It’s getting cold. Tenants who were smoking outside all summer are now smoking inside. You’re getting complaints from your non-smoking tenants. And the property you’ve worked hard to maintain is slowly getting yellow walls, lingering odors, and air quality problems that are going to cost you a serious amount of money to fix at turnover.
So what do you do?
I’ve managed 2,000+ apartment units across the US and dealt with this more times than I can count. Here’s exactly how I handle it.
Why You Can’t Ignore It
This isn’t about being a tough landlord. It’s about protecting the rest of your tenant base.
Your non-smoking tenants signed a lease. They’re following the rules. They’re paying on time. And right now, they’re living next to someone who isn’t doing either of those things and getting away with it.
If you don’t act, you lose the good tenants. Not immediately, but at renewal time. They’ll find a building where management actually enforces its own rules. And the tenant you kept, the one breaking the lease, will keep doing it because you’ve shown them there are no consequences.
Give an inch, they take a foot. It’s that simple.
Step One: Make Sure Your Lease Actually Covers It
Before you do anything, go back to the lease. Does it explicitly prohibit smoking inside the unit and in common areas? If it does, you have a clear basis to act.
If your lease is vague on this, that’s a separate problem to fix for future leases. Get specific language in there: no smoking tobacco, marijuana, or any other substance inside the unit, in hallways, stairwells, or within a specified distance of the building. Consult an attorney in your state to make sure the language holds up.
For purposes of this post, I’ll assume you have a no-smoking clause and you have a tenant who’s violating it.
Step Two: Issue a Written Notice Immediately
Don’t start with a phone call. Start with a written notice.
In most states, this is called a lease violation notice or a cure-or-quit notice. The specific form and timeline vary by state, so check your local laws. In many markets, landlords issue a 30-day notice of lease violation as a first step.
The notice should state:
- The specific lease clause being violated
- The observed behavior (smoking inside the unit or common areas)
- What the tenant must do to cure the violation (stop smoking indoors immediately)
- The consequence if the violation continues (commencement of eviction proceedings)
Send it in writing. Email with read receipt, text message, certified mail, and a physical posting on their door if your state allows it. Use every channel. You want it documented and undeniable.
Step Three: Back It Up With a Phone Call or Text
After the written notice goes out, follow up verbally. Not to argue or threaten. Just to make sure they got it and understand it’s serious.
Keep it direct: “You received the notice. Smoking inside the unit is a lease violation. If it continues, we’ll start the eviction process. I don’t want to go there, but I will.”
Document that conversation too. Write down the date, what you said, what they said. If this escalates, you want a timeline that shows you communicated clearly and repeatedly.
Step Four: Keep Your Non-Smoking Tenants Informed
This is a step most landlords skip and it’s a mistake.
Go back to the tenant or tenants who reported the problem. Let them know you received their complaint, you’ve issued a formal notice, and you’re monitoring the situation. If they smell smoke again, you want to know immediately.
This does two things. It keeps a good tenant from quietly deciding to move. And it gives you ongoing documentation if the behavior continues.
A non-smoking tenant who sees you act is a tenant who renews. One who watches you do nothing is a tenant who leaves.
Step Five: If It Continues, Start the Eviction Process
No warnings after the warning. If the smoking continues after a formal notice, pursue the eviction.
This is where it gets uncomfortable for a lot of landlords. Eviction feels extreme, especially if the tenant has otherwise been okay. But a tenant who won’t stop after a written notice has told you something important: they don’t believe you’ll follow through. The only way to correct that is to follow through.
Document every instance going forward. Complaints from other tenants. Photos if possible. Dates and times. Build a file.
Then follow your state’s eviction process exactly. The timelines, notice formats, and court procedures vary significantly by state and even by city. This is not an area to wing it. If you’re not sure, work with a local eviction attorney. A few hundred dollars in legal fees is nothing compared to months of unpaid rent and a costly turnover.
A Note on Marijuana Specifically
This gets complicated depending on where you are.
In states where marijuana is illegal, you have an easy argument: the behavior is both a lease violation and illegal. A police report strengthens your case.
In states where it’s legal, the police aren’t going to help you. But it doesn’t matter. You don’t need marijuana to be illegal to enforce your lease. Smoking of any kind indoors, including legal marijuana, can still be prohibited by your lease terms. The legal status of the substance doesn’t override the lease. Check with a local attorney to confirm how your state handles this specifically.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
I want to put a real number on this so it doesn’t feel abstract.
Smoke damage at turnover is expensive. Deep cleaning, odor remediation, repainting walls and ceilings, replacing carpet and flooring in extreme cases. It’s not unusual for smoke damage to cost $3,000 to $8,000 per unit at turnover, depending on how long it went on.
That’s before the vacancy. Before the re-leasing costs. Before the time your team spends on the make-ready.
The tenant you’re letting slide is not free to keep. They’re just expensive in a way that’s easy to defer until it’s too late.
—
Smart Management includes built-in lease violation tracking, maintenance documentation, and communication logs so every notice, follow-up, and complaint is automatically tied to the right unit and tenant record. No more digging through emails to find out what you sent and when. See how it works.
—
This post reflects my personal experience managing 2,000+ apartment units across the US. It is not legal advice. Eviction procedures, notice requirements, and local ordinances around smoking vary by state and city. Always check your local laws and consult a qualified attorney before taking action.