HPD Reaches $82,500 Agreement to Settle Lead-Paint Violations

November 16, 2022

HPD recently reached a settlement agreement with an owner to correct over 80 lead-based paint violations across six Brooklyn buildings. The owner will pay $82,500 in civil penalties and will correct the violations in five buildings. The sixth building, sold by the owner during the litigation, must have violations corrected by the new owner.

According to HPD, most of the violations issued to the owner were for failing to conduct proactive activities related to identifying or remediating any lead-based hazards, as well as failing to maintain detailed records of required activities from at least the past 10 years.

What you need to know: Under the 2014 New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, known as Local Law 1, owners of buildings with three or more units constructed before 1960 must:

  • Annually determine apartments where a child under 6 resides (“resides” means to routinely spend 10 hours or more hours a week in the unit);
  • Inspect those units and the common areas of those buildings for peeling or deteriorated paint;
  • Remediate peeling or deteriorated paint in those units and common areas using safe work practices and certified contractors;
  • Remediate peeling or deteriorated paint and ensuring window and door friction surfaces are free of lead-based paint in all units at unit turnover, regardless of if a child under 6 will reside in the home;
  • Test for lead-based paint in all rental units by August 2025, or sooner if a child under 6 comes to reside; and
  • Maintain detailed records of all required activities for at least 10 years.

One level deeper: HPD's Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services rigorously enforces LL1 and HPD continues to partner with the Office of Attorney General and New York City Law Department to supplement its LL1 litigation efforts to bring major landlords into compliance. In FY 2022, HPD issued more than 15,000 lead-based paint hazard violations and spent almost $2 million in emergency repairs to keep children safe from lead-based paint.

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