Secondhand Smoke Abuse: When Condominium or HOA Neighbors Poison You, Your Family & Pets: Your Condo & HOA Rights eBook Series

By Dr. Joyce Starr

Are secondhand smoke bullies in your condominium or HOA making your life miserable? Is secondhand smoke a threat to  your health, family and/or pets? Has your condo board or HOA refused to take decisive action? Should you call the police, fire department or city? Should you hire an attorney? Is the law on your side in your state? Should you run for the board and change your documents? Should you move? Dr. Starr provides key lessons learned at the close of each chapter: What could happen IF you threaten the board, hire an attorney, sue the board, sue the owner, represent yourself in court, or if the Board fails to modify your documents? This work also highlights the impact of secondhand smoke on children, cats and dogs. Employ this vital information in your efforts to persuade the board and fellow owners. (If board members are ready to modify your documents, the author's bestseller, Smoke Free Condos - How We Restricted Smoking Inside Condominium Units and Declared Secondhand Smoke a Nuisance, will help ensure a positive outcome.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Starr Publishing
• Release date: Jul 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201553760

Dr. Joyce Starr

Dr. Starr has authored twenty-five books - eight on your condo & HOA rights - including: Defend Your Condo & Homeowner Rights, Condo Mold, Condo Owners Versus Condo Renters and Smoke Free Condos. She won a landmark condominium rights case against her Board in 2006. As Board treasurer in 2011, she saved her Association over $50,000 by renegotiating a $1.7 million assessment loan for both mold remediation and balcony restoration, and she led a groundbreaking effort to ban smoking in condo units in 2012. Dr. Starr also undertook a two-year campaign to stop the use of Roundup on community property. With 18 members voting, she won by a single critical vote in 2020.

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Testimonials for the First Edition

"Secondhand Smoke Crimes: When Neighbors Poison You, Your Family & Pets is a must read for anyone living in a condo, apartment building, townhome or duplex. You may feel you have control over your home’s environment, but what happens if you live next door to someone who smokes?

"What are your rights? What can you really do about the situation? These are the tough questions and situations that your landlord or homeowner’s association may be faced with if you file a complaint. What happens though if YOU are deemed the problem? That’s where Secondhand Smoke Crimes becomes an important tool in your life. As the story unfolds, it is clear that you are not alone.

– Faith Ranoli, Radio Talk Show Host

FINALLY, SOMEONE SPEAKS out! This book is a great resource for the silent majority of people who are sick and tired of being sick and tired! Not only does it afford you the tools to deal with an off site management or HOA, but outlines how to find out what rights you have in place to protect your well-being. I have lived 8 years in a situation that has been an on-again off-again nightmare of dealing with abuse of HOA covenants (no smoking in common areas, hallways, etc.) and without this book I’d still be trying to have these issues addressed. Dr. Starr has given voice to so many homeowners rights issues, its about time this was brought to light!   

– Rachel, Amazon 5-Star Review

"Secondhand Smoke Crimes is one of those rare, ground-breaking, technically important and yet readable books that arises from a serious personal experience. Almost everyone has been or is annoyed by secondhand smoke at one time or another but few of us realize how dangerous even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can be or what can be done about it. 

Dr. Starr documents the medical dangers and lays out the challenges for dealing with the problem, not only in general but particularly within the context of a condominium community. Buy it for your community’s governing board so they’ll understand their duties in this increasingly important health matter. 

– Dr. David Goldenberg, Author, Creating HOA & Condo  Documents.  

DR. STARR, THANK YOU for your help, support and the encouragement you gave me when I chained myself to the gate on my patio to protest the demands of my HOA. You helped me survive the situation for the farce it was! –  Linda Lattin

Copyright

© 2021 BY DR. JOYCE Starr. All rights reserved.

Publisher: STARR Publishing

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—except in case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews and as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author is not a medical doctor or attorney. She does not dispense medical or legal advice. This work is based on public documents, interviews and her own personal experiences.

Introduction

DEATH BY SECONDHAND smoke is definitely personal.  Secondhand smoke threatens the hearts, lungs and health of more than 130 million babies, children, adults and seniors—and tens of millions of pets— living in condos, co-ops and apartment buildings in the United States. Secondhand smoke contains arsenic, cyanide, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene, and radioactive polonium210.

Imagine being forced daily to inhale arsenic, cyanide and other toxic particles with no way to defend yourself or those you love. And it's supposedly legal. Or is it? I always thought a person’s home was their castle, is a common retort. Not if the chain-smoker is using his/her castle to poison you and your loved ones—and to turn your castle into a toxic dump.  

This work focuses on three women condo owners who fought for their nonsmoker rights. Two spent years battling a chain-smoking bully and his condo board defenders. Their efforts ultimately resulted in a groundbreaking amendment to their association documents—the first condominium in South Florida to define secondhand smoke as a nuisance and to ban smoking in condo units. The State of Florida's Tobacco Free Florida Division shared this achievement with HOAs throughout the state.  The third, a mother and artist, took her neighbor to court and won a landmark case that every nonsmoker should know about. Their horrific experiences could be your story.

The lies and duplicity these women confronted should be a wake-up call.  Do you truly understand what you're