All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

You're missing the key take-away here. You can use lead paint in your negotiations to get a better price on rental properties since it has to be deleaded to avoid liability.

I don't know asbestos laws, but I do know they're no joke, and this is exactly why I can't stand people giving advice to out of state people on these things. A $37,000 fine is a huge hit to a lot of people and would bankrupt them, I don't think I could come back from it. Lead laws are the same way, huge fines for violating them, and some of the advice I've seen on here would not only get people fined, but they could be sued in civil court. The fines are steep, if I even have the wrong vacuum on the job site, I would get a $35,000 fine. It's crazy. 

In Massachusetts if you buy a rental property that hasn't been deleaded you are liable for all previous tenants that lived there, unless you start deleading within 90 days. So you can buy a building, never rent to someone with a child under 6, but STILL be sued if the past tenant claims their kid got lead poisoning when they lived there 5 years ago. The only way to remove the liability is to delead in the first 3 months after closing. It's how MA is trying to get all their rentals Lead Safe.. and it's a good way to do it. Now buyers can use it in their negotiation when buying the property, if there's no Lead Certificate on file, it has to be done so it can be a great tool. 

@Aaron Kinney surprisingly few people know the Lead Laws in MA. The real estate agents should all know it and pass it along to buyers, but they don't. They just tell people about the disclosure form, which is dangerously negligent. People have been fined into 6 figures for violating the Lead Laws.

@Justin Rank beware of the Lead Laws in MA. If a unit has been inspected for Lead paint, the report gets filed with the state and then when it gets deleaded, that report gets updated. If it was inspected and not deleaded, you cannot rehab the property until it gets deleaded by a licensed deleader. If you do, it will be flagged with Unauthorized Deleading (UD) and will never be able to get a Lead Certificate. You should always check to be sure that a property either has never been inspected, or that it was deleaded, before you start renovating. 

Even after a property was deleaded, it just means that it's "Lead Safe". There is still lead paint in the unit and you still need to follow the Federal RRP laws. 

@Zach Midwood Congrats on your new house!

Chances are your real estate agent didn't inform you of the lead laws (they rarely do). In MA, if the property isn't deleaded when you buy it, you are responsible for the past tenants that may have been lead poisoned while living there unless you delead within 90 days of closing. The state is trying to get every rental property in MA lead safe, and they figured this was the best way to do it.

You can use this in your negotiations on any new properties you look at. If it doesn't have a lead certificate on file, it IS going to cost you to delead, the state has pretty much made it mandatory at this point, at least if you want to avoid the liability of a lead paint lawsuit from a past tenant. Don't let that scare you though, I've had clients negotiate $20k off the selling price, and I only charged them $10k for the deleading, so it can actually work in your favor for it not to have been done yet.

You also cannot rent to someone with a child under 6 unless you have a lead certificate on file with the state. If you rent to a couple with no kids and they have a baby, you are then required to delead the unit with the added expense of putting the tenants up in a hotel during the process.

If a unit is a 2 or 3 bedroom, chances are you'll end up having a family apply. You cannot deny the family because of the lead paint either, that's considered discrimination (you're refusing them because they have a kid) and is against the anti-discrimination laws of the state. If there are kids under 6, you NEED to have the unit deleaded and have a lead certificate on file.

If the unit has been inspected, but not deleaded, you also cannot do any construction or remodeling in the unit, they consider that unauthorized deleading and it will prevent you from ever getting a lead cert. The best you would be able to get is a Letter of Environmental Protection, which tells everyone you did illegal work then hired a licensed deleader in to fix it. It generally increases your insurance rate and decreases your tenant pool (who wants to rent from a shady landlord that does illegal work?).

If you delead the property it will actually increase your tenant pool and the rent you'll be able to charge them. A deleaded unit is more valuable to a tenant then a non-deleaded unit, even if they don't have kids under 6, they still like to know they are safe from lead paint issues. Anyone can get high blood lead levels, the law only specifies under 6 because it affects the developing brain more severely then a it affects a fully developed brain.

If you want to message me the address, I can check the database and see if there was ever an inspection done on the property for you. I'll be able to tell if there's a lead cert on file already too. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's already been done.

Good Luck on your investment!

@Nate Ginsberg @Tamara Taylor 

Congrats on your new houses!

Chances are your real estate agent didn't inform you of the lead laws (they rarely do). In MA, if the property isn't deleaded when you buy it, you are responsible for the past tenants that may have been lead poisoned while living there unless you delead within 90 days of closing. The state is trying to get every rental property in MA lead safe, and they figured this was the best way to do it.

You can use this in your negotiations on any new properties you look at. If it doesn't have a lead certificate on file, it IS going to cost you to delead, the state has pretty much made it mandatory at this point, at least if you want to avoid the liability of a lead paint lawsuit from a past tenant. Don't let that scare you though, I've had clients negotiate $20k off the selling price, and I only charged them $10k for the deleading, so it can actually work in your favor for it not to have been done yet.

You also cannot rent to someone with a child under 6 unless you have a lead certificate on file with the state. If you rent to a couple with no kids and they have a baby, you are then required to delead the unit with the added expense of putting the tenants up in a hotel during the process.

If a unit is a 2 or 3 bedroom, chances are you'll end up having a family apply. You cannot deny the family because of the lead paint either, that's considered discrimination (you're refusing them because they have a kid) and is against the anti-discrimination laws of the state. If there are kids under 6, you NEED to have the unit deleaded and have a lead certificate on file.

If the unit has been inspected, but not deleaded, you also cannot do any construction or remodeling in the unit, they consider that unauthorized deleading and it will prevent you from ever getting a lead cert. The best you would be able to get is a Letter of Environmental Protection, which tells everyone you did illegal work then hired a licensed deleader in to fix it. It generally increases your insurance rate and decreases your tenant pool (who wants to rent from a shady landlord that does illegal work?).

If you delead the property it will actually increase your tenant pool and the rent you'll be able to charge them. A deleaded unit is more valuable to a tenant then a non-deleaded unit, even if they don't have kids under 6, they still like to know they are safe from lead paint issues. Anyone can get high blood lead levels, the law only specifies under 6 because it affects the developing brain more severely then a it affects a fully developed brain.

If you want to message me the address, I can check the database and see if there was ever an inspection done on the property for you. I'll be able to tell if there's a lead cert on file already too. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's already been done.

Good Luck on your investment!

@Aaron K. You couldn't be more wrong in your reply. Lead paint under wallpaper or layers of non-lead paint is still an issue. In some states (and I'd be willing to bet CA is one of them) there are laws above and beyond the Federal RRP laws the EPA has implemented in every state and it is a much bigger issue then you think. In MA for instance, you can't rent to a family with a child under the age of 6 if you don't have a Lead Certificate on file with the state, the fines are huge if you do. 

If you buy a rental property in MA and never rent to a family with a young child, you are still liable for past tenants that lived there. If someone that lived there 10 years before you bought it claims their kids got lead poisoning when they lived there, you're liable and will have to pay out huge. The only way to avoid that liability is to delead the property within 90 days of closing on it, whether you rent to a family or not. 

So... yeah... I'd say lead paint is as big of an issue as people think.

@Adi Oturkar @Eric Hawkes

In MA, if the property isn't deleaded when you buy it, you are responsible for the past tenants that may have been lead poisoned while living there unless you delead within 90 days of closing. This is even if you don't have a child living there, you are responsible for the past tenants. The state is trying to get every rental property in MA lead safe, and they figured this was the best way to do it.

You can use this in your negotiations on any new properties you look at. If it doesn't have a lead certificate on file, it IS going to cost you to delead, the state has pretty much made it mandatory at this point, at least if you want to avoid the liability of a lead paint lawsuit from a past tenant. Don't let that scare you though, I've had clients negotiate $20k off the selling price, and I only charged them $10k for the deleading, so it can actually work in your favor for it not to have been done yet.

You also cannot rent to someone with a child under 6 unless you have a lead certificate on file with the state. If you rent to a couple with no kids and they have a baby, you are then required to delead the unit with the added expense of putting the tenants up in a hotel during the process.

If a unit is a 2 or 3 bedroom, chances are you'll end up having a family apply. You cannot deny the family because of the lead paint either, that's considered discrimination (you're refusing them because they have a kid) and is against the anti-discrimination laws of the state. If there are kids under 6, you NEED to have the unit deleaded and have a lead certificate on file.

If the unit has been inspected, but not deleaded, you also cannot do any construction or remodeling in the unit, they consider that unauthorized deleading and it will prevent you from ever getting a lead cert. The best you would be able to get is a Letter of Environmental Protection, which tells everyone you did illegal work then hired a licensed deleader in to fix it. It generally increases your insurance rate and decreases your tenant pool (who wants to rent from a shady landlord that does illegal work?).

If you delead the property it will actually increase your tenant pool and the rent you'll be able to charge them. A deleaded unit is more valuable to a tenant then a non-deleaded unit, even if they don't have kids under 6, they still like to know they are safe from lead paint issues. Anyone can get high blood lead levels, the law only specifies under 6 because it affects the developing brain more severely then a it affects a fully developed brain.

If you want to message me the address, I can check the database and see if there was ever an inspection done on the property for you. I'll be able to tell if there's a lead cert on file already too. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's already been done.

Good Luck on your investment!

I've never not had a truck. I currently have 4 in the yard, all Chevy/GMC 2500s, one for parts and 3 registered ('03, '04, and an '05), and I'm buying another '05 as soon as the lady that inherited it gets the title in her name (A deal I can't pass up, her dad bought it last December for $11k, she's selling to me for less then half of that.). But I also have a plow contract with the state of MA and plow a National Guard Armory, so it's a slightly different situation. They all make me money. 

When I look at buying a vehicle, my deciding factor is "Will it make me money, or cost me money?" My Jeep Wrangler and Harley are the 2 exceptions, they don't make me money, but they save me money by not needing to pay for therapy! They also save me money on gas, I drive the Wrangler a lot to do estimates and errands because the trucks get about 10 miles to the gallon. But the trucks have ALL paid for themselves and made me a profit. The new truck will pay for itself in three snowstorms.

Chevy/GMC are more expensive to buy than a Ford, but they are mechanically better. My parts truck is an 2001 GMC Sierra with 296,000 miles on it, and it was still running when I parked it. It's a 2wd, which is why I took it off the road. I've only had to take one part off it in the last 4 years though. 

The biggest problem with the Chevy's is the rot. The ice melt chemicals they use up here in MA and NH just eat right through them (I'm sure it's the same in other parts of the country that have snow). This is actually why Ford tried the cast aluminum truck beds, they were trying to combat the rot, but cast aluminum is just too breakable for a work truck. 

I would suggest finding a 15 year old Chevy Silverado 1500 or GMC Sierra 1500. You won't need the 2500, and the 1500 will get about 14-15 mpg instead of 10. If you live were there's snow, you can put a plow on it and if you have time, plow your driveway and your tenant's driveways and save money on snow removal. 

Good luck!  

@Sean Doherty yes, I know the MA lead laws in and out, that's why I was wondering what "Legal Highlights" were. I'm hoping that when you took your notes, you wrote "Children under 6 CANNOT live in any apartments built before 1978 unless there is a Letter of Compliance on file with the state." and that you were paraphrasing here. It is illegal to rent to a family with a child under 6 if the unit hasn't been inspected and a Letter of Compliance issued. There is absolutely no way around that law, the lead disclosure form you are required to have tenants sign isn't enough. Just saying you have "No Knowledge" of lead paint doesn't make it legal to rent to a family. You MUST know the unit is lead safe. The fines are steep if you rent to a family with a child under 6 you can be sued by the family for triple damages. You also can't not rent to a family because they have a kid under 6 and you know there's lead paint, that would violate the anti-discrimination laws. You MUST delead if they are the best option. Also, if you buy a property that isn't deleaded, you are liable for all past tenants that lived there, they can come sue you claiming their kid got lead poisoned when they lived there and you will be held liable, UNLESS you delead within 90 days of closing. That is the only way to remove the liability. The State wants all rental units lead safe and this is the best way they could come up to get it done. Hopefully the legal highlights covered that, or someone might sue them for "teaching" them incorrectly when they get sued.