Indiana AG Files Suit To Force Landlord To Remediate Lead Paint Hazard In Rental Home

From the Office of the Indiana Attorney General:

• [I]ndiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against two Evansville landlords who allegedly ignored multiple warnings to correct a lead-paint hazard in a rental house that could endanger the health of any occupants living there, including children. The Indiana Attorney General's Office and the Vanderburgh County Health Department filed suit under environmental laws to halt a public nuisance.

• "This is the first time the Attorney General's office has brought such a suit on behalf of a county, but the case could be a template for other counties to follow in taking action when landlords refuse to correct lead-paint hazards," Zoeller said.(1) [...] Exposure to lead-paint chips and dust is especially hazardous to the neurological development of young children and can result in brain damage and learning disabilities.

***

• The lawsuit, [...] seeks an injunction ordering the landlords to remediate the nuisance. Remediation techniques may include removal of the paint from the house by a licensed contractor or encapsulation of the lead-based paint by properly repainting it with latex paint. The suit also seeks reimbursement of the government's costs, attorneys' fees and other relief.(2)

For the entire Indiana AG press release, see Attorney General Zoeller files suit to correct lead-paint hazard (Landlord ignored county's warnings; now state takes action).

For the Indiana AG's Complaint to Compel Remediation of Lead Hazard, see State of Indiana v. Bryan.

(1) According to the complaint, the landlords own a house, built in 1918, in Evansville that they lease to tenants. During a lead-screening program for children in January 2008, a child of the tenant tested positive for an elevated blood-lead level. The Vanderburgh County Health Department alerted the tenant and also collected samples of paint, soil and dust that tested positive for lead. The county health department sent warnings to the landlords at both addresses on file for them in January and February 2008, instructing them that the lead-based paint in the rental house was a health violation requiring remediation measures. The county received no response and the landlords appear to have made no attempt to remediate the hazard by repainting or removing old paint. The Vanderburgh County Health Department in February 2009 issued a $50 fine the landlords never paid. Due to the lack of cooperation by the landlords, the county health department enlisted the assistance of the Attorney General's office in bringing the lawsuit.

(2) The Indiana AG press release states that because of potential health hazards, lead paint has been banned for use in residential homes since 1978. Lead paint continues to be a problem in the pre-1978 homes usually found in older, low-income neighborhoods, however. Under the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, owners must disclose any lead-paint hazards prior to selling or renting any pre-1978 home, according to the press release.