This story comes to us from Spokane, Washington…but is equally applicable to about any city in America.
A Spokane area landlord, has agreed to pay a $4,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lead-based paint disclosure rules. The single family home used as rental property is considered by the EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to be “target housing”: a dwelling built prior to the 1978 Consumer Products Safety Commission ban on the manufacture and sale of lead-based paint. The EPA alleged the landlord, as a building owner and landlord, failed to carry-out required disclosure activities with his tenants and their children.
The federal lead-based paint and/or lead-based hazards Disclosure Rule requires sellers, owners and lessors (as well as property management firms) of pre-1978 rental housing to provide disclosures and other information to tenants. The Rule helps ensure that tenants can make informed decisions about protecting their children and themselves from lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before they sign a lease.
Individuals who are concerned that they or their children may have been exposed to lead hazards can determine if they have elevated blood-lead levels through a simple, inexpensive test at their doctor’s office or local health clinic.