Florida rental laws may be changing in some areas.  It may soon be the case that tenants will have to make a choice – their home or their cigarettes.

From the beginning of 2014, a 49-unit rental community, Flagler Village banned smoking on the grounds as well as inside the actual units.  Other buildings and developments have also been enforcing similar bans in the last few years.  But it is quite new.  As Program Manager for the American Lung Association, Matthew Competiello notes, at the turn of the century, such a ban would have been unheard of.  But in the last five or six years there has been an increasing demand for smoke-free housing.

But there is some opposition to these rental laws.  Given that there is 17.1 percent adult smoking population in Florida, it is not easy to impose this throughout the region. As it was, in Flagler Village out of the 49 units, there were 18 housing smokers at the time the ban was imposed. Some think it’s great (like those who don’t smoke) and others are appalled at what they see as the Big Brother sentiment, arguing that is against their civil rights.