MA Tenant Lead Law Information
Understanding and signing the MA Tenant Lead Law Notification.
This is perhaps the simplest part of your entire lease to sign, but let's go over it so that you fully understand what it means and the dangers involved with lead paint. Download the Tenant Lead Law Notification to follow along.
The Tenant Lead Law Notification itself does a good job of explaining each of it's sections, but sometimes a summary is helpful when quick answers are needed so let's attack it that way.
Here are the important things that you need to know
1. Lead paint was used in Massachusetts until the year 1978.
2. The presence of lead paint can cause lead poisoning in anyone but is especially dangerous to children under six years old (including unborn children).
3. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, slowed growth, and other major problems in children. It can cause birth defects in the fetuses of pregnant women and other difficulties with the pregnancy. It can cause additional health issues in adults like nerve damage, memory loss, and high blood pressure among others.
4. Lead poisoning can be caused by a myriad of regular activities within a dwelling that contains lead paint (not just chewing at the walls). Lead dust can be sent into the air from normal housework, simply scratching a wall with lead paint on it, and more. Basically, it should never be assumed that you will "just be safe" and to try and avoid lead poisoning within a home with lead paint.
5. There are no symptoms for lead poisoning that stick out as specific to the problem. The only way to know if you or your child has lead poisoning is to be tested by a doctor. This person WILL need medical care. The lead paint must also be removed from the home for the individual to get better.
6. How do you know if your home has lead paint? The only way to know is to have the premesis inspected by a licensed professional.
7. If a residence is rented to tenants with a child under six years old, it must be tested for lead hazards. If the are found, they must be attended to immediately by either having the property completely deleaded or having interim conrol put in place.
* Deleading removes all lead paint hazards. Interim control means that the lead hazard is temporarily contained for at least the life of the lease. This includes methods such as "sealing" the lead paint.
For additional information, contact the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) at 617-753-8400 or 1-800-532-9571
This brings us to the final page of the Massachusetts Tenant Lead Law Notification, the Tenant Lead Law Certification. This is the section that requires your actual signature along with that of the landlord.
1. In the "Owner's Disclosure" section, the landlord must declare whether or not they are aware of any lead paint hazards in the premesis by initialling either i or ii under section (a).
The landlord must provide reports proving any claim to a lead free (or lead comliant - see interim control) environment or acknowledge that they have no reports regarding the presence of lead paint by checking either i or ii in section (b).
2. In the "Tenant Acknowledgment" section, the tenant must disclose whether they have received any documents regarding lead paint hazards (c), whether they have received no documents (d), and that they have received the full Tenant Lead Law Notification (e).
This section is to be initialled by all tenants (yes they all need to be squeezed in there). While fields (c) and (d) will differ depending on the situation, section (e) must always be initialled because the Tenant Lead Law Notification must be provided to the tenant by law.
3. Finally, the tenant(s) sign and date at the bottom on the line that reads "Tenant". The landlord will do the same on the line that reads "Owner/Lessor".
