A woman who wants to smoke in her Montreal apartment despite her landlords' objections has won her fight to light up.

In a July 4 ruling published Tuesday, Quebec's rental board said Sandra-Ann Fowler is allowed to smoke in her Ville-Émard area apartment even though her landlords tried to prevent her from using tobacco in the dwelling.

Fowler's landlords, Olesia Koretski and Matthew Newland, tried to ban tobacco in the apartment by including a no-smoking clause in the application form used for the unit.

Fowler filled out the form but did not sign it and said there were no non-smoking clauses in her first lease, signed in 2006, and the 2007 renewal.

The rental board said an application form is not a binding document and tenants can't be held to its specifications.

But the door is still open for landlords who want to ban smoking by including a clause in their rental lease. No one has challenged a no-smoking lease clause at the Quebec Rental Board.