SwedelsonGottlieb Assists HOA’s Successful Effort To Make Individual Buildings Become Smoke-Free

By David C. Swedelson, Esq. and Mark Petrie, Marketing Coordinator at SwedelsonGottlieb, Community Association Attorneys

Complaints about secondhand smoke are increasing, and many associations are looking for options for dealing with the issue. Many boards want to propose an amendment to the association’s governing documents but are concerned about enforcement, as they know that there are some smokers living at their associations.

If your development is made up of several detached buildings, each of which contain multiple units, you may want to consider an innovative alternative – amending the governing documents to allow the owners of each individual building to self-determine that their building will be smoke free! We did this for one of our clients, setting up a process by which the owners of a building can unanimously apply to the board for designation as a permanently smoke-free building.

Check out this story about United Laguna Woods Mutual and the successful approval of such an amendment to their occupancy agreement (United is a stock cooperative). As stated in the article, shareholders in one building obtained designation of their building as smoke-free. Our attorneys at SwedelsonGottlieb worked with United’s Board to prepare the amendment and related documentation that led to this development.

Interested in pursuing a no-smoking amendment to the governing documents of your association? Contact SwedelsonGottlieb today at 800-372-2207 so we may discuss the alternatives that are available to you. Ask for Mark Petrie, who can also be reached via email: mark@sghoalaw.com