Get The Lead Out!

As if mortgage lenders don't have enough to worry about-starting October, 1995, each home built before 1978 will have to have a lead test before it can be sold, rented, or refinanced.

A test for lead content in a home costs about $350, and consists of shooting a beam of radiation through the walls to see if there is lead in the paint.

The law (Residential Lead-Based Hazard Reduction Act of 1992) already covers federally owned homes as of October of 1994. By October, 1995 it covers all dwellings over 17 years old. (It is estimated there are 57 million single family homes built before 1978.)

Lenders will have to require copies of the lead test documentation before closing in order to protect the institution. Experts who have looked at the law say the financial institution could be sued if a child developed lead poisoning in a home on which they had granted a mortgage. Children can develop lead poisoning just from breathing lead paint dust.

The information for this article came from Title X-Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act Of 1992 (42 USC 4851).

Copyright © 1994 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 5, No. 3, 11/94