I know that philadelphia nd some other communities have lead laws. Now, lancaster literally passed a strict lead law just two nights ago, and it rolls out the middle of december already. I am curious of those of you that currently already deal with these rules, how bad is it?

This law really scares me.

People are going to have to to wait for a lead inspection

(are there enough inspectors for the hundreds of vacancies continuously),

then hire a lead certified repair painter or maybe carpenter also

(are there enough lead certified people willing to drop everything theyre doing ),

What happens when a child under 6 just starts living in the unit, do you have to go to your property every day and snoop, because the child needs only spend a few hour a week there to fall under the rules.

Do you get in trouble for this, the rules say you should, do you have to throw the tenant out because of it?

How does all this work?

Here is an email from a Slatehouse property management that has been going around talking about this issue

estate investors -

It's very important for all real estate investors to be up to date on the local changes in lead paint policy. The city of Lancaster is making some very major changes to the lead paint ordinance that are crucial for all investors to understand, including non-Lancaster based investors. It is expected for other PA cities to move in this direction in the future. The good news is that with proper operations and landlord knowledge, lead paint risk and issues can be decreased. Here are the major changes coming for the City of Lancaster, based on the ordinance that was just approved:

• CONTRACTORS: Contractors still must be lead paint certified if performing maintenance that leads to disturbance of paint, walls, or exterior occurs on a property built before 1978. This is no change here, but a rule that we see is often ignored which could lead to liability.

• TIMING: Second week of Dec is when the ordinance will go into effect, it was just approved by city council on Tues Nov 14th.

• WHAT PROPERTIES?: Any city of Lancaster property with a child under the age of 6 living in it AND built before 1978 would need to have a lead paint safe certificate, unless the property has been deemed lead paint free. Lead Paint Safe essentially means that paint is not chipping and there isn't a high concentration of lead on the surface where children can be poisoned. The ordinance will NOT apply where there are not children under the age of 6 in the unit.

• MOVE-IN: Landlords need to get the certificate at time of move-in. A lead paint assessor will need to perform a swab test on the unit and get the swabs cleared by a lab that it's "lead safe". Keep in mind this is ONLY for units with children living there under the age of 6. Operationally, this will take coordination from the landlord as the test can take a couple weeks to perform and the ordinance says the tenant can't move-in without the lead-paint safe certificate. SlateHouse is currently in talks with city leadership to see if the city will add a grace period to make it reasonable to have tenant sign lease and get certificate in time.

• INSPECTIONS: The city is going to enforce the ordinance at time of city inspection every 4 years --- making sure the owner has a lead paint safe inspection if there are children living in the unit.

LEAD BLOOD TEST: The standard for "high lead" from a test for children will be lower than before -- now set at 5 micrograms. This is in line with the Center of Disease Control Standards, which will increase # of high lead cases in children.

Don't buy properties built before 1978!

If you must or if you have some but don't want to sell them, you'll have to comply.

Well, Richard is only PARTIALLY correct. (grins) You have to comply with the law, yes, but you do NOT have to allow families with 6 year old or younger kids hold your property hostage for weeks while they take the inspectors take their sweet time doing what they do.

Here's what I'd do:

CAVEAT/LEGALESE: I'm not an attorney. This may or may not work for you. Seek professional counsel.

I would approve the application using my "first paid, first approved" agreement that I use for all applicants. That is to say, if another applicant comes along before they can do whatever it is they need to do, and my newer applicant is ready to move in today (i.e. without the lead test), then they get the unit. I actually do this already with all my units, and here's how it works:

"Congrats Joe, your application is approved. As soon as we receive the full deposit and initial rent payment you can sign the lease and move in. Please don't delay, because we cannot hold this unit vacant for more than 24 hours."

Joe can't sign the lease until AFTER the lease paint test is done. I don't see anything in the law that say I MUST hold a unit vacant for 2-3 weeks while inspectors and labs do their thing. It's the same way I effectively "opt out" of Section 8 by default. In my town it takes 6 weeks from me approving the resident for them to be able to sign the lease, pay, and move in. Meanwhile, I go find another tenant.

The largest fine I received was $3,000. Not the 37,500 stated in the laws.

(I went to court asking for more time for my inspector to deliver the test results and the judge declined the request. My inspector was new and disabled so the gamble was mine)

There are tons of inspectors out there. The prices have fallen from a single family costing $700 at turnover to less than $200.

These amounts are paid whether the home has lead or not. Most times they are charging for inspections and the home does not have the lead. If you can afford it, have it inspected for lead content.

The fines are for paperwork and lead safe practices. You can get yourself a hefty fine for painting chips without using the proper lead safe methods. However lead does not need to be present. Lead is assumed until you prove it is not present.

To be clear, If you built a shed on the property four years ago, and you never painted the prepainted trim boards you bought. You can get a fine for not practicing lead safe practices while scraping that paint. The lesson is paint your Home Depot boards. (another more common spot are replacement doors. The brick mold paint comes off in a few years. You scrape that and you are subject to a fine.

If you are late with your paperwork, you get fined. This is avoidable once you pick good inspectors.

Lead inspectors earn very little. Most are people who are looking for a career or just changed career paths. There are some who have been doing it for years. Interview many