How the Lead Safe Housing Rule Impacts Owners of Multifamily Housing
If you own or manage a multi-family apartment building that gets money from the Federal government, you need to know about the Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) and how it affects your building. The LSHR is a rule made by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that tries to stop and lower the danger of lead-based paint in housing that gets help from the government and was built before 1978.
Lead is a harmful metal that can make you very sick, especially kids and pregnant women. Lead poisoning can cause learning difficulties, behavior problems, and even death. The main way lead gets into the body in the U.S. is from lead-based paint, which was used a lot in houses built before 1978 and is still in more than 40% of all U.S. homes. When the paint breaks, falls off, cracks, or is moved by repairing, changing, or painting walls, it can make lead dust and pieces that can pollute the air, dirt, and water. This includes small fixes like wires or pipes!
The LSHR applies to different kinds of housing programs and activities that get money from HUD, such as helping with rent, fixing, buying, renting, supporting, running, public housing, and giving vouchers. The LSHR makes rules and steps for checking and lowering the danger of lead, such as looking, testing, cleaning, and working safely. The LSHR also makes landlords and sellers tell tenants and buyers about lead-based paint and lead dangers, give a warning, and give a HUD-EPA booklet to people who live in or buy housing that was built before 19781.
In the LSHR is a set of rules that tell you what to do about lead paint in your building, and you need to follow these rules if you get money from the federal government or face fines of up to $37,500 each time you break the rule. The rules depend on how much money you get, how old your building is, and who lives there. These are the most important parts of the LSHR for multifamily housing owners:
Subpart G: Multifamily Mortgage Insurance. This part is for buildings that are homes or that are changing or fixing a lot of things and that get HUD mortgage insurance. The rules say you have to:
give a booklet
get a lead-paint inspection
eliminate (abate) lead paint, and
inform residents of the changes.
Subpart H: Project-Based Rental Assistance. This part is for buildings that get money from HUD to help pay the rent, like Section 8, Section 202, or Section 811, and the rules change based on how much money you get for each apartment every year. For buildings that get more than $5,000 per apartment per year, the rules say you have to:
give a booklet,
get a lead-paint inspection and/or risk assessment,
perform lead-safe renovations to eliminate hazards,
inform residents of the changes,
continually monitor paint condition, and
respond to cases of lead-poisoned children in your building.
Subpart J: Rehabilitation. Finally, this part is for buildings that get money from HUD for renovations and rehabilitation, like HOME, CDBG, or Section 236. Again, the rules change based on how much money you get for each apartment. For buildings that get more than $5,000 per apartment, the rules say you have to:
give a booklet,
get a lead-paint inspection and/or risk assessment,
perform lead-safe renovations to eliminate hazards, and
inform residents of the changes.
As an owner of a building with more than one apartment, you should follow the LSHR rules that apply to your building and program. This way, you can keep your residents, workers, and the environment safe from lead. You can also avoid getting in trouble, sued, or losing your federal money for not following the rules.
To learn more about the LSHR and how to follow it, you can go to HUD’s Lead-Based Paint website and EPA’s website. You can also call your local HUD office or the National Lead Information Center for help and advice.
For more information about lead-based paint inspections, risk assessments and clearance testing, contact us at Lead-Free Dayton (leadfreedayton@gmail.com) or (937) 803-3749.
Resources:
Lead - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)