Genesee County Health Department

Better Life Through Better Health

Release Date:          Immediately               Kill Date:  June 13, 2005 

Contact Person:     Ann Goldon

Phone:                      (810) 341-5898

RE: Smoke-free apartments listing now online, radio ads begin

An informal survey conducted by the Smoke Free Environments Law Project (SFELP) of apartment owners in 19 Michigan counties, including Genesee County , reveals more smoke-free apartments than expected in some counties, and virtually no smoke-free apartments in others.  Survey results showed no smoke-free apartment living available in Genesee County , despite the fact that seventy-three percent of adults are non-smokers.

"One would think the apartment rental market in Genesee County would much more closely reflect the percentage of smokers and persons who don't smoke.  The fact that so many apartment owners continue to not offer smoke-free buildings may reflect the lag time between recognizing market realities and reacting to those realities.  It may also be due to many apartment owners thinking it is not legal to adopt completely smoke-free policies.  In fact, both federal and Michigan laws are completely clear that smoke-free apartment policies are legal," said Jim Bergman , Director of SFELP.

"One of our purposes in conducting this survey was to identify apartment buildings that were completely smoke-free and to offer apartment owners the opportunity to have their smoke-free apartment buildings listed free on our new MISmokeFreeApartment web site," said Bergman.  "About half of the apartment owners accepted our offer, with most who didn't accept the offer saying it was because they had no vacant apartments." 

To assist both landlords and tenants in learning about their rights to have smoke-free apartments and reasons why it makes sense health-wise, economically and legally, SFELP has created an award-winning web site at www.mismokefreeapartment.org.  The site has information for landlords and tenants, and it includes the smoke-free apartment listing.

To spread the word about smoke-free apartments and to encourage tenants and landlords to visit the web site to learn more, SFELP has created and is airing two humorous and informative radio ads in the Upper Peninsula and in the Genesee and Ogemaw county areas from May 9 through June 19, 2005 .  "We hope the ads will encourage more landlords to consider adopting smoke-free policies and will encourage tenants to ask for smoke-free apartments," said Bergman. 

To access the web site to learn more, go to http://www.mismokefreeapartment.org.  For additional information, go to the Apartments & Condominiums section of the SFELP site at http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/apartment.htm.