Smoke Free Washington

Protect Your Investment

A rental property represents an investment like any other – one that should be protected. Smoke-free policies help owners reduce turnover costs and prevent long-term damage.

Reduce damage

Smoking means serious damage to your property, including yellow walls, burn marks on the counters, trashed carpets and unpleasant odors. A smoke-free policy will help you spend less time and money on cleaning, repairs and painting. It will keep your units in better condition, making them more appealing to the 86 percent of Washington renters who prefer smoke-free housing. Review the Sanford Housing Authority Chart to learn how you can easily spend up to an extra $1,000 on turning over a smoking unit.

Protect re-sale value

Smoke-free apartment buildings also maintain their re-sale value. As the number of public places in which a person can smoke has shrunk, so has the number of home buyers who are even willing to consider a house with smoking in its past. (New York Times, "Real Estate & Secondhand Smoke: On Tobacco Road, It's a Tougher Sell," February 8, 2004).

Prevent fires

A smoke-free policy will also protect your property from fires. Cigarettes and smoking material are responsible for more deaths than any other fire source, nationally and in Washington state. Residential smoking fires cause more injuries, more deaths, and more expensive property damage than other type of fire. You may even be able to get an insurance discount by going smoke-free—ask your broker.

Reduced insurance premiums

Some insurance agencies give a credit or premium reduction to landlords if they don’t allow smoking in their apartment building. Here are a few things to consider when speaking with your insurance agent:

• Determine whether your current policy includes a penalty (explicit or hidden) if you don't presently have a smoke-free policy in your tenants' leases.
• Request a "credit" for having a smoke-free apartment policy. Some insurers automatically add a "debit" to the premium unless they are shown that leases for the apartment building require all units to be smoke-free.
• Make an insurance premium reduction a priority for discussion and negotiation with your insurer. In recent years, many insurers have dropped a number of "premium perks" due to unrelated losses in the insurance business.

Download the Benefits of Going Smoke-free.

• Last Updated: 02/24/10

  This Web site contains information on the revised Clean Indoor Air Act (RCW 70.160). It is not legal advice. This information cannot be considered as a substitute for legal advice from and representation by a qualified attorney.

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