I have a resident upstairs complaining about resident downstairs burning incense. Resident downstairs is saying it is for religious purposes.

Question- I have a resident upstairs complaining about resident downstairs burning incense. Resident downstairs is saying it is for religious purposes. Hmmm she has never said that before until we sent this most recent 21-30. Opinions?? Resident upstairs has never complained before.

Is this a smoke free property?

Yes, but they are saying we are discriminating against them due to religion.

I’m not really sure why anyone would send a violation for incense burning. Do you send them for strong air fresheners or candles? See where I’m going with that. Also, doesn’t matter whether you believe the reasoning or not.

I typically would not, but the incense is getting into the unit upstairs, from the bathroom vent causing a disturbance to the neighbor above.

Send it to legal if you have a legal dept. If not, put that on your regional.

If it’s a smoke free property it’s a smoke free property that should include candles, incense or anything else that emits smoke if burned

Since when does a smoke free clause include candles or incense? That’s utterly ridiculous. Not saying it’s not the case in some locales, I’m simply saying it’s utterly ridiculous.

Ours does. Every resident signs it in our lease when they move in. Smoke is smoke. They can’t have tart warmers but nothing that emits smoke
If nothing else forget the smoke aspect of it, it eliminates a hell of a lot of fire hazards If people aren’t leaving candles burn unattended

I don’t disagree about the fire hazard, for sure, but that would be a separate clause. I just googled to see how common this is and even HUD documentation states smoking is to refer to tobacco products including pipes, cigars, cigarettes, and specifically did not include incense/candles. But I also know that every lease in every locale could be very different.

I know that personally, I have issues if I’m in our house when incense is burning and start coughing excessively. I agree with checking with legal, since I would think if one tenant has health issues with it, that could possibly trump the other tenants religious reasons.

You can have guys go through and foam up holes in plumbing and so forth but the downstairs also needs to know that it doesn’t matter the reason. This is shared living and a private company. However with cooking smells- it’s a battle and we do make this causing the smells get an odor machine or something that grabs it

Religious or not, you can not affect the happiness of other residents.

It doesn’t really matter if *you* believe it’s for religious purposes or not. Does your lease explicitly state incense aren’t allowed?

Incense and candles are not "smoking"
Cigarettes, cigars, and joints are smoking

The smoking clause just covers actual smoking... no where in the lease does it cover this situation. The only thing I have to go on is - The tenant shall conduct themselves and require other persons on the premises with his consent whether known by the tenant or not to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb his neighbors peaceful enjoyment of the premises.

Tell the neighbor who is “disturbed” that the other person is not doing anything wrong.
Some people are “disturbed” by the faint sound of children playing in the yard. Doesn’t mean you have to reprimand the children playing. If you know what I mean

Maybe they could agree on a scent that both can tolerate. Would the neighbor be willing to try a different scent of incense?
Also air is traveling through interior walls where there is not insulation. Seal around escutcheons, behind the dishwasher, the fan in the bathroom etc. It becomes an issue when the complaining resident has their air or heat running and the other resident does not (it pulls air from the other unit). Concentrate on the areas where the person smells it the most. Likely the kitchen with all the plumbing knock outs.

Let me ask you this. Curry is the most annoying seasoning that anyone can cook with. It permeates the walls and leaks out into the breezeways. If someone cooks with curry and you get a complaint, how would you handle that? Treat this the same way

We have been. I just wanted to see opinions and hear experiences bc the complaints don't stop. I have residents that cook with curry and neighbors have no issues.

Tell the downstairs resident to get an air purifier & have it running while burning her incense.

Are they willing to open a window and run a fan or a purifier or something?

OH be careful when dealing with religious practices. I would tread lightly on that one.

I would leave that one alone, screams Fair Housing to me.

Another word of caution: the resident complaining MAY be asking for a reasonable accommodation/modification. My asthma is severely triggered by incense, so be careful in addressing this matter. Make sure you know what the situation is before arriving at a conclusion.

I would consult your attorney. Sounds like it could be a gray area. In today's climate a lot of people are looking for opportunities to take advantage. It never hurts to ask a question.

If your lease prohibits smoke, then it’s covered. If they don’t comply, when their lease is up, don’t renew.
Some tenants will use any excuse to justify doing what they want to.

Resident burning insense isn't allowed to interfere with other residents peaceful enjoyment and if it's for religious reasons they have to find a way to not interfere with others.

I am dealing with the same issue. Haven’t had an asthma attack in 14 years until this neighbor began burning sage 3 months ago. I don’t know what anyone else thinks but if someone tells me something I am doing is bothering them health wise then I would quit because I don’t want to cause someone to be hospitalized or worse because of me. I am tired of people saying they are doing it because of religious reasons. My neighbor is not affiliated with not one religious nothing. She stays up all night burning that stuff and cares nothing about who she hurts. All I can say is if smudging is suppose to help you in a positive way. I have yet to see that happen. It seems more like the devil is in it—as far as the person. When is burning sage a religion, I understand it to be a ritual started by Native Americans. So why is it that so many people starts this and then when it affects others they act like they have all these rights. I feel that it should be stopped because after while someone is going to cause someone great harm and then what. Probably jail time and saying it was for religious reasons is not going to get it if someone dies. Where is the compassion?

But the bottom line is there is a complaint. This sounds like something that irritated me years ago when one lady would complain about she was sick and her husband and others decided to ignore her and she died. So all I can say is don’t let it be said too late—that no one helped when it was in their power to do something. I have asthma now because of my neighbor burning sage and I am here to see if anyone has some good answers for my situation. This answer goes up there with someone who doesn’t care about the peace and enjoyment of another that pays rent as well. Scared of you.

As a Landlord I can tell you why all rental units should be smoke free. And yes that is candles and incense too. Evidently the ones who complain have not cleaned smoke residue from walls and ceilings. And then usually had to repaint. When something is burned, there is residue in the air and it can build up. And besides the mess, any open flame or ember is a big fire hazard. But renters usually don’t care, because it’s not their property. My lease specifies not only no smoking in the apartment but no burning of incense or candles or anything. Not your property. Buy your own house and soot it up and or burn it down.

The tenant complaining from incent is totally right. Incent smoke is very disturbing. I have the same issue in my complex. The bad is that the complex is so big, that we cannot figure out where it is coming. Also, many people will use incent to hide marijuana smell.