To inspect or not to inspect?? House may be risk for lead but not required to inspect..

[Chris K.]

I'm currently looking at a property in Baltimore Maryland that was built in 1958. From everything I read, only homes built prior to 1950 are required to have a lead inspection for tenants but properties built between 1950-1978 are still considered at risk for LBP. I would still have to give the tenants the LBP pamphlet but I could disclaim knowing if there actually is LBP or not.

What are most of you who own properties in the 1950-1978 doing in this situation? Does giving them the pamphlet and disclaimer clear us of legal risks? I'd hate to have it inspected then have to tell every tenant from then on that theres LBP.

I plan on going Section 8 if that matters.

[Scott McClelland]

I get the XRF testing done on all my properties built before 1978. Only 1 was built between 1950 and 1978 (1970s) and came out lead free. I like to be pro-active and do more than is absolutely necessary.

So far the XRF has only come up with lead areas that were small or easy to cover (encapsulate). It was easy to remove a little trim, an interior door, etc. I have also had to encapsulate a few areas with drywall or Luan but that was relatively painless. Annoying but painless.

If you get a very large affected area you can get a certified lead paint abatement contractor to quote you for abatement. You can also choose to just perform the dust swipe test and leave it at that if it passes (the swipes should pass unless you have areas of peeling lead paint in which case you should bite the bullet and fix this). It shouldn't be difficult to find very bad areas since lead paint has a shiny sheen to it similar to high gloss paint. If it is an area that normally uses flat paint and it shines and is peeling, you probably have an issue.

Scott