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Lead: what would you do? Long

bloverdebloverde member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
My 18mo was tested for lead at 12mo because we live in a high risk area. It was normal. A week ago we saw paint flecks in his diaper and had him retested. His level is 8.5.

I know it's not CRAZY high, but it's high. And I'm freaking out. My husband wants to move. My dad agrees. My mom thinks we're over reacting, and should just clean the house really well and keep him from eating the chips.

The health department won't come out and do an assessment until a recheck in one month confirms the high reading. Our landlord is lazy and does things half azzed. First she says that she doesn't believe there is lead in the house. Then she says that there is no point to doing a professional decontamination cleaning until the lead is eliminated by stripping the paint, sanding and repainting. But that will cause more lead dust in the air. She won't pay for a cleaning until the health department confirms the lead.

What would you do? Also complicating things is that we're moving out of the area for work in 6 months, so we would need to find a short term lease.
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Re: Lead: what would you do? Long

  • fanofannefanofanne member
    LalaMama81 said:
    I would pay for a private inspection if the health dept. won't do it. Or I'd see a lawyer about having the landlord do it b/c it is their responsibility for your rental to be lead-free. It is on her to pay for it, technically. 

    ***end of lala's quote*** (i can't seem to get out of the quote box)
    anyway...i agree.  and i'd be a pest until she got off her half azz and did something about it.  though i think your landlord might be right in saying that a decontamination cleaning might kick up more lead dust in the air.  i'd look to see if there's something in your contract or the law that says when something like this happens if the landlord has to provide housing elsewhere...?  i don't know, just a thought.  

    but in any case, i think i would look into temporary housing somewhere else...like a nicer motel, or those long-stay hotels?  and since you have pack up everything anyway in a few months, why not start a bit sooner?  good luck
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  • FemShepFemShep member
    Where do you live?  In MA, a landlord must remediate if there's lead in the house/apartment and a child under 6 lives there.

    Lead poisoning is no joke; I'd tell the landlord that they need to take action immediately or you want to break your lease with no penalty.  
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  • rubber_chickenrubber_chicken member
    Lead exposure is no joke - it's not good for ANYONE at any age.  They can actually tie crime rates to lead exposure. 

    Look into your rights as a tenant in your state, and start looking for a short term rental - try airbnb

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  • mrsshawnavanbmrsshawnavanb member
    What is the age of the house? Did the landlord have you sign a lead paint disclosure at move in? I'm a property manager in Indiana, and my community was built in 1968, so I am required to have every new tenant sign a disclosure regarding the possible use of LBP. I'm not sure how that law varies from state to state....Might be something to look into.
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  • bloverdebloverde member
    When I was pregnant I called the county and asked about a lead disclosure. They said in Ohio they only have to do it IF someone who lived there before was diagnosed. I know in PA where I rented all houses before a certain year required it.

    So my landlord is a lawyer. She knows all this. I would have to pay for the lead home test out of pocket right now because they county does not do anything until it's confirmed by a blood test one month later. In the mean time, he's being exposed.

    If we decide to stay and in one month it's still positive, she said she would fix it. (DH doesn't trust her.) But doing the fix actually causes more lead dust to be in the air, and she said she would understand if we left. We're in a month to month lease right now. I looked into those PODS, but it would be $3000 to store and ship to our new home in 6 months. So the alternative would be a storage unit and moving twice. Ugh.

    Thanks for the opinions. I wish the department of health would just call me back!
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  • mrsshawnavanbmrsshawnavanb member
    You should look into Hogan Mayflower SAMS- just like a POD, just different company. I don't know if they're in your area, but we had to move twice back in Aug then October and we used them. It will still expensive but cheaper than PODS company. 
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  • HopeAlive3HopeAlive3 member
    I can definitely hear your concern... I know you said your husband wants to move. Are you feeling hesitant about it? 
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  • stephcarterstephcarter member
    Your mom is wrong- you are not overreacting. This is a huge deal. If you and your DH think that maybe you should move, then you should probably go with your gut and get out of there.

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  • bloverdebloverde member
    We're in a month to month now; so no lease breaking. My lawyer cousin said that it was illegal for her not to have us sign the lead disclosure because that's a federal law, even though the county said she didn't have to give it to me. He said the county is wrong.

    The lead task force finally called me back and said his level isn't high enough to qualify for an assessment for free, and that we should wait TWO MONTHS to have it retested. If is still elevated, THEN they will send the assessor out to check. If they find lead (hahaha If) they will give notice to the landlord to fix it. But they also said that since we're month to month she's allowed to evict us too, legally.

    So I called the Medical Legal Partnership in my city to ask about how she didn't do the disclosure form and told me everything was painted over. Waiting on a reply. I don't know if they can even do anything, but I would really like moving costs covered. And God help this woman if my son has delays.
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  • bloverdebloverde member
    It was our window sill color. It was definitely from our house. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of finding a place to live, packing and moving within 3 weeks, over Christmas, while working 80 hours per week, with no family in the area to help. It's overwhelming.
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  • Meery82Meery82 member
    bloverde said:
    It was our window sill color. It was definitely from our house. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of finding a place to live, packing and moving within 3 weeks, over Christmas, while working 80 hours per week, with no family in the area to help. It's overwhelming.

    Ugh, what a nightmare. Good luck, OP. I hope your son gets out of this unharmed. Please keep us updated.
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  • jjsmommy0714jjsmommy0714 member
    My husband grew up near a lead smelter and has significant damage from the exposure. If I were you, I would move. I realize that there is a difference between an 8.5 and the levels that my husband has but it is still not something that you want to mess with. He struggles daily and wishes that his dad had decided to move before it was too late.


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