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Landlords, Property Managers Face Penalties for Violating Lead Paint Disclosure Regulations

Release Date: 01/24/2006
Contact Information:

Environmental News
Contact: Kim Olson
(913) 551-7458
olson.kim@epa.gov


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 24, 2005

Failure by landlords and property management companies to disclose information to tenants about actual and potential lead-based paint hazards in housing built before 1978 has led to 25 enforcement actions filed in 2005 by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., with penalties totaling $64,535.

The 25 companies were penalized amounts ranging from $250 to $15,400. The number of housing units managed and/or owned by each company ranged from one to 1,245. EPA Region 7 includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

As part of their enforcement settlements, some of the violators agreed to undertake environmentally beneficial projects in exchange for reductions of the penalties. Such projects are known as supplemental environmental projects (SEPs). A SEP must improve, protect or reduce risks to public health or the environment at large. It cannot include activities a violator is otherwise legally required to perform.

The Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule is a public right-to-know regulatory initiative under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. The intent of the act and its accompanying regulations is to help prevent exposure to lead-based paint by requiring disclosure and notification of actual and potential hazards when selling or leasing housing.

EPA Regional Administrator Jim Gulliford said, “Protecting children from the dangers of lead-based paint is one of EPA’s highest priorities. Compliance with this law is important in preventing exposure – especially exposure of children – to this hazard.”

High levels of lead in children cause permanent damage to the brain and nervous system and other widespread health problems, such as reduced intelligence and attention span, hearing loss, stunted growth, reading and learning problems, and behavioral difficulties.

The disclosure rule requires landlords, sellers, and real estate agents to provide prospective tenants and purchasers with a lead hazard information pamphlet, any information and/or reports about lead-based paint hazards at the property, and a lead-based paint disclosure form containing a lead warning statement to be signed by the parties involved. Sellers must also provide purchasers with an opportunity to conduct a lead-based paint evaluation.

Landlords and property managers can visit https://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadbase.htm for sample documents and instructions in English and Spanish.

The table below provides information about the cases by metropolitan area.

Metropolitan Area	# of Enforcement Actions	Penalty Range	Total Penalties	# of Units (Range)
Kansas City, Mo. & Kan.	9	$250 - $7,700	$15,825	1 – 1,245
St. Louis	5	$500 - $900	$2,900	1 – 10
Omaha, Neb.	5	$500 - $15,400	$20,910	1 – 1198
Quad Cities, Iowa only	2	$5,280 - $7,700	$12,980	144 - 200
Topeka, Kan.	3	$500 - $3,600	$7,300	5 - 36
Springfield, Mo.	1	$4,620	$4,620	430