Whether you’re shopping for an apartment from the Deco era or the disco era, there’s one element you might want to keep in mind–especially if you have young children.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about three-quarters of the nation’s housing stock constructed prior to 1978 contains some lead-based paint. That paint is not a hazard as long as it’s in good shape. But once it begins to deteriorate, it poses a health risk, especially to children younger than six.
How can you tell whether there’s lead paint present in your prospective apartment?
Later this year, federal regulations for the first time will mandate that landlords tell prospective renters whether they know lead-based paint to be present in the units they rent.
The number of units in a landlord’s building determines when he needs to comply with the law. For landlords with more than four units, the effective date is Sept. 6. For those with four or fewer units, it’s Dec. 6.
The goal of the regulation, say experts, is to make sure renters have all the information needed to protect themselves and their children from the dangers of lead paint.
According to Salvatore Cali, a licensed Illinois lead inspector, the new regulation is called the EPA and HUD Real Estate Notification and Disclosure Rule. It flows from the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X.
Section 1018 of the law directs the EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require landlords or their agents to disclose lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards if they’re aware of them, says Cali, who also is an instructor in the lead abatement courses at the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
In addition to disclosing available information about the presence of lead paint in apartments, landlords are also required to “disclose available lead information about common areas,” such as stairwells, lobbies and laundry rooms, according to an EPA-produced question-and-answer booklet explaining the regulation.
The regulation applies to most buildings constructed up to and including 1977. The following year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of lead-based paint in housing.
Some exceptions apply. One exception is “zero-bedroom dwellings,” including lofts, efficiencies and studios. Leases of 100 or fewer days, including those for vacation homes or short-term rentals, are also exempted.
Housing designated for the elderly or handicapped, unless children are present, represents another exception. And a fourth exception is rental housing that has been inspected by a certified lead inspector and found to be free of lead-based paint.
In all other buildings, Cali adds, “landlords or their agents have to disclose lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards if they’re aware of them, and provide renters with reports if they have them. And they have to provide a pamphlet to renters called `Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.’ “
Landlords also must include in the lease signed statements from all parties verifying that the requirements were met, and retain signed acknowledgements for three years as proof of compliance.
(Homeowners also must comply when selling their homes. The regulation pertaining to sales allows home buyers a 10-day inspection period to test for lead if the seller hasn’t had the home tested. This doesn’t apply to rental transactions but, notes the EPA booklet, “nothing prevents the renter from negotiating with the lessor to allow time for an inspection before rental.”)
Existing tenants don’t have to be informed of the landlord’s knowledge of lead paint and lead paint hazards, nor do landlords have to provide them with the pamphlet, says Cali. But when they renew their leases, existing tenants must be given the same information any new renter would receive.
But, how much disclosure are renters likely to expect? With the effective date of the regulation still almost three months off, no one is quite sure.
“There really isn’t anything that tells how much disclosure the landlord must provide,” says Michael Brandt, chief of the Lead and Asbestos Abatement Section with the State of Illinois in Springfield. “If they know there’s lead paint present, they’re required to disclose that. But how’re you going to prove that? A lessor who fails to give the information can be sued for triple the amount of damages. But it doesn’t say what the damages could be.”
Joe Kilpatrick, former president of the Great Lakes Chapter of the National Lead Abatement Council, is another observer who isn’t sure how much effect the regulation will have.
“I don’t imagine a lot of landlords will have much testing done on their own,” says Kilpatrick, a regional product manager with Scitec Corp., a Kennewick, Wash.-based manufacturer of lead testing equipment. “As a tenant, I wouldn’t expect to see much detailed disclosure, at least not initially. It will be more along the lines of `I don’t know.’ “
Cali is similarly skeptical that the regulation will result in landlords offering detailed disclosures. He says renters should receive some type of interpretation of an inspection report, if landlords have had their units tested. “But it’s unlikely a landlord would give such an interpretation,” he adds.
Another problem, notes Cali, is that the regulation is ambiguous on issues that could affect renters. “There’s no mention in the regulation of how many surfaces with lead-based paint create a problem,” he notes. “The apartment might have just one surface with lead-based paint, or it might have many. The renter may not be able to assess the degree of danger merely from the inspection report.
“The real problem is not that lead-based paint is present, but that it’s present in a condition or location accessible to children. Or that it is on a surface that may create lead dust, such as windows or floors, or in the ground.”
But Cali also believes the law will make renters a bit savvier on the issue of lead contamination, and that alone will spur landlords and property managers to have lead testing performed. “As renters become more educated, they may ask for this information before they lease the property, especially if they have children,” he says.
An informal survey of six Chicago property management companies reveals little awareness of the impending regulations. That begs the question: Will all landlords comply?
“If they want to limit their liability, they better,” says Kilpatrick. “If I was a landlord, I’d get my property tested. In the long run, it will be a more cost-effective measure than facing lawsuits. And if you’re a larger property management company, the nuisance suits over contaminated units will rapidly add up to much more than what it would cost to have the properties tested.”
The regulation is certain to add to costs for property management companies, and some of that additional expense is likely to be passed on to renters, say some observers.
“It’s something that’s going to impact the industry,” says Ralph DePasquale, vice president and senior multifamily specialist with Grubb & Ellis in Rosemont. “It’s going to increase costs. There will be additional work by the landlord to find out what’s there and remediate the problem if it exists.”
