Renters told they can't smoke in their apartments

With smoking bans in airplanes, workplaces, restaurants and hotels, it seems the only place to sneak a drag these days is in the privacy of one's own home.

Well, not anymore.

That is, at least, if you want to rent one of the 5,452 apartments managed by First Centrum Communities.

Those who sign leases after Sept. 1 in any of the Sterling, Va., company's 49 apartment communities, including three in the Triangle, will agree not to smoke in the apartments. That goes for guests, too.

First Centrum thinks it's the first big apartment manager to adopt such a ban.

But other kinds of landlords also have been kicking the habit this year.

Westin Hotels & Resorts in January banned indoor smoking at all of its hotels in the United States.

Marriott's hotels will ban indoor smoking next month.

And the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill said last month that it was going smoke-free, following the lead of several other Triangle hotels.

The reasons behind the bans: The number of smokers is decreasing, and nonsmokers are becoming less tolerant of second-hand smoke. In other words, it reeks of good sense.

First Centrum said health concerns, fire safety and costly clean-ups led to the ban. "There's a lot of smell of smoke in there," said Rob Couch, president of First Centrum subsidiary Centrum Management. "Sometimes we have to replace the carpet and do two or three coats of paint" when a smoker moves out.

That costs about $400 per room, he said.

Most First Centrum tenants are elderly, and a few complained about secondhand smoke, Couch said.

Their concerns won't be extinguished overnight. Current tenants who smoke won't be held to the new rules; the company will go smoke-free through attrition.

"It was the best thing in the long term to just not have that smoking thing be an issue," Couch said.