My brother is a smoker and not Mormon and he's been trying to move to Utah County to live closer to his job. He's constantly being rejected by landlords and residence owners because he smokes. He never had this problem when he lived in Salt Lake City, but he needs to live in Utah County to save money. I didn't know what to tell him other than this place has a vendetta against non/exMormons, people who smoke, drink coffee, have tattoos, think for themselves, etc.

I've been telling him my bad experiences with the Mormon communities here in Utah County and he's never believed me . . . until now.

It's ridiculous. Church of "Jesus Christ" my arse. Latter Day "saints" of what?!?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 10:00PM by liminal state.

tell him to move to Ogden.

His job is in Springville.

now I feel even more bad for him. I'm being serious now. I was a smoker a long time ago.

He's kind of depressed about it because he got a really good job there, but he can't find a place to live and can't afford to keep commuting from Sanpete County.

Why can't Mormons just leave people alone. They're so full of fear and hate, and of themselves. No wonder people have to "recover" from this religion.

I know what you mean. Take a nice guy that works hard. And then tell him he can't make money because he smokes. It doesn't make sense.

Any chance your brother would be interested in switching to ecigs? You can buy or make a whole leaf (like, say, American Spirit) alcohol/glycerin extract that delivers all the tobacco-ey "goodness", without the offending smoke. He would be able to tell prospective landlords that he is a non-smoker, and he wouldn't smell like one or do any damage to their property either.

Tell him to quit smoking or go outside. Trying to get smoke out of a "non-smoking" rental condo and disgusted with the situation. No pets, no smoke, drink all you want and have all the kids you want. Raaaarrrr!!!!

It's not a Mormon thing. Smoking inside a house stains the walls and ceiling, and reeks.

I was wondering if it was both the Mormon prejudice and just renters in general trying to protect the smell of the place.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 10:14PM by liminal state.

Agreed. We rent in a very non-mormon part of Idaho and every house we looked at was non-smoking, except one. The house looked great online, but as soon as I walked in the door it just reeked of smoke in every corner. No way could I live there with my kids.

This is very typical in Happy Valley. When I moved back in 2004, My roomies and I would have to move to the sidewalk to smoke, because it wasn't allowed on the property, even outside (I completely understand why indoor smoking is not allowed.) In another apartment, the landlady said I was not allowed "overnight guests." Like I would ever follow that rule.

Maybe he should look more at Springville, Santaquin, or Spanish.

And tell him to be wary of the Provo fuzz.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 10:08PM by Itzpapalotl.

I have rental houses. I do not rent to smokers. This is the 21st century, and everyone should know by now that smoking is going out of vogue and for good reason. It has nothing to do with religion, as I am an apostate and dislike TSCC and do not observe the word of wisdumb myself and dip snuff a bit.

Smoking stinks up houses so they can't be rented to non-smokers without very expensive remediation. That's why I don't rent to them. Besides, people are spending a fortune on it and it actually affects their ability to pay rent when money gets tight. They'll buy smokes before they'll pay rent because they're hooked.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 10:40PM by rationalguy.

We own rental houses and apartments and we rent to smokers but they have to smoke outside. Our worst renters are usually the ones with kids. We had to evict two sisters who lived next door to each other and they had kids who dug holes in the yard, colored in crayon all over every square inch of walls and tore holes in the carpet. They cost us a fortune.

Did you ask them if you could rent and smoke only outside? It's worth a try.

In this economy, it's hard to turn anyone down. There are empty apts all over town.

Carol

Something else is going on here if he will agree to smoke outside. I live, own and used to rent to people in provo. There are plenty of smokers here if you look around. Does your brother have crappy credit?

I think he has good credit. I know there's a trend in marginalizing people who smoke. I wonder if it's a lot more complicated than just a conservative religious culture.

Maybe he should try the electronic cigs.

My son switched to those with great success. He uses those, but it's been easier for him to cut back, and they have no smell.

They're more $$. But in the long run they're cheaper than getting sick.

Good idea, Mia...

Our last tenants smoked, but had to smoke outside. It was never a problem.

The electronic cigarette's are the way to go. The initial outlay for the unit itself (if you buy one of the refillable ones) is less than you would spend on a carton of cigarettes. The liquid refill bottles cost about $9 or $10 dollars and last about a week and you can get them in a wide variety of flavors. I personally use one called "The Tank" and I wouldn't go back to regular cigarettes now... And all you are exhaling is vapor.

I would much rather my son went this route, even if he used them the rest of his life.
They're way less harmful than regular cigs. He can use them anywhere and it's ok. The smell isn't an issue.

I dated a guy last summer that used an e-cigarette. I thought he was smoking it up with some serious ganja, but it was just an e-cig. I think they're a great alternative.

Cigarette residue is a carcinogen and nearly impossible to remove from walls, carpets and drapes. The smell would make it impossible to rent out again.

Tell him to quit smoking. It will save him money and years of life.

Tell him to look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cigarette_smoke_carcinogens

Why would any rational person want to contaminate their body with carcinogens?

Starting in the first place ranks high on my list of the dumbest things I've ever done.

That said, I've never had trouble finding housing because I smoke. I have always smoked outside because it friggin' stinks to high heaven. I don't smoke in cars, and I don't smoke near non-smokers, because if they wanted to inhale my sloppy seconds, they'd buy their own cigarettes.

Pssh. The $ I spend on those damn things could be a nice vacation. I've been thinking about the e-dealies, too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2013 05:29AM by Beth.

I will add to this, that yes, I don't smoke anymore. But have you ever been walking around in a crowded place and smelled cig smoke? I LOVE that smell. Yes, I know it's killing someone, but it's one of those smells I love. Sort of like fresh cut grass

It's perfectly legal and very common to have a 'no smoking' clause in a rental or condo agreement where I live (BC, Canada). It's not a 'mormon thing' to restrict smokers. I live in a condo building that is completely non-smoking. It was one of the reasons I bought my place.

I have rentals in Springville. if your bro is a smoker, I'd suggest he look at the Wagon Wheel motel. Alternately, look at ksl.com, or drive around the neighborhoods between center street and 7th south on the east side of Main. A lot of houses for rent there, many whose landlords won't care if you smoke.

That said, I prohibit smoking in my rentals. The only other condition I have is that illegal activity or collusion in illegal activity gets you evicted. I don't care about drinking or any of the other stuff some landlords throw around; for many of them, it's a quality of life thing that comes with dealing with a large apartment complex or not wanting headache tenants. I can understand it.

I prohibit smoking because even if I restricted it to outdoors only, I'd still have problems. I permitted tenants in the past to smoke outside, and ended up with butts all over the yard. When it's cold, they'll shelter in the porch or in an open doorway, and the smell of smoke blows in.

Getting smoke out is prohibitively expensive. It's a full deep carpet wash, wash all walls, wash and clean out the vents. If you have units that share HVAC, you generally have to clean them too. It's roughly a $1,000 to $2,000 cost depending on the size of the unit. Charging a $1500 deposit on a unit I gross $8,000 or $12,000 a year won't work.

So, tell your bro to start looking outside of the big complexes. What he's looking for is available, he's just going to have to make some concessions.

Being a Landlord myself, we must be careful to not discriminate when placing an ad for the rental.

Craigslist reminds us to carefully word our ad so that we don't get our asses sued off...

I hate cigarette smoke. We just rented to a lady who smokes. She smokes OUTSIDE.

Smokers are people, too....

Tell your bro he is being discriminated against and prolly has a legal case against these so-called 'christians'...

It's not considered a civil right to smoke. Macy's, the grocery store, is known for not hiring and firing people who smoke. Plenty of businesses with Fab cleanrooms won't hire smokers either.

Also, in places like Boulder, CO, you can be fined if you smoke in public, outside.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2013 01:26PM by Itzpapalotl.

This has long been a problem in much of Utah. Now it's getting worse in other parts ofthe country as well.

I think the taxes and restrictions on smoking have gotten out of hand.

When I lived in Idaho Falls, mid 1960's, I was evicted from my apartment because "another resident said they saw some beer cans in my trash." There was nothing about beer in the rental agreement. I didn't buy, have, or drink beer at the time. There were no beer cans in my trash.