Investor · Columbia, MO · Member since 2016 · 22 posts · 6 votes
I have an old rental house that I have had tenants living there for two years. I got a letter from the state saying that the tenants son was seen at the hospital and has a high level of lead in his blood system and they are linking it to material in the house. I tried to get a hold of the state department today and had no luck. I just wanted to see if anyone had heard of this and what I should do next? I am going to try to get a hold of the state tomorrow to get more answers and I tried to get a hold of the tenant and have had no luck. The house is almost 100 years old and I have had tenants living in there for seven years now and have had no other major issues.
Rental Property Investor · TN · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
I'd check the house and look at places like the window sills. My guess is that he has been chewing on the window frames and they are lead based paint. So either you can strip the lead based paint and repaint, or put in vinyl or metal window frames, or not rent to people with little kids who eat the window frames and sills....There is a kit that you can use to wipe the paint in various areas and it will indicate if you wiped lead based paint. In old houses, generally the white colored paint had high lead.
Rental Property Investor · TN · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
I'd check the house and look at places like the window sills. My guess is that he has been chewing on the window frames and they are lead based paint. So either you can strip the lead based paint and repaint, or put in vinyl or metal window frames, or not rent to people with little kids who eat the window frames and sills....There is a kit that you can use to wipe the paint in various areas and it will indicate if you wiped lead based paint. In old houses, generally the white colored paint had high lead.
Rental Property Investor · TN · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
Also, industrial paint still has high lead, see if he goes to playgrounds that may be the exposure source. Also sand has high levels of lead, so if he is a dirt eater that may have contributed to the lead in his body. Does he paly with an old tricycle or metal car? That could be a lead source, so when you go to look for lead sources in your home, look also at things they own as a possible source. Unless the government tested your home, they are only guessing.
China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
@George Cummings I'd contact your insurance company immediately.
You have an obligation to prevent any further harm to your tenant, which might mean temporary housing, a complete lead test and depending on the results, professional remediation.
Hopefully, your insurance will cover some of the costs, but even if it doesn't, you need to take this very seriously and act as quickly as possible.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
7y
Yes your lease should have a clause that addresses lead based paint and you should have given them a pamphlet that the government has created. They should have signed a lead based paint disclosure. This should minimize your exposure because that is just how houses were made back then.
If you didn't do these things then you might want to consult an attorney to see what you should be doing as you may have a law suit coming your way.
Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 944 votes
7y
Have the paint tested at your property, before you get too far in the process. The property might not be where the lead came from at all! I had potential tenants whose young son had gone to the hospital for lead poisoning. Everyone, including their LL, had assumed it had come from the house. But the LL had the different paints in the house tested and none of them had lead. The parents did figure out where the lead had come from (I apologize, I forget what the real culprit had been) and it had nothing to do with the house they were staying in. With that said, even though it hadn't come from that residence, they were hyper concerned about lead and so were asking me about the paint in the rental I had available.