Lead and your Public and Sbsidized Housing Legal Information Letter

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.

LEAD AND YOUR HOME
(Public and Subsidized Housing)
© 1991 by Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
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Lead poisoning means you have too much lead in your body. Your body has no use for lead at all.

Lead poisoning affects people's minds and bodies. Children and unborn babies are especially at risk from lead poisoning because their bodies and nervous systems are still growing. Lead poisoning can reduce children's intelligence.

Children who are lead poisoned are more likely to have behavior and discipline problems. They are more likely to drop out of school.

A person can be poisoned by eating lead or breathing lead dust. Until 1977, lead was used in house paints. In older buildings, there is usually a lot of lead paint. Peeling or cracking paint in older houses and apartments can be dangerous. Some children like the taste of paint chips, and chew on window sills and paint chips that fall on the floor.

You can get poisoned by breathing air with lead dust in it. Scraping paint off walls or vacuuming up paint chips from floors can spread lead dust around the house. Lead dust can get on children's hands, pacifiers, and toys. When children put things into their mouths, they can swallow lead dust and poison themselves.

Yes. Thirty-three percent (33%) of the children tested in Erie County have lead levels that are too high. In Buffalo, almost 65% of children have lead toxicity.

The best way to find out is to get a blood test. You can call your doctor or clinic or the Health Department at 858-7672 for more information about testing.

The federal Medicaid Act requires children to be tested for lead as part of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program. If you are eligible for Medicaid, make sure that your child is tested for lead through the EPSDT program.

I LIVE IN PUBLIC HOUSING. DOES THE HOUSING AUTHORITY HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE LEAD PAINT PROBLEM?

Yes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must make sure housing authorities test for and abate (remove or cover with hard material) hazardous lead paint in family projects. After the housing authority has abated the apartment, it must reinspect to make sure the lead is gone.

If your child has a blood lead level of 25 or more and you live in a project, then the housing authority must test your apartment for lead within five days after it learns of your child's high blood lead level. If it finds lead, the housing authority must treat those surfaces where lead is found or move your family to another apartment that doesn't have lead within 14 days.

The housing authority can treat the surfaces by either removing the lead paint and repainting, or by covering the surface with hard material. Repainting without removing the lead paint is not allowed.

Usually yes. When "debris, fumes or dust are going to be created" during lead paint removal, which almost always happens, the housing authority must move tenants with children under 7 years old and pregnant women.

IS THERE A WAY THAT I CAN FIND OUT IF MY APARTMENT HAS BEEN TESTED FOR LEAD?

Maybe. If you moved into a family project after July 1988 and the project was build before 1978, then your unit should have been tested and deleaded if necessary before you moved in. Ask the housing authority for a copy of the test results on your apartment. They should be less than 1 mg/cm². If there is more than 1 mg/cm² of lead, the housing authority should have removed or covered the lead paint. Even if you didn't just move into a project, if it was built before 1978, the housing authority should have given you a notice about lead paint hazards that might exist in your project. If you didn't get one, ask for one.

I RECEIVE SECTION 8 BENEFITS. I PAY PART OF MY RENT, AND THE SECTION 8 PROGRAM PAYS MY LANDLORD THE REST. DOES MY LANDLORD HAVE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT LEAD?

Yes, if your home was built before 1978, during the first and periodic inspections that the Section 8 agency does, the inspector must look for chipping, peeling, or loose paint. If such paint is found, it must be removed or covered within 30 days.

If you have a child under 6 in a Section 8 apartment who has a blood lead level of 25 ug/ml or more, then the apartment must be tested for lead. If there is lead paint on chewable surfaces, the owner must remove or cover thepaint on all chewable surfaces up to five feet high.

If you or your child is seriously harmed by lead, then you may be able to sue those that caused the harm. Many lawyers will handle lead cases without charge; they will take a part of the damage award, if any, as payment. Legal Services lawyers do not handle these types of cases.

Caution: You may have a limited time to sue. If you do not meet the time limits, you may lose the right to sue. So, if you are thinking of suing, you may wish to contact our office. We do not handle such claims, but we may be able to assist you with referrals and other information.