Lead-based paint exists most likely somewhere on the walls (or trim or exterior siding) of your home if it was built before 1978, even if you’ve painted over it drums dozen times since moving in. This single fact, however, can turn a conventional home sale into a more complicated process than many sellers expect. Then your “quick sale” becomes days and weeks of people going back and forth about who is paying for testing or remediation, buyers get skittish, lenders go to town asking questions, inspectors flag it.
The good news: People don’t have to be stopped from selling because of lead paint. That essentially changes the nature of what that process looks like, and who you sell to. In this guide, we unpack what federal law actually requires when selling a house with lead paint, how it impacts both a traditional listing and a cash sale, as well as what to expect (and NOT to expect) from good faith cash home buyers like Eagle Cash Buyers.
This content is published for general informational purposes only and, even if mentioned herein, should not in any way be considered or construed as legal, tax, advisory or environmental advice. State and local laws concerning lead paint can differ and all properties have unique traits, when in doubt, give a licensed pro or your local housing authority a ring.
Lead Paint Still Matters, Older Housing
Although lead-based paint has been banned for residential use in the United States since 1978, that ban did not clean up the paint already present on millions of homes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, lead-based paint is still present in millions of homes, despite being banned for residential purposes in 1978. Unless tests prove otherwise, any home, or other structure on the same property, built before that year is presumed to contain lead-based paint lurking somewhere.
Neither does it automatically make your abode a perilous place to reside. Lead-based paint is most dangerous not when intact but when it has deteriorated to the point that peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking or otherwise compromised surfaces can be encountered, the EPA even says so. These health issues are a federal law disclosure issue and not an optional disclosure, so serious that they cannot be hidden.
Federal law requires lead exposure disclosures for former residential properties, including most private homes owned before 1979, to help consumers (including their families) learn what they are getting themselves into in the first place, given that lead exposure is particularly dangerous to young children and pregnant women.
Federal Lead Paint Law for Consumers: Selling a House
The trouble with most sellers: lead paint disclosure is not a choice, it’s a matter of federal law. In 1992, Congress passed the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X), and in 1996, the EPA and HUD jointly issued regulations to enforce it which became known as The Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule.
Here it is that the older property has to get under contract, the seller needs to follow:
- Disclose known information. The EPA rule requires sellers, landlords, property managers and real estate agents to inform buyers about the known presence of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before you sign a sale contract or lease.
- Hand over records. That means they need to give the buyer any inspection reports or test results, and must provide a risk assessment related to lead paint. Sellers are not allowed to pick and choose which information they would like or not like to provide.
- Provide the EPA pamphlet. A copy of the Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home brochure must be provided by sellers to buyers before closing a sale.
- Include a Lead Warning Statement. It’s part of the sales contract, stating both sides are made aware of the risk and that the seller has made his knowledge known.
- Allow a 10-day inspection window. However, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing by both parties, federal law allows 10 days for a buyer to conduct a paint inspection or risk assessment (and obtain results) prior to being bound by a contract.
The non-disclosure is not just an ethical matter, but also a compliance issue that the EPA actively monitors, and non-reported violations can even be reported to the Agency directly.
Which Homes Are Covered
There’s one or two caveats that apply to how universally this rule likely applies. It usually does not include one-bedroom bites (including studios or apartments), short-term leases of more than 100 days and housing built specifically for elderly or disabled occupants (unless a child under the age of six resides there). The rule also does not apply if a lead inspector has previously tested the home and found in safe concentration levels lead paint present.
But for scores of older structures, from single-family homes to townhouses and condominiums dating prior to 1978, the law requires disclosure, that’s no “I didn’t know” or “the paint’s been covered up ever since.”
Selling a Traditional Home With Lead Paint Can Be Difficult
Disclosure, in theory, is pretty simple: fill out a form, plunk the pamphlet down on the office counter and continue living your life. Actually, it makes friction at almost stages of a traditional listing process.
Buyer financing gets harder. FHA-backed loans generally require a lead risk assessment on homes built before 1978, and it is a frequent requirement of mortgage lenders. The appraiser could determine paint is peeling, and the lender will want to remedy before closing on a loan.
When you have a 10-day inspection period, that just slows everything down. That inspection window gives even the least lead-paint-fearing buyers a basis for delaying closing or bargaining for a cut.
Remediation costs becomes a negotiation point. Buyers often ask sellers to pay for the task of mold remediation or encapsulation, lead-safe repainting along with inspections for such things and can amount to top dollar based on the parameters involved in a sale.
Some buyers walk away entirely. Once lead paint appears in an inspection report, and especially with children about or whether it is chipping or crawling up walls, part of the retail sector just switches off completely.
Renovation Rules for United States Contractors Performing Repairs. News of the new November-2010 jpeg display designed within a supported IMAGE can actually be used. This means that any contractor disturbing painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes must use lead-safe work practices under the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, a regulation that forces contractors to take additional precautions when preparing for any kind of renovation.
This doesn’t mean you can’t sell; it just means that lead paint disclosure can turn a straightforward listing into an arduous, way more costly process.
Traditional Sale vs Cash Sale Lead Paint
| Factor | Traditional Retail Sale | Cash Sale (As-Is) |
| Lead paint disclosure required | Federal law applies even with type of sale | Yes, you still have to comply with the disclosure obligations of a law |
| Lead inspection/testing | Requested by buyer or required by lender | Eagle Cash Buyers No Deposit Needed |
| Remediation or repainting before sale | Commonly needed by buyer or lender | Not required, property will be offered as is |
| Buyer financing contingencies | When a lead is found, it can influence the test outcome, and that is reasonably normal | None, all cash purchase no lender |
| CONT. – Buyer walks away due to lead paint | Moderate to high | Not-factor in purchasing decision |
| Typical timeline impact | Inspection/negotiation can add weeks | The presence of lead paint by itself will not impact the timeline |
In both columns, the common denominator is disclosure, an obligation you are required by law to maintain even if you are cashing out. What it means is at least everything downstream from that condition: no lender calling off the remediation, no buyer walking away on an inspection report, and nothing complicated with getting things re-painted or remediated before close.
What Eagle Cash Buyers Are Looking for in a Lead Paint Disclosure
We buy homes in any condition, including those that are older and may have lead-based paint known or probable to be present. But this is what it actually looks like in working with us:
Disclaimer: an honest house, but not a perfect one. Just as they are entitled to ask an owner when considering a sale, we force sellers to disclose everything that they know about the condition of property, can lead paint hazards be possible? We have no requirement for test results, remediation logs or an inspector’s clean bill of health.
No repairs, no painting. Skipping procedures. Other potential buyers or lenders would need you to repaint, encapsulate or remove before they could submit an offer: we do not. However, if you would like a comprehensive overview on our general process for solving condition issues down to the nitty-gritty detail, this page about how we buy houses as-is covers that topic.
Lead inspection contingency waived on our end. So, we’re not using a mortgage lender that does underwriting, which would then require some type of lead risk assessment in advance of close.
A straightforward, documented process. From the very first walk-through to up to the closing table, we handle all aspects of paperwork so that you do not sit and wonder what needs to be signed or disclosed. For context on the whole process check our how it works page in details.
And if your dwelling presents with more issues, deferred maintenance, code violations or an inherited-home situation in addition to being lead-paint-challenged, that does not affect the process either. We mentioned a scenario like this in our article about selling a house with code violations without repairing the property.
When To Come Into Play When You Disclose Lead Paint
You do not have to hire an inspector prior to contacting you, but taking some steps in advance of any contact will make the disclosures conversation go as smoothly as possible:
- Know your home’s build year. It states whether the federal rule even applies in the first place. You can normally find this in your property tax records or your county assessor’s site.
- Gather any existing reports. Contact the previous owner, landlord or contractor if they ever tested at the property to see if they have records as well, you might also be obliged to disclose these.
- Note visible paint condition. Paint that is peeling, chipping or chalking on the trim, window sill and/or outside siding are items people would appreciate being upfront.
- Don’t guess or omit. If you’re not sure whether there is lead paint or not, then say you don’t know with it. This is different from the missing information that you know you are supposed to have.
If you’re working on other documents for fulfilling the sale, our guides of document checklists for selling a house for cash reviews everything else that you should likely gather.
Common Use Cases That This Applies For
Lead paint disclosures are rarely satisfied outside of some familiar scenarios.
Inherited homes. If you have no history on such a property you inherited and the property went prior to 1978, for all intents and purposes you DO NOT KNOW lead paint status at all, and it’s OK to said that as is.
Rental properties being sold. In a typical deal, landlords selling older units have disclosure paperwork from the leases as an easy starting point.
Vacant or long-neglected houses. Deferred-maintenance is cracks in the wall, which is down to a disclosure rule written specifically to warn you of that hazard, heat-causing flaking paint.
Homes with partial renovations. A home that has been partially updated may still have lead paint beneath more contemporary coverings in parts of the house not likely to be lived in, such as the garage or exterior.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I never had the house tested for lead paint, must I still disclose?
Yes, but only in areas where you have independent knowledge. If you do not have any records or test results and you know little if anything at all about lead paint hazards, you can state that you do not believe there are lead based paint or hazards on the property. The disclosure (and Lead Warning Statement even), no matter if they had testing or not, you cannot get out of it.
I am selling for cash am I excluded from the lead paint disposition?
The answer is no. Whether you have a cash buyer or use financing, federal law mandates sellers to disclose pre-1978 housing. Your cash sale tosses out those inspection contingencies, lender-required remediation items, and repainting expectations that would accompany a disclosure in any other kind of sale.
Lead paint remediation option, if I have a cash buyer, will I need to perform the lead paint abatement prior to close?
Eagle Cash Buyers make cash offers to buy homes as-is, which means sellers do not have to remove, encapsulate or repaint any areas containing lead-based paint before the sale closes. Remediation decisions are post-sale, not pre-sale.
So Can You Sell a House with Lead Paint?
No. Lead based paint does not prohibit the sale of a home, but full disclosure is required of what you know, to provision giving a minimum TWO BUSINESS DAYS notice along with distributing the EPA pamphlet at least 7-days prior and an opportunity for buyer to inspect within 10-days prior to binding contract.
How can I check if my house was constructed before 1978?
Or see county property tax records, the original deed or a past inspection report. Most county assessor websites, however, usually will publish the “year built” field and this is the fastest way to check whether or not your property falls under the disclosure rule.
Lead spots: Do low cash offers see less value for my home?
Age-related things (like lead paint) are merely one of the innumerable conditions factors that must be weighed together with geography and current market conditions in determining property value. Retail buyers and mortgage lenders love to hold it against you a bit, but not in the same flesh-reducing way.
When Putting Up an Older Home Listing Would Actually Not Entail a Renovation
The lead paint disclosure exists mainly to protect buyers of older homes, not to penalize sellers. Real disclosure, and once you know what actually is safe, the brochure ensuring that you’re getting it, sure (it’s available in several languages), the clip certainly on what to do when there’s a showing up and then the inspection period, it’s less of an immovable cog than just part of the procedure.
Which is when it becomes expensive and time-consuming through a typical sale where, unless you fix it, paint or lose buyers with an inspection report. That is exactly the kind of friction that a cash sale was meant to remove. You tell us what you know, we base a cash offer on the actual state of the home and you’re not saddled with an expensive remediation project trying to meet the requirements of a retail buyer close.
If you are in a situation where the house is pre-1978 and think that lead paint will ruin your sale then get in touch with our team. We purchase homes in 44 states (as-is, even with lead paint!) and can guide you through what that means for your property type. If you want to skip ahead and go to our sell my house page, or simply call us today and let us guide you through the ins-outs of your situation.
