HB 4120 – This Act lets landlords restrict smoking in apartments. Allows residential landlords of multifamily housing to convert premises to nonsmoking for existing tenants upon 90 days’ written notice. Applies to new and existing rental agreements.

SUBMIT TESTIMONY HERE before 2/8 at 3pm

PASSED HOUSE – CONTACT LEGISLATORS

Smoking is harmful to everyone’s health, as well as secondhand smoke. Smoke seeps into a room’s walls, carpeting, ceiling, flooring and other surfaces making it impossible to remove the odor once a tenant moves out, reducing the attraction to rent the unit to future tenants. With housing already being in short supply, we don’t need to add to the problem for tenants to find a suitable place to call home.

Because smoke smelling dwellings are harder to rent, it reduces market value decreasing the amount of rent landlords can charge.

AMENDMENT ADOPTED

The amendment applies provisions to tenancies in dwelling units developed with a development agreement under ORS 94.504 to 94.528 or that share a wall with another unit (instead of multifamily dwelling or a collection of multifamily or single-family housing unit). It exempts tenancies within an accessible unit. Increases timeline for written notice to the tenant to 180 days. It also modifies the definition of “smoking.”