All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

Hi Nick. 

Lead laws differ from state to state. Please look yours up. There is a difference in being a RRP (Renovate, Repair, & Painting) certified contractor and being a a licensed deleader. Every contractor is supposed to be RRP certified by taking an EPA class. That's a Fed law. How individual states handle that is different, some don't care so much and other love to write contractors fines.

Getting a lead abatement license is a compeletely different thing. Some states require it, some don't. Some states require a hoeowner take a class before doing the work themselves and some don't. 

Every state is different, look up the laws in yours. Unless Chris is offering to pay any fines you getby doing it his way, then just go in blind! ;) I'd be sure to get his offer in writing if I were you. 

Good luck!

Hi Rocio, Welcome to the forum!

Save my contact info, I can help you with the lead paint status of the property and what needs to be done when you find one.

Thanks,

Hi Kevin,

Keep my contact info, I'll be glad to help you when you find a place.

Thanks,

Hi Colin. Welcome to the forums! I live in Pelham now, but I grew up in Lowell and my father still lives in the house I grew up in in Centerville on Coburn St. 

Save my contact info, when you find a property you're interested in, I can let you know the lead paint status and what needs to be done to make it legal. I also have plenty of construction experience if you find you need a little advice in that area. 

Derreck

Hi Sarann.

Keep my contact info, when you find a duplex you're interested in, I can look up the lead paint status and let you know what needs to be done to make it legal to rent out.

Derreck 

OK, I do know some of the laws in NH since I live here. I make my living deleading mostly in Lowell, Haverhill, Lawrence and sometimes Worcester which is why I didn't bother to get my NH license. MA has stricter laws so there's more work to be had South of the border.

The lead inspector will xray everything in the house and give you an inspection report. The deleader then takes that report and deleads to current legal standards. This doesn't mean the lead is removed from the house. The lead is just made safe. Completely removing it is cost prohibitive, so there are conditional standards that have to be met. Baseboards with lead paint, for instance, need to be capped with a quarter round or some other moulding. They don't need to be replaced. Windows and doors need to be completely scraped to bare wood or replaced since they are "movable and impactable" and the movement and impacts will create microscopic lead dust. 

There are different processes depending on the surface. A lot of people will incorrectly tell you that you can encapsulate the surfaces with paint. That's just not true. There are some surfaces that an encapsulant will work on (it's not paint, but it is painted on), but tests have to be done to every surface first, the encapsulant needs to be put on to a specific thickness using a special guaage, and then paperwork has to be filed saying which surfaces were encapsulated.

When you get your lead inspection report, if you email me a copy I can give you an idea of what it should cost to "delead" the property. If you can't get a good enough quote, I can go get my NH license and take on the job. Since MA laws are stricter, they honor MA licenses, I'd just have to pay the state fee.

A regular vac with a hela filter s not good enough, all that does is blow around the lead dust. The entire vac needs to be hepa certified. If I tried using a regular vac with a hepa filter in it, I'd get a $32,500 fine! 

That being said, this is from Maine's "Safe removal of lead based paint." website...

Work that is normal residential maintenance and is not associated with a project identified as a lead abatement project is not subject to licensing or work practice regulations. However, contractors should employ safe work practices on all projects involving lead-based paints. Safe work practices prevent the creation of environmental lead hazards and the unintentional exposure of the public to lead hazards. If a contractor does not employ safe work practices, then the contractor can be held liable for the cost of clean-up of any environmental lead hazards, and can be subject to suit for causing lead poisoning.

A lead inspector should use an xray gun to test for lead. His report will then identify the hazards for a licensed lead abatement contractor to work off of. Once the contractor is done, all the lead isn't removed from the house, it's just made safe to Maine's legal standards. Once that's done, it's your resposibility to make sure it stays that way. You will know what surfaces have lead paint on them and know to take care when doing construction work on those surfaces. You can have Post Complience Assessment Determinations (PCAD) done periodically to make sure everything stays legal and your liability stays minimized. As far as MA goes (where I'm licensed) there's no law that says you have to have a PCAD done on any particular time schedule. I don't know what your court system would call timely, but ME might have a precedent for a timeframe so you stay covered. You would have to ask your inspector or do some research.

In MA it's illegal to rent to tenants with children under 7 if there is no lead certificate on file. I don't know if ME has a similar statute. If it does, you could still get fined even though you're doing everything right now, but it would be a fine and not a lawsuit. Much easier to deal with!

I do know that if that child's blood had been over 10, the state would be involved and things would d be different. I'm recommending you go to the hardware store and buy some TSP and about 8 rolls of paper towels today. Mix with water as instructed and wash everything in that aptartment before letting them move back in. Thats the final step in deleading to remove all the lead dust. 

Good luck and let me know if there's aanything I can help with.

Derreck

This may have been mentioned, I didnt read all the posts. On the second document, the lease agreement, 3B needs either owner or broker checked off and 6A says first months rent to be split between broker and tenants broker but #7 says they also get $225 to 3 different brokers. So that agreement says you're paying $1575 when they find a tenant. I wouldn't edit and sign this document, I'd require new agreements to be written up. Never leave any doubt in a Judge's mind. 

Welcome Zach!

Keep my contact info, if you come across properties you want to buy, I can let you know the lead paint status and what will needs to be done to make it legal if it isn't already.

Derreck

Welcome to the forums Justin. Keep my info, when you find properties, I can check the lead status for you and let you know if they still need to be deleaded.