Every Day Is Hell Due to Downstairs Neighbor's Indoor Smoking... Asked to Refrain, Told "Mind Your Own Business"

Legal Provisions on Indoor Smoking Are Virtually Ineffective
19% of Apartment Complaints Are Related to "Smoking"

After a resident of an apartment complex shared their story of suffering due to a downstairs neighbor smoking in the indoor laundry room, internet users have begun sharing various ways to respond. On June 18, a post titled "How should I deal with an inconsiderate smoker living downstairs?" was uploaded to the online community 'BobaeDream.' The author, identified as A, wrote, "The downstairs neighbor smokes in the laundry room, and it’s excessive. They gather cigarette butts on the railing and smoke so much that the laundry room is filled with cigarette smell, which even seeps into our clothes," attaching a photo as evidence. The photo shared by A showed the downstairs neighbor collecting several cigarette butts and lighters on the laundry room window sill.

Every Day Is Hell Due to Downstairs Neighbor's Indoor Smoking... Asked to Refrain, Told "Mind Your Own Business"

An apartment resident gathered several cigarette butts and lighters on the laundry room window sill. Online community 'BobaeDream'

A added, "It’s already bad enough that they smoke inside their home, but they also collect the butts outside like that. This person used to smoke in the emergency exit, but after being warned, they started smoking in the laundry room." A continued, "Because I have a child, I haven’t directly told them to be careful," and claimed, "When I met them in the elevator and politely asked them to refrain from smoking, they cursed at me, saying, 'Mind your own business.'" A also said, "I am a tenant, and the landlord is reluctant to get involved, and the management office has been unable to resolve the issue, so it’s a very difficult situation," asking for advice on whether there is any way to resolve the issue through complaints.

Upon hearing this story, internet users responded with suggestions such as, "Retaliate with noise between floors," "File a complaint with the management office using evidence of them smoking. If the exterior wall is being stained, the management office can take action," "It might be best just to avoid them," and "Endure it, as they could retaliate against your child or family." One user, who also reported suffering from secondhand smoke between floors, advised, "Unfortunately, people who smoke indoors will never change their habits. Either move out, or wait until they do."

Meanwhile, although there are legal provisions to regulate smoking between floors and indoors in apartments and other multi-unit dwellings, which often cause disputes among residents, there are no specific penalty regulations such as fines. The current Multi-Family Housing Management Act only states that "residents of multi-family housing must make efforts not to cause harm to other residents due to smoking within their own units, such as on balconies or in bathrooms."

Recently, Apartment Ai, an apartment living support platform, compiled and analyzed keywords related to complaint management services within the platform from April last year to April this year, a period of one year. Complaints related to "smoking" ranked third at 19%. This represents a sharp increase of 15 percentage points compared to the previous year. Notably, more than half of the smoking-related complaints involved indoor smoking, and smoking in shared spaces such as hallways, stairwells, and balconies has led to not only secondhand smoke exposure but also issues with odor and the disposal of cigarette butts, becoming a major source of conflict among residents. Even in non-smoking apartment complexes, concerns have been raised about the lack of effective enforcement of regulations.

In addition, among the approximately 100,000 complaints, the largest proportion was related to "parking," accounting for 33% of the total. This figure represents a 4 percentage point increase compared to the previous year. While parking was also the most common complaint category last year, its share has grown further this year, making it the issue that causes the most inconvenience for residents of multi-family housing. The second most common complaint was "noise between floors," accounting for 20%, a 10 percentage point increase from the previous year. While noise between floors is the main source of complaints, there were also a significant number of complaints about noise from interior renovations and construction. In recent years, there have been a series of cases where conflicts between neighbors over noise between floors have escalated into actual violence or crime, leading to calls for more proactive countermeasures.