lead paint disclosure - Landlord Forum thread

lead paint disclosure by CA (HI) on November 2, 2009 @04:04

Aloha everyone, I was wondering if you might give some opinions on what I should do next. We have a duplex, half was built in the 90s and half was in the 50s and we wanted to paint it. The older half had paint chipping and peeling off. We have tenants with a baby in that older unit. Since it’s so old it of course tested positive for lead, meaning there would be risk of releasing lead dust if we scraped it off, but it really had to come off because it was in such bad shape there was nothing solid for the new paint to adhere to.

I know, some of you might say we shouldn’t have tested it because now I can’t say “not to my knowledge”. But it’s the right thing to do (for our safety at the very least since we're working around it) and there was no choice since the old paint was in bad shape and we had to prep the surface for new paint.

I don’t think it’s such a big deal considering that lead is pretty much everywhere, and we even consulted with the EPA and they said our levels were low enough we could do ourselves. But…there was a baby and I would feel horrible if he breathed in lead dust. Abatement is just too expensive, so we opted to have it professionally prepped and contained with the Lead Barrier Compound. By the way…the guys mixed the LBC with the Behr Ultra paint-primer-in-one and it came out gorgeous!

Anyway, how should I handle this with my current and future tenants? In the past, I just said the paint may contain lead and gave them that pamphlet. Now, it’s shown that the exterior at least has had lead, but we’ve had it professionally encapsulated. The company is providing us with a read-out of their monitoring system during their work and we will get a certificate stating that it’s been encapsulated. My current tenants don’t seem upset, since their doctor said not to worry, and I put them up in a hotel during the work on the house to reduce their exposure to possible dust. Should I still have them sign something or give them a copy of these documents? or only if they request it? What should I say to future tenants…should I disclose that all this has happened or just continue with the same “this house may contain lead paint, here’s your pamphlet”?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[ Reply ] [ Return to forum ]

Re: lead paint disclosure by Mark (CA) on November 2, 2009 @05:17	[ Reply ]
Your tenants seem like sweetheats. Have them sign the form for your records.

Re: lead paint disclosure

Re: lead paint disclosure by OK-LL on November 2, 2009 @07:33

[ Reply ]

I would downplay this as much as possible. You remediated the lead, so what's the big deal? Every SFH I own was built in the '50s and therefore more likely than not contains lead-based paint. Just provide the info that lead-based paint has been encapsulated on exterior and the continue the usual "may be present" for the interior. Don't make a big hairy deal out of this with current or future tenants -- it's actually a better living environment now than it was when you first rented to the current tenants, because the old lead isn't blowing around on chipped paint!

Re: lead paint disclosure

Re: lead paint disclosure by Anonymous on November 2, 2009 @08:49

[ Reply ]

The lead paint disclosure statement REQUIRES you to provide all testing information and copies of reports on lead based paint to future tenants. Follow the law. Failure to disclose this could open you to a lawsuit. I would give them copies of the original lead testing and the monitoring system report (summary) / certificate of encapsulation and just tell them there was a low level of lead and it has now been professionally remediated.

Re: lead paint disclosure by CA (HI) on November 4, 2009 @04:45

[ Reply ]

Thanks everyone. I have the certificate in hand. I made a bunch of copies to give out in the future...like anyone can really understand it anyway. It's just a bunch of numbers but we do know what the threshhold is, and these numbers are way below so I feel good about it. I will definitely disclose in the future.

The next house I buy is going to have to be newer. this old place reminds me of "The Money Pit", especially when I have to work with contractors. Better yet, maybe I'll just build from scratch! Then I will know every little thing that goes into it...no wood posts touching concrete, the wood is primed before painting, better design for water flow. There are so many little things that make such a difference in making the house last longer.