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Rental Property Owners Settle Violations of Lead Paint Notification Rule in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va.

Release Date: 04/01/2008
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (April 1, 2008) – The owners of two residential rental properties in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., have settled alleged violations of a federal law requiring disclosure of lead-based paint hazards to residential tenants, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

In the consent agreement that was filed on March 25, 2008, Broadway Associates, aka Broadway Avenue Associates, general partners Frank B. Kirsch, III and Michael R. Kirsch, Olde Hampton, LLC, and MBA-View, LLC (Broadway) has agreed to pay a penalty of $31,418. Broadway also agreed to spend at least $67,900 on a project involving lead-based paint abatement, and the replacement of lead-containing windows and doors in the two pre-1978 residential properties they lease and own. Broadway will remove a total of 48 windows (including frames, sashes, heads, jams, sills or stools and troughs) and 11 doors upon which the presence of lead-based paint has been confirmed, and replace them with new, energy-efficient windows, doors and associated components that are free of lead-based paint.

The two pre-1978 housing units are located at 534 Hampton Place, Portsmouth, Va., and 263 A View Avenue, Norfolk, Va.

Broadway was cited under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 and the Real Estate Notification and Disclosure Rule. These federal laws require sellers and landlords of residential housing built before 1978 (when the federal government banned the sale of lead-based house pint) to provide homebuyers and tenants with warning statements about lead-based paint hazards. The law also requires home sellers and landlords to disclose known lead-based paint hazards to homebuyers and tenants (or to disclose their lack of knowledge of such hazards.)

EPA cited Broadway for failing to provide an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet to lessees before they became obligated under lease agreements; provide a lead-warning statement to prospective tenants; provide a landlord statement disclosing the presence of known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards (or indicating no knowledge of the presence of lead-based paint); include a list of available records/reports pertaining to lead-based paint in one of the target housing units; include a statement for target housing tenants to sign, affirming their receipt of any required Disclosure Rule information; and obtain the dated signatures of landlords and the tenants, certifying to the accuracy of their statements.

The settlement reflects Broadway’s cooperation with EPA during the course of its investigation, and Broadway has certified that they are now in compliance with applicable regulations on lead-based paint hazards.

EPA is cooperating with other federal, state, and local agencies to protect tenants and homeowners from the health risks of lead-based paint. High blood levels of lead can cause permanent damage to the nervous system and widespread health problems, such as reduced intelligence and attention span, hearing loss, stunted growth, reading and learning problems and behavioral difficulties. Young children are most vulnerable because their nervous systems are still developing.

For more information in environmental, health and legal issues involving lead, please visit www.epa.gov/lead/index.html