Lead Paint Basics for Buyers and Sellers

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Last week I blogged about the impact of the Massachusetts lead paint laws on landlords and real estate practitioners.  This week’s column focuses on what you need to know if you’re planning to renovate, buy or sell a property built before 1978.

Despite the classic image of kids getting sick from lead by actually ingesting chips of paint, most kids who test positive for lead poisoning become ill from the lead dust generated by the friction of lead-painted surfaces rubbing against each other – such as door frames and window frames, and from the dust during and left behind from a renovation project.  To minimize lead poisoning from renovations, the EPA has come out with the mandatory Lead-Safe Guide to Renovate Right.

According to this newish law, when a property owner plans to renovate more than 6 – yes, six — square feet of interior painted surfaces or more than 20 s.f. exterior in a building constructed before 1978, she or he must hire a licensed contractor.  That contractor is legally obligated to provide to the homeowner, and to any tenants in the property, a copy of the Guide mentioned above. Good to know before you start your spring renovations!

When you’re selling or buying property in Boston, where a huge majority of the housing stock was built prior to 1978, (the year lead paint and other compounds became illegal in home construction and renovation), the situation is, happily, simpler.  The key is proper disclosure, and, as we say, there’s an app – actually a form – for that!

For sellers:  you are not required to de-lead unless it is a stipulation of the purchase contract – and I’ve never seen a buyer ask a seller to de-lead in 23 years of sales in Rozzie, Jamaica Plain and other parts of Boston.  Will de-leading your property before putting it on the market improve your selling price?  Maybe by a little, but de-leading is not a money-back proposition.  It will increase buyer peace of mind and might in that way lead to a stronger selling price, but in general, it’s not part of the sizzle that most buyers are looking for these days.

Your Boston Realtor® will explain your obligation to disclose the status of the lead situation in your property, and will give you a copy of the regulations and the Transfer Form when you’re completing the Listing Agreement.

For buyers who want a property free of lead paint, be sure to focus on homes built after 1978 or which have been properly de-leaded with up-to-date Certificates of Compliance.  When you’re writing an offer on a property built before 1978, your Boston Realtor® will guide you and provide a copy of the Lead Paint Notification and afore-mentioned form which has already been filled out by the seller and the seller’s agent.  If you don’t have the form filled out by the seller, insist that you see it before signing on the dotted line.

When I go to extremes in my mind about the Lead Paint Law in Massachusetts, I see kids suing their parents for allowing them to grow up in houses that contained lead paint, but I haven’t heard of such a case…yet!

As I said last week, the points I’m making here are just bare bones.  For deeper info, I encourage you to visit sites such as www.mass.gov/dph/clpp and www.hud.gov/offices/lead.

Linda Burnett

Jamaica Plain/Roslindale Real Estate Maven
Keller-Williams Boston-Metro Real Estate
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Don’t Be “Lead” Astray – Know the Law!

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Lead paint law is one of the two hottest, favorite, most endlessly discussed topics for real estate agents and brokers.  If you want to know what the other topic is, I’ll tell you if you send me an email!

Case in point:  last week, my office, Keller Williams Boston-Metro, (now a recognized teaching center, BTW!) had the fabulous speaker, Anita Hill — the other Anita Hill, as she always says —  deliver a two-hour seminar on Lead Paint Law in Massachusetts.  An hour in, she had covered about 5 minutes of her planned material because you just can’t mention lead paint to a roomful of Boston Realtors without getting a barrage of questions (usually very helpful) and a boatload of “I once sold a house that…(less helpful but it’s always fun to vent).

For agents, the rules are simple:

  1. Know how to follow the directions on and how to fill out the Massachusetts Lead Paint Property Transfer Notification Certification (I’m not making this up) form.  Know how your clients and customers are supposed to fill out that form.  And know that any errors on this form caught during an audit will cost you $11,000 EACH!!
  2. If you’re not sure about your obligations regarding lead paint disclosure or how to fill out this form, ask your boss, as an error can lead not only to the steep fines mentioned above, but can be the difference between you and/or your clients and customers winning or losing a lawsuit.

For property owners and agents involved in rentals, there are 3 Big Truths:

  1. When children under the age of 6 are living in a rental property, the property must be deleaded, with paperwork, as required by current regulations. Read up on the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for info and tons of legalese.  I also recommend reading through information on Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
  2. When a pregnant person is living in a rental property, whether or not she was pregnant when she moved in, the owner must delead AND the property owner must pay for temporary housing for her and her family during the deleading process.
  3. When a prospective tenant with children under 6 applies to rent a property, the property owner may not discriminate against them because of the presence of lead paint in the property, and, as an agent or broker involved in such a situation, you may not discriminate either, regardless of what the property owner instructs you to do.  The only exemption is “when dwellings containing three apartments or less, one of which apartments is occupied by an elderly or infirm person for whom the presence of children would constitute a hardship. For purposes of this subsection, an ‘elderly person’ shall mean a person sixty-five years of age or over, and an ‘infirm person’ shall mean a person who is disabled or suffering from a chronic illness.” (M.G.L .Chapter XXI, Sec. 151B).  So, put that in your pipe, and good luck!

Know that the info here is but the tiniest tip of the lead iceberg.  As an agent working with rental properties,  your broker and the Internet will give you enough info about lead to keep you safe from lawsuits and, more importantly, to keep the little tykes safe from lead poisoning!

Next week: What Sellers and Buyers need to know about the Lead Paint Laws.

Linda Burnett

Jamaica Plain/Roslindale Real Estate Maven
Keller-Williams Boston-Metro Real Estate
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The Golden Rule of Real Estate

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When I first began my career as a Boston real estate agent — way back in olden times, 1989 — I had a boss who, though he was a terrific mentor in many ways for which I will be ever grateful, failed to demonstrate to me the truism that we, as real estate agents and brokers, need to treat our fellow agents with even greater respect and kindness than we do our home buyer and home seller clients.

Why is this, one might ask?  And indeed, I was one of those questioning souls early on.  I failed to grasp the fact that we are all on this ship together, that it it critical to treat our colleagues, both within and outside of our respective offices, in a kind, honest and respectful manner.  It’s true that most of us base our businesses on the referrals we receive from clients we’ve served, and keeping up these relationships is a major part of my business plan;  keeping up positive relationships with my fellow brokers at Keller Williams Boston-Metro and with outside agents with whom I will be cooperating, sooner or later, in sale transactions, is also a critical part of building a strong and sustainable business.

Early on, I didn’t understand that a Machiavellian win for my customer (these were the days before “designated agency” and we had customers, not clients!) was a short-lived victory when I learned that another broker involved in whatever drama had just passed was angry or felt I had not been absolutely professional in my dealings with them.  This type of bridge-burning can lead to a very short real estate career, and fortunately I saw the light before someone punched mine out!

Today I do my best to honor every broker with whom I come in contact, whether it’s a simple property showing in Jamaica Plain or Roslindale or if we’re representing buyer and seller clients in a sale.  In the latter case,  we are often in regular contact for anywhere from 30 to 60 days, sometimes even longer.

In recent years, I have been impressed with the quality of most of the agents and brokers with whom I’ve worked.  I admire and respect the way they handle relationships with their clients and appreciate their courtesy and professionalism in their interactions with me as well.  I often state that I learn something in every real estate transaction —  often from my clients, and also from my fellow agents.  I’m grateful to have my eyes and ears open, and to know that this business, like any other, has a long and interesting learning curve.

Every now and then a relatively new agent impresses the heck out of me with the manner in which they handle their clients — and me — and the other parties involved in a sale.  Those for whom technology is second nature have me in awe, and what’s even more awe-inspiring is their generosity in sharing their tech knowledge and shortcuts with me.

Perhaps the thinning out of the ranks in recent years has left agents and brokers who are somewhat seasoned and sobered, and like myself, more strongly committed than ever to building a business based on solid relationships all around.  I often say that real estate is a wonderful testing ground for the behaviors I want to practice out in the larger world:  kindness and tolerance; empathy and patience; and learning how to negotiate a true win-win situation for all.

Linda Burnett

Jamaica Plain/Roslindale Real Estate Maven
Keller-Williams Boston-Metro Real Estate
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