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Lead Disclosure Requirements and Testing Options for Homebuyers in Puerto Rico

Zimmetry Environmental provides testing, consulting and compliance services to identify lead hazards in residential and commercial properties.


Bayamon, Puerto Rico – WEBWIRE

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X, helps to protect families from exposure to lead from paint, dust and soil.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that approximately three-quarters of the nation’s housing stock built before 1978, the year the federal government banned consumer uses of lead in paints, likely contains some lead-based paint.
 
Exposure to lead is serious because lead poisoning can cause permanent damage to the brain and many other organs. It also causes reduced intelligence, behavioral problems and can even cause abnormal fetal development in pregnant women. Young children are especially at risk as they are growing rapidly and because of their tendency to put things in their mouths.
 
Due to these issues, homebuyers today have important rights when it comes to knowing whether lead is present in a home they may purchase. The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X, helps to protect families from exposure to lead from paint, dust and soil. Section 1018 of this law directed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and EPA to require the disclosure of known information on lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978.
 
Before ratification of a contract for housing sale or lease, sellers and landlords must:

  • Give an EPA-approved information pamphlet on identifying and controlling lead-based paint hazards titled Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home.
  • Disclose any known information concerning lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards. The seller or landlord must also disclose information such as the location of the lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards, and the condition of the painted surfaces.
  • Provide any records and reports on lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards which are available to the seller or landlord (for multi-unit buildings, this requirement includes records and reports concerning common areas and other units, when such information was obtained as a result of a building-wide evaluation).
  • Include an attachment to the contract or lease which includes a Lead Warning Statement and confirms that the seller or landlord has complied with all notification requirements. This attachment is to be provided in the same language used in the rest of the contract. Sellers or landlords, and agents, as well as homebuyers or tenants, must sign and date the attachment.
  • Sellers must provide homebuyers a 10-day period to conduct a paint inspection or risk assessment for lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards. Parties may mutually agree, in writing, to lengthen or shorten the time period for inspection. Homebuyers may waive this inspection opportunity.


“Anyone looking to purchase, lease or sell a home in Puerto Rico can turn to Zimmetry Environmental for all of their lead testing and assessment needs,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental. “Our building science and indoor environmental quality experts have conducted countless lead inspections in homes and buildings of all types and are also regularly called upon to test for asbestos, mold and other indoor exposure concerns.”
 
Zimmetry Environmental recently sponsored an educational video about homebuyers and lead disclosure that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/rhsyyj7nMeQ
 
To learn more about Zimmetry Environmental and their lead, indoor air quality (IAQ), environmental, occupational, and compliance testing and consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
 
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies.  The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America.  The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.


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 Puerto Rico
 Lead Poisoning
 Lead Testing
 Lead Paint
 Lead Disclosure


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