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Connecticut Landlord Faces $82,720 EPA Penalty for Violating Lead Paint Disclosure Requirements

Release Date: 10/05/2005
Contact Information:

Contact: Sheryl Rosner ([email protected]), EPA Office of Public Affairs, (617) 918-1865

For Immediate Release: October 5, 2005; Release # sr051005

A property management company for seven apartment complexes in Connecticut has been issued a complaint seeking $82,720 in penalties for violating federal regulations requiring disclosure of information about the presence of lead-based paint. The violations occurred in an East Hartford apartment complex. MCR Property Management, Inc. manages over 1000 apartment units in Connecticut. Also named in the complaint is Brookside Commons, LP, an owner of the property.

“Lead poisoning is a serious health threat for children in New England, because a large amount of housing is older and can contain lead paint,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA’s New England office. “It is critically important that renters and buyers, especially with young children, get the information they need to protect themselves and their children from potential exposure to lead paint.”

An August 2003 inspection of MCR’s Hamden, Conn. office revealed that MCR and Brookside Commons, LP had withheld from a significant number of lessees information concerning the presence of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in specific apartments in the Brookside Commons complex, located in East Hartford, Conn.

There were 164 confirmed cases of lead poisoning in children in Hartford and East Hartford in 2003, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Ingestion of lead from deteriorated or abraded lead-based paint is the most common cause of lead poisoning in children. Approximately 50% of the leases inspected at Brookside Commons listed children under age 18.

The case is among dozens of lead-related civil and criminal cases EPA New England has taken since moving to make sure property owners, property managers and real estate agents are complying with federal lead disclosure laws. The program has included hundreds of inspections in New England, as well as many compliance assistance workshops throughout England.

Federal law requires that property owners, property managers and real estate agents leasing or selling housing built before 1978 must provide the following information to prospective tenants and buyers: an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet, called Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home; a lead warning statement; statements disclosing any known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards; and copies of all available records or reports regarding lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards. This information must be provided to prospective tenants and buyers before they enter into leases or purchase and sales agreements.

More information on lead in paint is available at: https://www.epa.gov/ne/enforcement/leadpaint/index.html.

Related Information:
Internet Training Course: Lead Safety for Remodeling, Repair, and Painting (EPA HQ)
Lead Poisoning, Lead Paint, etc.
Lead Paint Enforcement Program
Lead Paint Disclosure Rules