OREIO is a great organisation, next meeting is on the 14th of September.

Responsible for qualifying the lead, and gathering the necessary information for it to transfer to our underwriting department.  

I have had attornies tell me I was correct only to get wrung up by the state and cost me big bucks.I would only take ONE opinion and that is simply the department of real estate or whatever the name of the real estate commission is in your state..

So I would recommend contacting someone at the Maryland Department of Insurance before making any decisions. http://insurance.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx

It's funny how the insurance companies and appraisal companies are under the same state department but have totally different guidelines for determining value.

Here is one for example:The “Lead-Safe Certificate” shall expire from the date of issuance by the Health Department Director as follows:(1) three (3) years from the date of issuance by the Director for any property that fails the initial visual inspection or dust wipe test; or (2) six (6) years from the date of issuance for any property that passes the initial visual and dust wipe inspection; (3) if either the Residential Rental Property has undergone Lead Abatement, designed for the single purpose of permanently eliminating lead hazards, consistent with the provisions of Ohio lawor has been determined not to contain lead-based paint pursuant to section 1760.05(b), 20 years from the date of issuance by the Director.

Do I contact the current owner, and purchase the home directly from them, or do I contact the sheriffs department at this point?

Major retailers (Target, Walmart, Best Buy) have departed the area in the last decade.

What department do I ask for and what information do I need? 

I follow this buy vs rent index so will share here, just an extra source for RE market data...latest summary:  http://business.fau.edu/departments/finance/real-e...The BH&J Index is published quarterly and is available online at http://business.fau.edu/buyvsrent.