Lead Poisoning in your Home, How do you know?

* If you are a tenant, you have a legal right to ANY information or documents that your landlord has regarding lead paint in your home. Your legal rights include the Federal Law, Title X.

* Your local health department keeps record of investigations of properties for lead based paint. You can request copies of any investigation reports in their possession.

* If you live in Virginia, Cleveland, or Kansas City, the Law Offices of Richard Serpe, PC maintains copies of over 5,000 records and requests for lead paint inspections. Contact us for a free copy of any address request in our database.

*If your home had never been tested for lead, you can get a very good idea by determining the age of your home. (TIP: your local tax office should have a record of the year your home was built.) The older your house, the more likely it has lead-based paint. Use this guide to determine just how likely:

My Home was built:

• Before 1940: 87%
• 1940-1959: 69%
• 1960-1977: 24%
• 1978-1988: 8%
• 1989-1998: 5%

For more information on this method, read this resource article.

* If you want your home tested to determine the exact location and concentration of lead paint, go to your state's web site for LICENSED lead-based paint risk assesors. In Virginia, you can find this list here.

*If you determine that your landlord or the former owner of your home had information about lead, and did not share it with you, you may be entitled to triple damages plus attorney's fees. Contact us for more information.