In July 2019, Cleveland City Council passed new lead paint requirements with the goal of reducing childhood lead poisoning. The new law requires landlords, but not owner occupants to have their properties build before 1978 inspected for lead hazards every two years.
The city will begin enforcing the new law In March 2021. All rental units must be certified as “lead safe” by 2023. The legislation has already increased the rental registration fee from $35 per unit to $70 per unit. The law is in step with recommendations put forth by the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition.
This new legislation does nothing to mitigate the problem associated with water contamination from lead pipes.
It will be the responsibility of landlords to hire certified private lead inspectors.
Up until now, whenever someone wanted to sell a house in Ohio, the seller was required to disclose Lead Paint Disclosure Form, whether or not the seller has ever had their house tested for lead, or otherwise knows of any lead paint reports. So now, somebody who bought a house just a few years ago will become responsible for lead paint and other lead safe issues that may have existed for dozens of years.
So why are only landlords required to bear the burden of lead in their homes, when owner occupants are not? The law does not put any burden on the makers of lead paint, nor on government entities that failed to enforce housing codes in the past regarding lead safety.
It seems that the remedy for lead paint goes way beyond painting or even scraping and painting. Typically mitigating the lead safety issues are going to require new windows, new exterior doors, some kind of vinyl siding, and basement block windows as the most effective remedy. The reason is that it is often less expensive to buy and replace an exterior window or door, then the cost of labor to remove all of the lead paint and dust.
In many older neighborhoods, between 30% and 90% of the city water service lines contain lead. Yet according to the Ohio Department of Health, less than 1% of the lead poisoning cases involved drinking water.
