All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

This isn't really a question you can get the answers to on a web forum... even this one. You need to read the landlord/tenant laws for your state AND for your city/town as they're often different from each other, but both sets of laws will apply. Taking advice from people that live in a different district is useless at best, dangerous at worst. 

@Stef Klynn I'm licensed in MA, not NH, but down there, you covering the baseboards is considered "Unauthorized Deleading" (UD) and you would never get a lead cert on that unit. It would be flagged as UD and you would have to have a licensed deleader come in and fix it. You would get a letter of environmental protection which would allow you to rent to families, but it says you did illegal deleading and got caught. Your insurance would go up. 

Also, lead inspectors use an x-ray gun to check all the layers of paint, so just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. Covering lead paint with regular paint doesn't make it lead safe. You need to have a lead inspection done and have a licensed deleader use that inspection report to correct all the lead hazards to the current laws. Unless you got your deleading license, you have no way to know which surfaces can be encapsulated, which can be covered, which can be flipped, and which can stay. 

I would recommend that you remove the luan and any other evidence of illegal deleading before you have the inspection, then get the units deleaded legally. It's the only way to avoid a lead based paint lawsuit.

@John Mocker MA is really cracking down on Lead Paint. They want lead certs on all rentals. I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance companies stop insuring the units altogether here like they did there. The lawsuits are paying out in every case, but I'm not sure if the owner has to pay it out of pocket or if the insurance pays it.

Hey all,

I just want to  give you all a little heads up on the Massachusetts lead based paint laws. If you're new to investing, this could be one of the most important posts you read. I'm going to break it down in laymen's terms here for you.

In MA, you cannot rent to a family with a child under the age of 6 unless you have a Lead Certificate on file with the state. You also can't discriminate against families, so if one applies and is the best tenant you can get, it will be on you to delead it before they move in. If you turn them down because you don't have a lead cert on file, you are violating the anti-discrimination laws. It doesn't matter if you don't know if there's lead paint, if you don't have a cert on file, you can't rent to a family with a kid. 

If you have a unit that you're renting to a couple (or single woman) and she gets pregnant, you now have to delead that unit by law. You also legally need to pay for housing for the tenant while the job is going on. If you rent to a guy who doesn't have custody of their kids, you still have to delead if the kid will be staying there on weekends. Those weekends put the kid in residence enough to require a lead cert. Obviously it's best to delead while the units are empty so you don't have to pay for a hotel.

Here's a little known aspect of the law. When you buy a multi unit property you buy all the past tenants. If you start deleading within 90 days, you remove your liability of past tenants. If you don't start within 90 days and a tenant that lived there 10 years ago comes and claims that their kids got lead poisoning when they lived there, you are liable. It's the way MA is trying to get all the rentals deleaded. 

One of the most important things you can do when you're buying a property is find out the lead paint status. If someone is selling the building and trying to do it fast, and you can't figure out why it's below value and they're in a rush to sell, they may have a clue that they're about to be sued. If you buy the property before the suit is filed, you're on the hook. 

Also, if the unit has been inspected in the past, but was never deleaded, you can't renovate the unit until it is deleaded by a licensed deleader. If you do, it will be flagged for unauthorized deleading (UD). While this doesn't mean that you can never rent to families, you will never get a Lead Cert, you would instead get a Letter of Environmental Protection which will let everyone know there was illegal deleading, then the property was properly deleaded by a licensed deleader. This will increase your insurance and decrease your tenant pool (if you did that illegally, what else have you done illegal). If you want to know if a unit has been inspected there is a State database I can check for you for free. It will show if it has been inspected and if there were violations found. If there were vioations, it would also show if a Lead Cert was issued. If it were never inspected, it would mean that you would be on the hook for the deleading as you WILL need to delead. (Smartest move is to do it within 90 days as mentioned above.)

This knowledge is a great negotiation tool when buying a property, I once helped a buyer save $20,000 off the purchase price, then only charged them $12,000 to delead the building. They ended up owning a deleaded building that they could charge more for rents because they were lead safe, and saved an extra $8k on the purchase over what they would have negotiated. 

If you need a lead inspector, I would strongly recommend Anderson Lead Inspections (www.andersonlead.com). No, I do not get paid for referrals, he's just the best inspector I have worked with. He tries to help owners and not fail them so he has to come back and inspect again. If you already have a lead inspection, you do not need to use the same inspector for the reinspection, so after your building is deleaded, I would recommend calling him for the reinspection. If you use him for the initial inspection he can email me the reports and I can give you an estimate that you can use to negotiate the purchase price. 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

Derreck Wells

@Axel Ragnarsson I just skimmed the NH laws. While what I found doesn't say a landlord HAS to delead like they do in MA, I did find this part that basically says that if you get sued and did any work that disturbed lead paint, you're screwed. This would include replacing windows, window sills, aprons, doors, etc.. If a professional tenant figures that out, it would be a ****-show for the landlord.

Owners of pre-1978 rental housing and childcare facilities shall take reasonable care to prevent exposure to, and the creation of, lead hazards. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the mere presence of a lead base substance shall not constitute negligence on the part of an owner of any dwelling. To establish negligence on the part of an owner, the plaintiff in a civil suit shall demonstrate actual injury caused by the lead base substance. Evidence of actions taken or not taken by the owner of a pre-1978 rental property or childcare facility in compliance with applicable public health laws and regulations concerning lead may be admissible evidence of reasonable care or negligence. Remedial actions taken by a property owner after a lead exposure has occurred shall not be admissible evidence for purposes of establishing liability. Evidence of a tenant's disturbance of painted surfaces containing lead paint also shall be admissible evidence. In addition, the mere presence of a lead base substance in a dwelling shall not by itself violate any warranty of habitability. 130-A:18 Civil Suits. –

First, I'm licensed in MA, not NH, so I don't know the NH laws that well. But, I can say that everything I've read here would be illegal in MA, and is probably illegal in NH. You CANNOT preform lead abatement unless you're licensed to do so. It would be flagged as Unauthorized Deleading (UD) and you wouldn't be able to get a lead certificate on the unit. You can renovate following RRP rules, but not to specifically remove lead paint. Painting over windows and doors doesn't work and isn't considered lead safe. There are specific laws regarding each component that requires deleading. You're only course of action is to get a lead inspection done and hire a professional that knows the laws to delead the units. It's not as expensive as you may think. Assume $3-$5k per unit, counting the exterior as a unit. 

In MA you now have 90 days after closing on a property to delead in order to avoid liability. If you don't delead in the first 3 months, a tenant from 10 years ago can claim they got lead poisoning in that building and sue and you will be held liable. It's not even remotely fair, but it's how MA is trying to get all rentals lead safe. I don't know if NH has a similar law, but this is why hiring licensed professionals is critical these days. Owners are losing millions in lawsuits, I personally know one owner that lost the building to the professional tenant that moved in and found out there was no lead cert on file. She sued after living there for a month claiming her kids got high blood lead levels from the unit. In reality they probably got it in past apartments, but she won and now owns the building.

The building will also need to be deleaded if there isn't a lead certificate on file. If the unit was already inspected and violations were found but no lead certificate issued, then the seller probably gutted the unit so the lead paint would be gone. However, this is illegal and is called Unauthorized Deleading (UA) and will come back to bite the buyer in the ***. If you want me to run the address through the database, send me the address and I'll look it up for you.

If the unit was never inspected, then you will need to have an inspection done and get it deleaded, inside and outside, within 90 days of close in order to avoid liability. If you don't do it in the first 3 months, any past tenant, even from 10 years ago, can sue you saying they got lead poisoning when they lived there and you will be liable. It's not fair, but it's a law on the books in MA to try to get every rental unit lead safe.

As was mentioned above, lead paint is an issue in any multifamily. If the building has no lead certificate on file you have 90 days after closing to get the deleading started in order to avoid liability. If you don't start the process in that timeframe, you will be held liable for any lead poisoning that occurred in the past before you owned the property, and those lawsuits end in 6 to 7 figure judgements.

If you want me to, I can run the address through the database and see if it's ever been inspected or if there is a cert on file. Just send me the address through a private message and I'll look it up for you.

@Jeff B. It is totally unreasonable, but it's the Massachusetts' government's way of strong-arming  landlords into deleading the units. They want EVERY rental unit deleaded. 

Well @Joe Hillman, yes and no.

If a deleader scrapes, they only go 5' up, that's all the law requires. If you want a deleader to scrape headers, crown moldings, ceilings, door frames, and even the doors above 5', it's going to cost you a FORTUNE. So even after a deleader scrapes, there's still lead paint up high, it's not lead free.  

We can only use encapsulant on certain surfaces, and only after we take tests on every surface and file paperwork on the tests. We can't encapsulate a wall, for instance. However, we can cover the wall with 1/4" sheetrock or paneling and it's legal. But the lead paint still stays on the old wall underneath, it's not gone and technically not lead free. If in the future someone exposes that lead paint and a child gets sick, that's on the owner for not doing PCADs (Post Compliance Assessment Determinations). 

Replacing is an option and is actually how I do all doors and windows. It's easier and cheaper to replace a door then to scrape it. (Pro Tip: Prehung doors are sized to fit into old doorframes. A 28" prehung door fits into a doorframe that had a 30" door in it.) 

All of this being said, an unlicensed person cannot do any of this. You need to hire a licensed deleader.