Reduce your Liabilities with Deleading

Lead poisoning is dangerous and is a serious health hazard. 

As a property owner, you should be familiar with lead and lead poisoning. 

Babies, children, and pregnant women are most at risk of this health hazard. Lead affects the brain, the nervous system, and the kidneys. 

Owners are responsible if a child in their rental property gets lead poisoning, even if the landlord is not aware of the lead exposure in it. 

Missing out on deleading can create a big impact on your business.

If you are not aware of what is deleading, you should familiarize yourself as it is one of your responsibilities as a landlord. 

You need to know how you can protect yourself, your business and your tenants from lead.

What is Lead?

Lead has been used in various products for over 8,000 years. It is a type of heavy metal that is commonly used for heavy batteries, ammunitions, weights for lifting, lead crystal glass and is often used to store corrosive liquids. 

However, it has been found out a long time ago that lead has bad effects on the human body. A Greek Physician way back in 150BC even noted that the metal is deadly and has crippling effects in the human body.

That is why Deleading was established.

What is Deleading?

Deleading is the removal of lead hazards in your home. 

This includes the replacement of windows, doors, cabinets, walls, and woodwork, scraping off or covering old paint, repainting using non-lead paints after removal of old lead-based paint and encapsulation.

The Law that abides Deleading

The state of Massachusetts passed a law that protects children’s rights to a lead-safe home. Children are prone to lead poisoning as it can spread through their small bodies quickly. 

The Massachusetts Lead Law requires all homes that were built before 1978 and have a child who is under 6 years old living in it be safe from lead and pass the lead compliance. 

Deleading varies depending on how big the lead hazard is in your property. If the job is too big to be completed immediately, you can do an interim control wherein you only focus on fixing the urgent lead hazards. 

This is only a temporary fix in deleading your home. You need to complete deleading your home within 2 years to get the proper approvals.

What happens if you fail to Lead-proof your home?

If you are a  property owner and a landlord, you are obliged to comply with the Lead Law. 

Failure in deleading can get you in serious trouble. If a child gets lead poisoning in your rental property, you are fully responsible. 

This causes you all sorts of trouble. You can get sued for not complying with the law. Your tenants can sue you for lead exposure, posing threat to their health and not deleading your home as it should be written on their lease contracts, pay hefty hospital bills and more. 

You don’t want to put your rental property business and your tenant’s lives in jeopardy by not deleading. 

If you want to preserve your rental property, you must Delead.

How to do Deleading

If your property is built before 1978, you are required to have deleading done.

 This is very important especially if you have children under the age of 6 living in your property. The Lead Law was enacted to make sure that children are safe from lead exposures in their homes.

Lead can be exposed through chipped, peeled or cracked walls and paint or dust.

Before you do any deleading in your property, you have to seek out a licensed inspector to test your home for lead and report all lead hazards. A full inspection is a must. 

Once the inspection is done, the lead inspector will provide you a complete report and will give you information about the lead. He will also provide a copy of the report to all of your tenants. 

Not everyone can do deleading. Things can go wrong if you try to do it yourself and you are not trained and authorized to do it. 

After the deleading is completed you have to get your property re-inspected by a licensed lead inspector again. If the deleading is properly done and gets approved, the property owner receives a Letter of Full Compliance from the inspector. This is a notification that the property passed the standards and have been deleaded accordingly. The property is now compliant with the Lead Law and the Sanitary Code.

As a landlord, being able to provide a safe environment and housing to your tenants should be your utmost priority. It will be a bad reputation if you put someone’s health at risk by not complying with the law. 

Deleading can be expensive as there is a lot of work to be done to complete it, yet the fruits of doing so will help you maintain your credibility as a responsible landlord.

 The market is fierce and competition is strong. Tenants also look for a landlord who is trustworthy and reliable. 

They look for a rental property where they can live peacefully. The last thing they want is to get sick due to their landlord’s negligence.

Your purpose as a landlord is to provide quality housing to your tenants and not to pose a risk to their health. 

Do You Need Professional Help?

If you think your property needs to be tested for lead, give us a call. 

Green Ocean Property Management has been in the industry for over 40 years. All the properties we manage are certified lead-free! 

We want to make sure that every property we manage is safe for everyone, especially with lead. Green Ocean Property Management has licensed lead inspectors who can test your property for Lead. 

We are partners with service providers who are authorized to delead your property safely.

Our team of experts can help you come up with a resolution on how you can delead your property effectively and get the proper approvals. 

Green Ocean Property Management will help you with managing your property and staying compliant with the law.

Reach us at hello@greenoceanpm.com or call 617-487-4868. You may also visit our office at 268 Centre St Newton MA 02458.