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U.S. EPA fines Los Angeles apartment property manager over lead-based paint disclosure violations for several properties

Release Date: 6/14/2005
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today fined a Los Angeles-based apartment property management firm $8,008 for violating federal lead-based paint disclosure requirements at 12 apartment buildings in Los Angeles, Burbank, Canoga Park, Orange, Santa Monica and Malibu.

The Beaumont Company, an L.A.-based property management and real estate brokerage firm, failed to provide federally-required lead warning statements to rental apartment tenants. The company also failed to disclose whether it had information or reports on lead-based paint or lead hazards at these locations prior to tenants signing leasing agreements.

“The EPA is responsible for ensuring that renters and buyers receive adequate information to protect children from potential lead-based paint hazards,” said Enrique Manzanilla, the EPA’s director for the Communities and Ecosystems Division for the Pacific Southwest Region. “We hope today’s enforcement action reminds all landlords and home sellers that they have a responsibility to warn tenants and home buyers that their homes may contain dangerous lead."

The intent of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act is to help prevent exposure -- especially exposure of children -- to hazards from lead-based paint by requiring disclosure and notification when selling or leasing housing.

Children under six years of age are among the most vulnerable to adverse health risks from lead-based paint and lead hazards, such as dust and contaminated soil. An estimated three-quarters of the U.S. housing stock built before 1978 contains some lead-based paint.

Recent studies indicate that almost one million children nationwide have blood-lead levels above safe limits. Lead poisoning in children can have serious, long-term consequences including intelligence deficiencies, learning disabilities, hearing impairment, hyperactivity and/or behavioral problems.

The Lead Disclosure Rule requires that landlords or sellers of housing constructed prior to 1978 provide each purchaser or tenant with a lead hazard information pamphlet, any information and/or reports concerning lead-based paint hazards at the property and a Lead Warning Statement to be signed by the parties. Additionally, sellers are required to provide purchasers with an opportunity to conduct a lead-based paint evaluation.

For additional information on lead in paint, dust and soil, visit: https://www.epa.gov/lead/
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