I live in 1 of 20 apartments (a.k.a. SRO housing) on the ground floor of the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) building in Fairfax, VA. While smoking is banned in Fairfax County Government office buildings and in this building, they allow smoking inside the apartments. The problem is we have no ventilation as our windows don't open and my new neighbors smoking has aggravated health problems from a previous neighbors smoking and has also caused emotional distress. These health problems have limited my life’s activities and caused problems at work.

I've had many doctor visits and have been hospitalized on a number of occasions. As my new neighbor smokes during the night I'm exposed to the second-hand smoke which causes breathing problems and keeps me up at night. Not able to sleep has led to more problems at work and has almost caused me to have a number of traffic accidents from dozing at the wheel.

The property manager refuses to help even though they have medical documentation in my tenant file from doctors going back to 2003 and a dozen or so phone calls in the last month or so have done nothing. Even with the medical info in my file, the property manager moved a known smoker into the apartment next to mine. When I asked to move to another apartment away from the second-hand smoke, I was turned down. I found the following on the Internet:
“According to the San Antonio, Texas office of Housing and Urban Development not only are ALL apartment communities, regardless of government funding or not, required to abide by the Fair Housing Act but under the law if someone has a breathing problem, and a statement from their doctor, management is required to move the person who smokes to another unit in order to accommodate the person with this disability.”
I don’t know if this would apply here in Fairfax, VA, but there were a number of vacancies here when the smoker was placed in the apartment next to mine and even more empty apartments now.
My landlord has also refused all my requests to move the tenant that is smoking.

When I tried to get help by way of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA) I was told the agency can't help me because they can't go up against another Fairfax County entity. My property manager tells me I signed away my rights under the VRLTA when I signed my lease and she told me that as I live in their (FCRHA) building, No Rules, Regulations or Laws apply to them (FCRHA).

Some of the medical problems brought on by living here include: blood clots, heart disease, respiratory infections, asthma, chronic respiratory symptoms, eye and nasal irritation, allergies.

I thought about having my doctor fill out an affidavit of disability and then getting help filing a Request for a Reasonable Accommodation to force the hand of the FCRHA but I now know that won’t work here. My friend and neighbor who is permanently disabled and does have an affidavit of disability has been fighting the FCRHA for 2 years and has had to file a HUD Housing Discrimination Complaint because the FCRHA REFUSED to acknowledge, let alone grant a Request for a Reasonable Accommodation. My hope seeking help is to avoid a 2 plus year fight with the FCRHA and to avoid a HUD complaint that my friend and neighbor is STILL waiting to get resolved after a year and a half.

Is there something that can be done before I’m carried out of here in a body bag, I kill someone after dozing off at the wheel and causing an accident or go nuts from all the emotional distress?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. -- As I barely get by week to week I don’t have money to hire an attorney.
My local Legal-Aid office is not able to help because they’re overwhelmed with mortgage cases and I believe they don’t want to go up against the FCRHA.
As the rent is so cheap here I can’t afford to move or I would have done so a long time ago.

This is not a legal answer but...
Have you ever considered buying an air purifier that removes smoke from the air inside your apartment? I have a Hunter Air purifier that costs around $50 and I have replaced the filter that the machine came with a reusable high density filter that I clean with soap and water in the kitchen sink. I bought the air filter on Ebay for about $40 and it was made to my specific size specifications. My son smokes at least a carton of smokes a week and prior to having this air cleaner in my home my health was affected. Now once I clean the air filter once a week I have no health problems - and he lives in the same house as I do and the air cleaner is in the LR where my computer is that I spend a lot of time at.

Try that before you try to take on this FCRHA and wind yourself up over a nonwinnable case.

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Try that before you try to take on this FCRHA and wind your self up over a nonwinnable case.

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Hello d:

From what you posted I believe you ARE entitled to relief. However, being entitled to it, and getting it, are TWO different things. Without help ON THE GROUND, twinkie is absolutely right. You cannot win this case. And, if you did, they might throw you out, and you'd lose in the long run. No, I don't think much of bureaucrats.

excon

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Have you ever considered buying an air purifier

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I thought you'll were supposed to be some kind of experts..?
An air purifier is useless against the thousands of toxic chemicals in second-hand smoke.

From MayoClinic.com:
Secondhand smoke — also known as environmental tobacco smoke — includes the smoke that a smoker exhales (mainstream smoke) and the smoke that comes directly from the burning tobacco product (sidestream smoke). Secondhand smoke contains thousands of toxic chemicals, including:

■Benzene
■Carbon monoxide
■Chromium
■Cyanide
■Formaldehyde
■Lead
■Nickel
■Polonium
The dangerous particles in secondhand smoke can linger in the air for hours. Breathing secondhand smoke for a short time can irritate your lungs and reduce the amount of oxygen in your blood. Prolonged or repeated exposure to secondhand smoke is all the more dangerous.


US Environmental Protection Agency
Tobacco has chemical added to it so that it burns longer and doesn't go out while it is burning. As a result of these additives, tobacco smoke has over 4000 different chemicals in it. Of these around 40 or so are believed to cause cancer.

Some of these chemicals are arsenic, formaldehyde, and cyanide. These are pretty toxic poisons. The EPA listed Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) as a Group A carcinogen. This is the EPA's worst list. It includes things like asbestos, radon, and benzene. Everything in Group A is known and can be proven to cause cancer in humans.

"No air filtration or air purification system has been designed that can eliminate all the harmful constituents of secondhand smoke. A reduction of the harmful constituents of secondhand smoke does not protect against the disease and death caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. The U.S. Surgeon General has determined secondhand smoke to cause heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory illness."

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Originally Posted by d.lancaster10

...
When I tried to get help by way of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA) I was told the agency can't help me because they can't go up against another Fairfax County entity. My property manager tells me I signed away my rights under the VRLTA when I signed my lease and she told me that as I live in their (FCRHA) building, No Rules, Regulations or Laws apply to them (FCRHA).
...

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What agency refuses to help you under VRLTA?

My guess is that the manager is "puffing" (pun intended) when she says that FCRHA is above the law.

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§ 55-248.3:1. Applicability of chapter.

This chapter shall apply to all rental agreements entered into on or after July 1, 1974, which are not exempted pursuant to § 55-248.5, and all provisions thereof shall apply to all jurisdictions in the Commonwealth and may not be waived or otherwise modified, in whole or in part, by the governing body of any locality, its boards and commissions or other instrumentalities, or by the courts of the Commonwealth.

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LIS > Code of Virginia > 55-248.3:1

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55-248.5. Exemptions; exception to exemption.

A. Except as specifically made applicable by § 55-248.21:1, the following conditions are not governed by this chapter:

...
8. Occupancy in a public housing unit or other housing unit subject to regulation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development where such regulation is inconsistent with this chapter;

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LIS > Code of Virginia > 55-248.5

And VRLTA rights cannot be waived:

Quote:

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§ 55-248.9. Prohibited provisions in rental agreements.

A. A rental agreement shall not contain provisions that the tenant:

1. Agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under this chapter;
...

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LIS > Code of Virginia > 55-248.9

Hello lawyer:

So you think they're going to be intimidated just because she quotes the law she heard about on the internet? If so, I don't share your viewpoint.

Quoting the law is wonderful.. But, to be of any real help, she needs to know what to DO about it.

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Quoting the law is wonderful.. But, to be of any real help, she needs to know what to DO about it.

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Obviously.

She has several options:

• Keep looking until she finds a lawyer who will take her case;
• Go into court herself;

Neither of which I have much hope for.
Or

• Find a politician or three, and perhaps some journalists, who are willing to make a cause out if this.

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Originally Posted by d.lancaster10

I thought you'll were supposed to be some kind of experts... ???

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Hello again, Lawyer:

Well, she IS a feisty old broad. Maybe she CAN kick some a$$ by herself. If she yelled at her landlord like she yelled at us, maybe they'll hop to.

excon

This is the problem, they can not always move every smoker, and in fact there may be issues if they are even allowed to ask. Or to control people who visit.

And normally the issues with disabilities is that they all give a out to the apartment owners under separate clauses if they don't do undo hardship and so on.

You issues will be proving you have a real disablity and that the air in YOUR apartment is effected to a quality level that is considered unhealthy by EPA or other government standards.
Merely your comments or even your medical records showing you are suffering does not prove their smoke is doing it.

1. Doctors proof that this is a disability to you.
2. Eviormental engineer study of the air in your apartment to prove it is of a unsafe level.
3. air flow studies to prove it is the smoke from other apartments causing it.

Then you would have proof that could force them in court. (maybe) remember court is often not just the facts but how good the attorneys are doing it.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

What agency refuses to help you under VRLTA?

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The Fairfax County Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection.
The Consumer Affairs Branch provides mediation and arbitration for tenant-landlord complaints.

From the Fairfax County Government's web site:

WHAT WE DO:

The Consumer Affairs Branch investigates and responds to complaints concerning tenant/landlord, cable, and consumer problems. Complaints are resolved through mediation or arbitration between the parties. We can assist you if your dispute involves a business or tenant/landlord transaction that occurred in Fairfax County.

WHAT WE DO NOT DO:

We do not provide legal advice or regulate prices or rents. We do not handle employee vs. employer disputes or discrimination disputes. We do not handle business vs. business disputes. We do not handle cases against government agencies.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

And VRLTA rights cannot be waived:

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Even though it states in the Fairfax County Tenant-Landlord Handbook:

Quote:

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ILLEGAL CONDITIONS: The following are illegal and unenforceable conditions, even if written into a lease agreement. Tenants cannot be required to:
• Give up rights granted to them under the VRLTA;

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So far none of us have found a State or County Agency that will help us get the illegal language out of our leases. All the agencies we contacted told us they couldn't help us and our only options was to take the FCRHA to court.
And no one here has the money to hire an attorney to take this case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

So you think they're going to be intimidated just because she quotes the law she heard about on the internet?? If so, I don't share your viewpoint.

Quoting the law is wonderful.. But, to be of any real help, she needs to know what to DO about it.

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I'm a Mr. not a Ms. or Mrs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

Well, she IS a feisty old broad. Maybe she CAN kick some a$$ by herself. If she yelled at her landlord like she yelled at us, maybe they'll hop to.

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"Experts" wouldn't have told me to "go buy an air purifier" when 5 minutes of research on the web would have told you "No air filtration or air purification system has been designed that can eliminate all the harmful constituents of secondhand smoke."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

This is the problem, they can not always move every smoker, and in fact there may be issues if they are even allowed to ask. Or to control people who visit.

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According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):

"ALL apartment communities, regardless of government funding or not, are required to abide by the Fair Housing Act and under the law if someone has a breathing problem, and a statement from their doctor, management is required to move the person who smokes to another unit in order to accommodate the person with this disability."

My doctor has told me for years that due to my health problems (a few of which are - blood clots, heart disease, respiratory infections, asthma, chronic respiratory symptoms, eye and nasal irritation, allergies), that I can be declared permanently disabled. But here where I live, being disabled will get you evicted. My friend and neighbor is permanently disabled and had been living here for almost 15 years with no problems. On 2/1/08 we got new management and a new rent structure, with that new rent structure came a very personal, extensive and mandatory 10 page Re-Certification Packet that had to be filled out. For the first time in almost 15 years my friend was forced to disclose that he was permanently disabled and was living on Social Security Disability (SSDI). Due to the new rent structure my friend's rent was cut almost in half as it was now based on 30% of his income versus a set rent amount for everyone prior to 2/1/08. The new management tried to evict my friend so they could get a non-disabled person into his apartment and get more money for it versus what they would get from 30% of his SSDI. My friend has been fighting to keep his home of 17+ years for over 2 years now. It's a damn shame our own County Government - the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) - are the ones trying to kick him out onto the street.
I do have to say that not everyone in the FCRHA are cold hearted thugs like the few running these apartments as my friend got a couple dozen emails of support from FCRHA employees through his web site when he was out protesting in front of the building.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d.lancaster10

"Experts" wouldn't have told me to "go buy an air purifier" when 5 minutes of research on the web would have told you "No air filtration or air purification system has been designed that can eliminate all the harmful constituents of secondhand smoke."

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Hello again, d:

So, we're bad guys because we recommended a system that can eliminate SOME of the harmful stuff, because we KNOW that, from a legal perspective, you're going to be stuck in that building for the rest of your life. Offering a modicum of relief, in my view, WAS good advice.

But, a mean old codger like you DESERVES no better.

excon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

So, we're bad guys because we recommended a system that can eliminate SOME of the harmful stuff, because we KNOW that, from a legal perspective, you're going to be stuck in that building for the rest of your life. Offering a modicum of relief, in my view, WAS good advice.

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So was this like me contacting a Toyota Service Technician asking for the best way to remove a headlight assembly because a rock shattered the len and then being told...
"Did you try knocking on the light to see if maybe there was a loose wire..."

Quote:

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Offering a modicum of relief, in my view, WAS good advice.

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SO! Giving me false hope by recommending a solution that would capture, let say, 50 of 4000 harmful chemicals was going to help me how?

Hello again, d:

I can't imagine anyone who DESERVES to live in a rotten, smoke filled, killing environment, more than you. I HOPE you disregard twinks advice. I hope further that ONE of those 50 noxious chemicals, that you stubbornly REFUSE to avoid, is the one that does you in. That'll be poetic justice.

excon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

I can't imagine anyone who DESERVES to live in a rotten, smoke filled, killing environment, more than you. I HOPE you disregard twinks advice. I hope further that ONE of those 50 noxious chemicals, that you stubbornly REFUSE to avoid, is the one that does you in. That'll be poetic justice.

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So, because someone discovered you dispense advised with use of a Magic-8-Ball I'm now condemned to hell...
I'm real sorry if the truth hurts as I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
I'm glad I went into this with my eyes open and not expecting to get anything of substance as that's what I'm walking away with... nothing of substance.
I just feel real sorry for those that believe they're really speaking with a "Real Expert" as indicated in the upper left hand corner and who then blindly follow the advise to the detriment of their health or well being. Which is exactly what would have happened to me had I believed that I was indeed speaking with a "Real Expert" and then went out and purchased an air purifier not knowing that it may only be capturing 50 of the 4000+ chemicals in the second-hand smoke.

I am happy to report though that my threat of a lawsuit got the FCRHA to move my smoking neighbor to the opposite end of the building yesterday and my friend's attorney has put my case out into his network of lawyers and already 1 attorney has asked that I call her office Wednesday afternoon.
I'll keep you posted as to how things are going and maybe this way I can pass along some real knowledge in the hopes that 1 day we really can call you a "Real Expert."

Oh! Because you've been such great entertainment as things around me appeared to be going to hell, I've attached a new logo to replace the one in the upper left hand corner. It's just a little thank you for the laughter you've brought to me over that last several days.