Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes

The owner of a Maryland townhouse sued his housing cooperative because of exposure to his neighbors’ smoking. The court found that the owner’s claims all failed, including that his neighbor’s tobacco smoke (1) was a nuisance; (2) violated the covenant of quiet enjoyment; and (3) constituted a trespass. Additionally, the housing cooperative was not guilty of negligence because the homeowner was not harmed by the drifting secondhand smoke. The court said that although exposure to secondhand smoke did not constitute a nuisance in this case they were not saying that it could never rise to the level of a nuisance.

Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., 212 Md.App. 451, 69 A.3d 512 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2013).

  • United States
  • Jun 27, 2013
  • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Parties

Plaintiff David S. Schuman

Defendant Greenbelt Homes, Inc.

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None

"If this Court were to hold that any amount of secondhand smoke entering from one cooperative housing member’s home to another’s constituted a nuisance, we would be one step away from banning smoking in all private homes - - an action inconsistent with State statutes. The circuit court explained that such a ruling would eventually lead to single family home owners bringing nuisance actions because many of those homes are not much further apart than the cooperative housing homes. We agree; it would be hard to reasonably define the areas where a smoker could smoke without the risk of a lawsuit."