Interior Lead Paint

[Jack Bingha]

My pregnant wife and I were in the process of purchasing a two family home. This is our first home purchase. We had a professional lead test and it turns out that all the walls have lead paint (which is completely painted over with new paint).

Now, knowing there’s lead paint everywhere, we would need to make this disclosure to any potential tenants. Also, the lead paint is primarily on walls that shouldn’t be disturbed, but there are massive potential liability issues if the paint were to chip and be consumed by an infant. Lastly, I worry if this is something we’d need to disclose to an insurance company.

Is this a deal killer?

[Avery Heilbron]

@Jack Bingha The state you are located in and the local laws will make a big difference.

I am a delead supervisor in MA. The state has some of the most strict laws about lead paint in the country. When we remediate lead paint we never have to touch the walls. As @Christian Manhard mentioned as soon as you break the surface is when the issues would arise. If the paint is truly only on the walls I would no worry too much and would also not consider it a deal killer. In MA the areas that get remediated are door jambs, window sills, stair treads and any areas with loose paint. This is because they are either accessible by mouth or the surface can create friction/dust or the loose paint can have the paint chips fall/be eaten by children.

 I am unsure about the insurance here. The person who did the inspection may have a good answer for you.