There’s always something to howl about.

Real Estate Broker Sued for secondhand smoke

Alyssa Burrage was smoked out of her $405,000 condominium.

Burrage has a history of asthma and has smelled smoke since she first viewed the unit on the south end of Boston in 2006 with her real estate broker.  The broker assured Burrage the smoke she smelled was from a previous owner and the stench would disappear.

After Burrage moved in she discovered the smoke was coming from a smoker in the unit below her’s.  The condo association refused to fix the problem as did the lower unit where the secondhand smoke was coming from.  Burrage moved out and leased the condo in May of 2008.  She states, “I’m certainly not a person who’s on a soapbox saying people shouldn’t smoke.  But when it affects somebody else, that’s where the line needs to be drawn. It’s an awful thing to not be able to escape from something that’s hurting your health.’’

Neither the real estate broker, Joseph DeAngelo, nor his lawyer would comment on the case. In a joint court filing summarizing the case, DeAngelo and his employer, Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, deny that Burrage questioned him about smoke in the condo.

“DeAngelo never made any misrepresentations, or any representations at all, concerning the source of the alleged smoke smell,’’ the broker’s lawyer, Jay S. Gregory of Boston, said in the filing.

Burrage also sued the condo unit below her, and later settled out of court, because the lower unit condo owner stated that it was cheaper just to settle out of court.

Should Brokers be REQUIRED to disclose ACCURATE information about smoking to prospective buyers?