Case Summaries
- Babbitt v. Superior Court(Court of Appeals 4th District, California, 2004 (unreported))
- A condo owner smoked cigars on an outside patio and smoke drifted into the adjacent unit. The owner of the adjacent unit filed several claims, including a nuisance action. Although the trial court initially dismissed nuisance claim, the appellate court reversed and sent the case to trial, stating that “[i]ntrusions by smoke and noxious odors are traditionally appropriate subjects of nuisance actions.” The appellate court also noted that “the dangers of ‘secondhand smoke’ are not imaginary, and the risks to health of excessive exposure are being increasingly recognized in court.”
- Dworkin v. Paley, Ohio Court of Appeals (1994)
- The plaintiff, a tenant, brought suit against his landlord, who was a smoker and occupied the apartment one floor below. The tenant sent a written notification to the landlord, informing her that the smoke was moving through the heating and cooling systems, causing the tenant physical discomfort. The landlord rejected the tenant’s suggestion of sealing off the heaters and using portable heating equipment; thereafter, the tenant sent notice and vacated the premises. The tenant alleged a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment under Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5321.04 to recover his security deposit.
- The court held that “[t]he covenant is breached when the landlord obstructs, interferes with, or takes away from the tenant in a substantial degree the beneficial use of the leasehold.” (internal deletions and quotations omitted).
- Harwood Capital Corp. v. Carey (Boston Housing Court 2005)
- The defendants were tenants who smoked approximately 40 to 60 cigarettes per day inside of their condominium. Both of them worked at home. Neighboring tenants complained to the owner of the offending unit. The owner brought an action to evict the smoking tenants based on a breach of the lease provision, which prohibited tenants from creating a nuisance. The court found that drifting secondhand smoke, at that level, constituted a nuisance sufficient to permit lease termination.
- Merrill vs. Bosser, Broward County, Florida (2005)
- The condominium tenant smoked excessively in his unit, to the point where the smoke alarm went off in the neighboring unit. The neighbor complained to unit owner and condominium management. The offending tenant was evicted on technical grounds. The neighbor brought an action against the unit owner, not against the smoking tenant, for damages. The court awarded $1,000 for trespass, breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment, and nuisance.
