Tenant worried that peeling paint might have lead

[Shawn M.]

I just took over managing a property and gave my tenant a new lease to sign and a lead paint disclosure. She replied " you mean my peeling paint has lead in it". I said that I have no knowledge of it does or not I am just giving you this information per the law. Do I have any other obligations? What should I do now?

[Zac Caudell]

I agree with @Chris Simmons. A test kit is fairly cheap at Home Depot or Lowes. You're obligated as a landlord to disclose the existence of lead paint if you know about it, and you have to give the tenant an EPA pamphlet about lead if the house is pre-1978. If you don't know anything then technically you have nothing to disclose. But, as @Vincent Aiello said, transparency will help your reputation a lot as a landlord.

If I remember correctly, lead paint is only harmful if you ingest it. This could happen by breathing the dust from sanding and/or demo or by eating the paint chips. If it's just sitting on the walls then it's harmless. You aren't obligated to remove the paint from the walls, but if you decide to remove it then you have to hire a contractor licensed in lead paint removal.

Skimming with drywall mud and painting over can easily resolve the peeling issue if it's a small area, unless there is a larger root cause to the problem. However, you may be technically required to hire a lead paint specialist to come and remove the chips. Personally, if it was a small amount I would probably just vacuum them up myself, but don't tell the EPA I said that.