Toledo Lead Paint Law...Halted for the THIRD Time

[Andrew Fidler]

https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2020/06/26/kapszukiewicz-administration-delays-lead-safe-housing-enforcement-citing-coronavirus/stories/20200626079

The latest and greatest on the Toledo Lead Ordinance. The 2019 declaration of a new lead ordinance which would be enforced by Toledo's Dept of Neighborhoods (not the County Health Dept as the ~2016 version was going to be) has been officially ended. 

The deadline for compliance was at the end of this month but there hadn't been any publicity, publication, or out reach. Check the BP archives back in February 2020 I requested a lead certification for a property and was blatantly told by our Dept of Neighborhoods that there was no certificate, process for inspection, nor staff on hand forming any department as of yet.

What Does Andrew Think? The City will begin discussion late this year and there is a possibility they will have the momentum to get it right this time. I know the topic is largely political so factor our mayor is up for election in 2021 so the program's future will rest on the goodwill generated through the program.

I hope any program affects ALL rental properties not units 1-4 in size (children are exposed to lead in all properties not just small ones) followed by ALL HOMES (children are exposed where lead is present - old homes - not just landlord rented ones). I hope they simplify the process for visual peeling paint as the initial inspection and get away from the expense and hassle of wipe tests. I will continue to provide a voice for property managers and investors in Toledo to make a lead program successful. 

I do think a program is coming, it's just a matter of time for Toledo to get the traction to put a program into place and begin friendly education and grant programs followed by firm language and eventual fines and enforcement. 

I see a lead paint program as a necessity to force landlords to update their properties, many owners will have to decide if they will re-paint or install vinyl siding/windows or dump their properties to new owners who will. (My personal portfolio has been aggressively installing vinyl siding, soffit, fascia, and using waterproof laminate flooring over any painted ones. Whenever the lead ordinance occurs I won't have an uphill battle, nor will I have reporters documenting blighted properties I am responsible for)

Conclusion - whenever a lead ordinance finally does come into effect and age through to enforcement Toledo real estate will suffer in the most difficult neighborhoods. Those of us who see that as a buying opportunity will displace those who are a hazard to our community and the public AND the new owners will benefit.

In the mean time hunker down as Covid spikes again and remember the communicating on Bigger Pockets and with your favorite Toledo property manager are safe ways to develop your real estate skills while staying safe!

(Please post if anyone has an update on Cleveland/Akron/Columbus/Cincinnati lead paint program ordinances, I'd be curious if we have a state-wide delay)

[Michael Temple]

I am with @Andrew Fidler and I don't think this is going away. The optics of the situation and its effect on politicians to now back off of this after all the rhetoric they whipped up is impossible. I believe the courts will eventually side with the city, BUT the question at hand is what does this look like after all that comes down. I have said all along if the city wants a law like this then EVERYBODY goes into the pot. Apartments, homeowners, etc. Not just one small select group of property owners. I have personally had issues with houses I was working on where the property next door had peeling paint but because they were an owner occupant they didn't have to address the issue. My property would have paint blowing into the yard that I had to clean up. If someone in my property were to have lead poisoning and the health department were called in I would be the only one under the microscope. The peeling paint coming off the neighbor's house wouldn't even be a factor in the investigation, discussion, and the lawsuits that would follow even if it was pointed out this could be the source of the problem. Therefore the only way to be fair is EVERYONE must comply or nobody.

I am all for improving housing, but not as an unfunded mandate that is thrown against only one group of property owners while ignoring all the other types of property owners (apartments & owner-occupants) and factors (lead pipes still in city water lines) that could go into the lead problem. Either we have an honest discussion about the problem as a whole and EVERYONE contributes to the solution or we let things stay as they are until EVERYONE is ready to be involved. Housing providers didn't create this problem over night by themselves. This has been a long time coming and it needs to be a community solution with every property involved, an efficient and effective inspection system that is fair, and most importantly A LOT of money to help property owners become compliant without bankrupting them. It is that last piece that will be the most problematic. Government is great at issuing mandates and fines to enforce, but not quite so good at providing funding to help with those mandates.

Andrew brings up another good point about the unintended consequences of this law if it is allowed to stand exactly as it is right now. This law was modeled after Rochester New York, where today the blighted housing stock stands at 35% and rising. Property owners have simply thrown up their hands and walked away and now you have a decreased supply of rentals and an increase in blighted and abandoned properties that are turning into eye sores and problems. That will likely happen in Toledo because as Andrew pointed out, putting in a $30K investment into a $20K house and renting it for $400 per month simply won't work. So, one of two things will happen. The property will become abandoned and eventually have to torn down or an investor will put the $30K in, but now it will rent for double or more and push all the people that can't afford that rent away. Where they will go is anyone's guess. It has happened in other cities and progrssives have a name for it, they call it gentrfying and say the word with venom as if the people investing caused the problem. Nope, laws like this are what will eventually create it assuming it doesn't go the other way and just stay an abandoned, blighted, and crime ridden mess.

I know of several areas in Columbus that gentrifying has occured and some of those previously blighted and run down neighborhoods are now posh upper middle class areas. Where the people that used to live there went I am not sure of, but they couldn't afford to stay there. Unfortunately I am not sure Toledo will go that route. We don't have a dynamic and growing economy as Columbus does, we arent the state capital, and we don't have any modern industries coming in to provide jobs and higher incomes that would push up the need for housing to improve in those poorer areas of Toledo. I could be wrong and I hope I am. I would love to see the entire city improve, but I am just not convinced that is where this will go.

This is a big problem that will involve everyone if we want to find a true solution. Time will tell if we get there.