Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: Smoking in/around apartments

No matter whether you live in an apartment that allows smoking, what you do inside or outside your apartment, as it affects your neighbors is what counts. The law provides that everyone has a right to quiet use and enjoyment of their home. If someone does something unreasonable that infringes upon that right, then the person whose rights are violated may have a basis upon which to complain and ultimately bring a case against the offending party.

If person A smokes outside person B's home, and A's smoke interfere's with B's enjoyment of his home, then B may sue A to enjoin, or stop A from smoking in such a manner that the smoke gets into B's home.

The same would happen if A shined powerful flash lights into B's windows in the middle of the night, or if A blasted loud music outside B's windows.

Essentially, A's activities are a nuisance to B, and on that basis, B has a right to sue to stop A.

As a practical matter, when it comes to the situation you describe above, the non-smoker could take the smoker to court and seek an injunction preventing the smoker from smoking so close that the smoke gets into the non-smoker's home.

If the regulations that govern the building (via the lease) say that there is no smoking in the outdoor common areas, then the non-smoker can demand that the landlord enforce those rules on the smoker, and may even be entitled to a partial refund of their rent for the diminished value of their apartment as a result of having to suffer smoke inhalation.

It can get really complicated, and this question touches on areas of civil rights, related to who can smoke and where, and who has a right to be free from harmful smoke; it touches on landlord-tenant law; it touches on torts or personal injury law; and it touches on enforcement of municipal codes, just to name a few.

I hope this explanation helps somewhat.