Officials with Santa Monica's largest nonprofit housing provider are rushing to correct a mailer that went out to hundreds of tenants in early March informing them they would no longer be able to smoke in their apartments if they did not designate their units "smoking" by May 20.
That "opt-in" policy violates a law adopted by the City Council in October requiring landlords to ask tenants whether they wanted to designate their units "smoking" or "non-smoking."
Under the ordinance, tenants who do not respond become "undesignated," and may smoke in their units.
Anyone who moved into an apartment or condominium in Santa Monica after Nov. 22 is prohibited from smoking in their apartment, according to the law.
The mistaken notice went out to over 1,000 of the 1,575 units operated by CCSM, said Sarah Letts, executive director of the organization.
Officials will be mailing a corrected notice early next week.
So far, 148 CCSM tenants have designated their units for smoking and 398 have prohibited smoking in their apartments.
