Should the breathers have to give up breathing? Is there some fair compromise that could protect everyone's rights? Why not add a constructive idea to this thread in response to the OP.

[DainBramaged]

38. Not my problem to solve, as an ex-smoker I understand both viewpoints

why should I solve the problem? This is DU not Lawyers.com. I think it's petty and that's where I leave it. Those who think lawyers should be involved need to get a life.

[quakerboy]

41. Why not?

because you are here, having obviously clicked on the link to this OP. And because you are a human, they are human, and why not be constructive and helpful to a fellow human who is facing a problem. And as an ex-smoker, you have a view of both sides, which makes you uniquely situated to offer helpful advise on a subject that obviously caught your interest. Further, given that you think lawyers are not the answer, you obviously have an opinion on the matter.

I disagree with your assessment in 2 facets. I do not think it is petty. And I do not think it is inappropriate for lawyers to be involved.

Or more accurately, it is potentially not petty. And while it may be premature at this exact moment, I do not think a lawyer is out of the question. I can explain why, and I will. Seeing as we are on a discussion board, I see that as kinda the point of being here.

In a previous residence, one of the neighbors enjoyed BBQ. However, they seemed to think that it took a full bottle of lighter fluid each time, followed by waiting time for it to sink in or something. The smell of the fluid would be overwhelming in the extreme, enough to give one a headache quickly. Fortunately I could close the windows and wait it out, and it only happened once a week or so. Now, I have not had a smoker neighbor that caused me issues, but things in the air can cause serious distress. And I know from past experience that cigarette smoke can cause me serious problems. Certain brands of second hand smoke don't bother me, but others can send me to the hospital. Some years back I really wanted to do the bar thing, so I did. It lasted a few weeks before my obstinance gave in to the fact that I wanted to be able to breathe without using more than a reasonable dose of inhaler. So smoke in my space can be a serious problem. I will demand my right to breathe over anyone else's right to smoke, and I do not feel the least bit petty about it.

That said, I imagine one could just close a window in most situations, whicht leads to the second issue. I shouldn't have to close my window to have clean air. This is closer to petty, but would be demanding ones right to smoke in the back yard instead of the front. I have clients who do smoke, and its pretty simple to work around. Not in my car, but at reasonable times I will find somewhere you can do it, and wait at a reasonable distance for you to finish your business before we get going again. No different than a restroom stop, I don't want to handle your urine, but I don't plan to disallow you from having it. But if you pee on me, thats a different story entirely. If it steps up to a level where someone is consciously and willfully violating my rights, why shouldn't I defend my rights by use of a lawyer? Isn't that kinda the point of having a right? And for sure, that's the point of a lawyer.

My ideal solution is to talk to them and work out something that everyone can live with. My teen smoking phase didn't last long at all(that whole breathing thing again) but I understand that others are. If everyone is reasonable, then we can all live together and enjoy the use of our conflicting rights. But if we are not, then we have to find some way to come to a resolution, preferably short of dueling bazookas at 20 paces.

[DainBramaged]

42. (sigh) whatever makes you happy

seems like you LOVE being involved in other people's junk......


I'm done, preach to someone else, I had my say.

[Auggie]

26. You might be able to sue the owner of the townhome

for nuisance in small claims court. And after you file suit, get another neighbor to file suit a week or two after. And sInce there are two of you in the townhome, both of you can file suits. That would make three seperate suites. The trick is to make this the problem of the owner, not the renter -- get the owner annoyed by dragging him into court enough so that he kicks out the renter.

Call this radio lawyer... it's free: http://www.kgoam810.com/sectional.asp?id=25969

[DainBramaged]

28. Of course, just sue them, that will solve the problem....

So many appropriate words, so against the rules here.....:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Auggie]

29. What are you saying?

[DainBramaged]

30. Of course, just sue them, that will solve the problem....

How about in French Hindi and Turkish, would that be easier for you to understand?


Bien sûr, il suffit de les poursuivre en justice, qui permettra de résoudre le problème

बेशक, सिर्फ उन लोगों के खिलाफ मुकदमा, कि समस्या का समाधान होगा

Tabii ki, sadece sorunu çözmek olacağını, onları dava


Suing evrybody about everything, it's what makes America America.

[Hawkeye-X]

34. Throw in Arabic and few...

بطبيعة الحال ، سو منهم فقط ، من شأنها أن تحل المشكلة
כמובן, רק לתבוע אותם, כי יפתור את הבעיה
もちろん、単に問題を解決することは、それらを訴える
当然，仅起诉他们，这将解决问题
البته ، فقط آنها را ، سو که مشکل را حل کند
Tất nhiên, chỉ cần kiện họ, mà sẽ giải quyết vấn đề

[Auggie]

44. Second-hand smoke -- absolutely

[hippywife]

37. Honestly, as a smoker all I can say

is that as much as I try to be considerate and stay out of the way of others when I smoke (not stadning near doorways or sidewalks), a huge population of human beings can stay out of one another's way only so much.

I would second the fan blowing out your door that someone else suggested.

They have their rights, too, and it's no one's fault that you all live on top of one another as you do.

[grace0418]

39. My best friend and her husband used to smoke. They were always careful not to smoke

around me, they'd go outside on their balcony. I remember them telling me that their neighbor complained that their smoke was coming in her place. As wonderful and considerate as my friend and her husband are, I remember them acting like their neighbor was making a big deal out of nothing. I kept my mouth shut but thought to myself that they just have no idea how much they stink and how easily it can permeate through an entire house.

Flash forward a couple of years. They've both quit smoking (THANK GOODNESS on many different levels) and they have a baby. Now she's complaining because her neighbors sit outside and smoke, and all the nasty smoke comes in their place.

Honestly, I think she realized the irony. But it does go to show how much the addiction can cloud perceptions.

Good luck with your neighbors. I would at least attempt to speak with them first, as nicely as possible. If they don't respond positively, then yes, a good box fan set on high should do the trick.

[marzipanni]

40. Print out 5-10 of those free e-cigarette introductory offers on the internet

At night stick them under their windshield wipers and your own, and some others near their car, and they will look around and won't feel targeted.
Maybe they will have thought of trying e-cigs and this will give them a bit of impetus. Worth a try :)

[ElboRuum]

45. Talk to them.

Chances are good that they don't know that they are causing you issues. As far as what to say, just talk, explain your situation and try to come to an arrangement.