I moved into my apartment, in Oregon, in June of 2007 and at first it was a wonderful place. They had told us that they wanted this to be like our home, not just an apartment that we were renting. In January of 2008 they announced that this was now a Smoke free apartment complex, and that the ramifications for smoking anywhere on the property was grounds for eviction. Since I signed the lease without the "No Smoking" clause, I feel as though they should have to wait for my lease to renew to add that clause into my lease. If I had known that they would pull this, I would never have moved in. Now, I am not sure if I can keep smoking outside on my deck, and I don't want to get evicted so I am torn. Is it legal to do this? Are they basically changing my lease without my signature or permission. I have done some research and found that they will typically send out an addendum for you to sign, but I have not received an addendum, or signed anything else indicating that I wouldn't smoke. So can they really do this to me?
Do you have a fixed-term lease (i.e. 1 year) or a month-to-month agreement? If it is month-to-month, then they can make changes like this with proper notice.
If you have a year lease, then I believe that you are correct and changing the building to non-smoking during your lease period would not be legally binding.