Anyone intentionally avoid a lead-based hazards test?

[NetWareHead]

Received some eye-opening advice recently about this and it conflicts with my ethics. Put one of my apartments on the rental market and one of the documents a landlord needs to submit is a lead-based hazards disclosure document. House was built in the 1800s so if I had to suspect, there is/was some sort of lead paint in the structure. Something very common in all houses before lead was banned in paint pre-1978.

So the advice I received was to intentionally NOT test my home. So when I need to check these boxes on the disclosure form, I could do so in good faith!

"Lessor has no knowledge of lead-based paint and/or lead-based hazards in the housing"

&

"Lessor has no reports or records pertaining to lead-based paint and/or lead-based hazards in the housing"

As explained to me, by not testing my property, I could stay blissfully ignorant and then claim no bad faith when marketing the unit having answered the form as such. And if I were ever sued, I could not claim negligence if I never knew of an issues in the first place. Lead remediation is expensive and you get involved with government agencies who dictate how you need to spend your money to ensure compliance while threatening fines and legal action.

The advice continued that the only way a govt agency will get involved is if a child living in the home tests positive for lead in their blood. The landlord will receive an Order of Lead Hazard Reduction from Dept of Health and Human Services. The statute also requires all lead inspectors, risk assessors as well as lead abatement contractors, supervisors, and workers to be be state certified and licensed. The cutoff age is 6 years old. Therefore don't rent to kids under 6 years of age and the problem, if exists, will stay under the radar.

Interesting eye opening advice... Any comments?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Pretty much covers it. FWIW abatement is not usually as bad/costly as asbestos. Sometimes all that is needed is a fresh coat of paint, drywall over it, or encase with new siding.

 

[NetWareHead]

Pretty much covers it. FWIW abatement is not usually as bad/costly as asbestos. Sometimes all that is needed is a fresh coat of paint, drywall over it, or encase with new siding.

I might have to disagree with that. It can be a worse pain in the ass than asbestos IMO. Asbestos (the "friable" kind that needs to be removed) is normally found on pipes or heating related equipment, pretty specific places. So if you have asbestos, you kinda have a good idea where it is. Yes it is also found in flooring, siding etc... but that is considered non-friable and stable as long as the product is in good condition. Plenty of houses around me containing asbestos siding, flooring etc... and you dont have to remove it as per law, it just needs to be disclosed.

Lead paint can be found on every painted surface in the structure. For instance, the simple act of opening a window creates lead dust. Any painted surface subject to friction can degrade to paint chips or release dust. Any painted surface that can be "mouthed" by an infant up to a certain height throughout the structure has to be remediated. Paint degrades with age and will produce a lead count in a test.

If you want to keep the painted item/surface, then you have to use special lead encapsulant paint. Then it needs to be inspected before you can begin painting after encapsulation.

Or you have to have the item(s) replaced like doors, windows, banisters etc... If you choose to keep them, then you need to have them sanded and any process that makes dust requires shielding the rest of the house with barriers etc... followed by cleanup. Waste needs to be specially disposed of. And the work needs to be done by specially trained and licensed contractors.

 

[DrPizza]

Like NetWareHead said, lead abatement can potentially cost a heck of a lot. Back when we did a lease, I know there was a lead clause in there. I think it said something to the effect of, "this house has never been tested, but renter needs to be made aware that since the house was built pre-1978, some layers of existing paint likely contain lead." That was it - "this house probably contains lead. You need to be aware of that if you decide to rent."

 

[herm0016]

has the place been painted since 1978? if so, don't test the fill out the form. It's really not a big deal. I don't think i have ever seen a form that says " i tested and there i lead here" I rented for years, and now rent out a house built before 78.

 

[NetWareHead]

has the place been painted since 1978? if so, don't test the fill out the form. It's really not a big deal. I don't think i have ever seen a form that says " i tested and there i lead here" I rented for years, and now rent out a house built before 78.

I have original tin ceilings and ended up chemically stripping one of those. Amazing to see the multitude of paint colors/layers dissolve away, most of which were undoubtedly lead. But the rest of those ceilings for sure still have lead paint on them, even if I painted over them Same goes for drywall, painted over that. So who really knows if the lead paint has been properly "encapsulated" under fresh paint? Some items were not painted at all; hard to paint things like window sashes. And some of the drywall was completely replaced, solving that area's suspicions entirely.

Given the age of the house, Im sure there is lead in the unit somewhere. But I will just give the standard answers on the disclosure form. Perhaps I will give second thoughts to renting to potentials with small children... I may get curious one day and pick up a testing kit from Home Depot for my own curiosity. But this advice made me reluctant to get an official lead test from a remediation company and have potentially damaging results on record.

 

[highland145]

I remember you cleaning the ceilings.

Uuugh, I paid a crap ton for a lead test at the daycare, that nearly bankrupted me, even though a contractor signed a statement that he had gutted the place 20 years before. I had to pay to strip the hand rail/re paint/pay the tester again...

Anyway, proper painting over the lead should be fine. My house is 1937. I've removed a lot of trim/plaster but I just don't let my, now 15 y.o., lick the walls.

Someone here, maybe Net (I'm thinking Greenman maybe), talked about owner abatement. Take lead out of your house and dump it in the backyard...you just created a hazardous dump. Load lead based trip in your truck for the dump...you are transporting a hazardous material.

Sorry to be so negative. I blame curious george.

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't test. Everyone knows there's lead there. You'd be spending money to tell you something you already know. I wouldn't rent to anyone. Helping a friend witn a rental made me know I never want to have a rental.