The term "smoking" refers to inhaling, exhaling, breathing, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, vape, or other tobacco product or similar lighted product in any manner or form.
Smoking - TL;DR
All Alcove homes are smoke-free living environments. Housemates and guests are not allowed to smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes or any other tobacco or lighted product of any kind within a 25 foot perimeter of the property, including the interior portion or detached structures of the premises. If found to have violated smoking rules tenants agree to pay the cost of any abatement, cleaning, fines, ductwork replacement that may be necessary as a result of Housemate's failure to comply with this obligation.
Additionally, residents and guests may not engage in illegal activities including, but not limited to, medical cannabis or CBD on or near the premises.
Smoking - Detailed Information
Definition of Smoking:
The term "smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, breathing, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, e-cigarette, or other tobacco product or similar lighted product in any manner or in any form, including CBD and THC.
All properties are Smoke-Free environments:
Parties agree and acknowledge that the property, including the unit, has been designated as a smoke-free living environment. Housemates and their guests shall not smoke within 10 feet of any building on the property or within the premises of the property. Housemates shall not let any guests or visitors under their control to smoke within 10 feet of the any building on the property.
Escalation of Smoking Violations:
Housemates shall promptly provide Alcove notice (support@alcoverooms.com) of any incident of smoking on the property.
Alcove and Landlord Response to Complaints of Smoking:
Alcove is limited to sending lease violations and assisting the Landlord in holding offending tenants financially liable for violating a term of the lease. As such, Alcove's goal in such situations is to help housemates resolve the issues and remedy the specific situation. Evicting housemates for lease term violations is neither a goal, nor a priority for the Landlord or Alcove.
As such, we ask that Housemates understand and agree that any complaint, regardless of the number or intensity, that a housemate submits to Alcove regarding smoking at the property inadmissible hearsay for the purposes of an eviction (summary ejectment) lawsuit to the extent that we would attempt to submit your oral or written statements to a court of law. As such, housemates understand and agree that Landlord cannot attempt to file a legitimate eviction lawsuit against any offending housemate unless and until: (a) you first agree to appear in a court of law and testify as an eyewitness against your housemate; AND (b) you or we are able to corroborate your complaints with sworn testimony two additional parties or a police report. If you refuse or fail to comply or to cooperate with the above requirements, Landlord will not be able to obtain a legal remedy as to the lease violation, and as such, you agree that: you do not have any right to obtain any legal remedy or reimbursement or damages against Landlord under any theory of law whatsoever related to this disturbance; you do not have any right to demand early termination of this Lease Agreement without liability; and you do not have the right to demand that Landlord allow you to room switch without liability.
Liability for Damages from Smoking in Alcove Environment:
Housemates agree that the presence of any smoking residue, including any related odors in any area of the Home, shall never, under any circumstances, be considered normal wear and tear. As such, housemates understand and agree that, in any event, they shall be fully responsible for costs to perform necessary deodorization and ozone treatments to ameliorate and otherwise remove the smoking residue caused by housemates act of permitting smoking in the Home. Should the landlord's good-faith deodorization efforts fail to remove the smoking residue from any are or surface of the Home, including but not limited to carpets, walls, and fixtures, the tenant understands and agrees that they will be liable for the value of the replacement and installation of such carpet, walls, and/or fixtures, and that the security deposit may be applied to such damages, though the tenant shall be fully liable to the landlord for any deficiency.
Alcove or Landlord is not a Guarantor of a Smoke-Free Environment:
Housemates acknowledge that the adoption of a smoke-free living environment, and the efforts to designate the property as smoke free, do not make Alcove or Landlord or any of its agents the guarantors of your health or of the smoke-free condition of the unit, common areas of the property, and surrounding area. Landlord shall take reasonable steps to enforce the smoke-free terms of our leases; however, housemates acknowledge that Landlord's ability to police, monitor, and enforce the no-smoking policy is dependent in significant part on compliance by the residents. Alcove or Landlord specifically disclaim any implied or express warranties that the property will have any improved air quality or higher air quality standards than any other rental property. We cannot and do not warrant or promise that the unit or the property will be 100% free from smoke. We are not required to take steps in response to smoking unless we have actual knowledge of said smoking or have been given written notice of said smoking.
Limitations on Fitness, Habitability, and Smoke-Free Enjoyment of the Home:
Alcove and/or the Landlord has no duty to provide Smoke-Free or Odor-Free Environment. Housemates agree that any element of common or municipal law related to fitness and habitability do not impose a duty on Alcove or Landlord to make the Home smoke-free or odor-free to your satisfaction, particularly where said smoke and/or odors and/or smells are caused by neighbors or other 3rd parties. Housemates agree that as an inherent part of shared housing, you agree that certain smells, odors, and tobacco smoke caused by your neighbors (and yourself) have the capability of penetrating walls, ceilings, and floors, and you further agree that this reality is inherent in any shared housing or multifamily living environment such as condominiums, apartments, and any other rental housing property where units are built immediately next to, or on top of each other. As such, you agree that it is impossible or unreasonably impractical (due to the extraordinary costs that would be involved) for the landlord to prevent odors, smoke, and other smells from entering the Home from and our compliance with applicable building codes.
Objective and Reasonable Standards - Smoking
Housemates understand and agree that (a) the implied warranties of fitness and habitability (as defined by applicable common law and N.C. Gen. Stat. 42-42) and (b) the concepts of peaceful, safe, and quiet enjoyment are objective (and not subjective) concepts judged against the general population. As such, you agree that Landlord's duties to housemates are based on an objective and reasonable standard, and therefore Landlord cannot be held liable or otherwise responsible under any theory of law for any subjective, unique, or even dangerous sensitivities that housemates or their authorized guests may have to any smoke, odor(s), noises, sounds, or other nuisances. Landlord has no duty to ask any housemate, neighbor, or any other third party to change any lawful aspect of their behavior.
Housemate Assumption of Risk - Smoke, Odors, and Smells
Upon signing a Lease Agreement and taking possession of the property, housemates freely and voluntarily assume the risk of inconvenience and nuisance related to tobacco and similar forms of smoke, cooking smells, and similar odors or substances. Housemates understand and agree that the concepts of a properties fitness and habitability, as well as peaceful, safe and quiet enjoyment are strictly related to the physical condition(s) of the home itself as provided by the landlord for conditions that are directly (not proximately or indirectly) caused by the Landlord or Alcove. Housemates agree that issues such as tobacco and similar forms of smoke, cooking smells, and similar odors or substances are not directly caused by Landlord or Alcove, but instead they are caused solely by the acts or omissions of the offending party and/or their guests, and unless said acts or omissions are criminal in nature, you agree that your only legal remedy is against the offending party or their guests under a legal theory of private nuisance. As such housemates waive any and all claims against Landlord and Alcove that arise out of or are in any way related to tobacco or similar forms of smoke, cooking smells, and similar odors or substances that may be caused by other housemates, 3rd parties, neighbor(s) and/or their guests.