The Los Angeles Times recently posted an article about a California landlord who imposed a blanket ban on smoking in all 2000 of their apartment units (13 buildings in total). The ban extends to all common areas as well, requiring tenants to smoke across the street if they need to light up. The full article can be found here: Landlord imposes smoking ban on 2,000 California apartments – LA TIMES
The California Smoking Ban law came into effect as of January 1st, 2012 (See post: New 2012 Laws for Landlords and Property Managers), but from our experience, not many landlords have taken advantage of the legislation. This is the first public example of a large, portfolio-wide ban of smoking in the California multifamily market, and we hope to see more owners taking advantage of the this very helpful law.
Note to apartment owners in Los Angeles: Keep in mind, the new ban cannot be implemented at buildings that are under rent control (we have tried).