Which rentals require a lead-based paint disclosure?

Any residential rental built before 1 January 1978, which the rule calls target housing. This is a federal duty and it applies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. Units built in 1978 or later are outside the rule because residential lead-based paint was banned effective that year. Narrow exemptions cover zero-bedroom units, leases of 100 days or less with no renewal, certified lead-free housing, and designated housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities. Two of these carry a child condition: under 40 CFR 745.103 as amended effective January 13, 2025 (89 FR 89416), both the zero-bedroom exclusion and the elderly or disabled exclusion are withdrawn where a child under six lives or is expected to live there, so a studio rented to a family with a young child is target housing. The 100-day and certified lead-free exemptions do not depend on whether a child lives in the unit.

What are the six elements of a lease lead paint disclosure?

40 CFR 745.113(b) requires six elements in the lease or an attachment to it: (1) the Lead Warning Statement in its prescribed wording; (2) the lessor's disclosure of known lead-based paint and hazards, or a statement of no knowledge; (3) a list of any records and reports provided to the lessee, or a statement that none exist; (4) the lessee's statement affirming receipt of that information and of the lead hazard information pamphlet; (5) the agent's statement of having informed the lessor of the lessor's obligations; and (6) the signatures of lessors, agents, and lessees certifying to the accuracy of their statements, with dates. Most guides say there are three requirements. The regulation lists six, and a disclosure missing any one of them is defective.

Does a landlord have to test for lead-based paint?

No. The rule requires disclosure of what you actually know, not investigation. EPA states plainly that the Disclosure Rule does not require sellers or landlords to test or remove lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, and does not require landlords to conduct or pay for inspections. If the unit has never been tested and you hold no reports, no knowledge is the honest and lawful answer. What you may not do is check no knowledge while holding a report, an abatement record, or knowledge of a child's elevated blood-lead result in the unit.

How long must a landlord keep the signed disclosure?

At least three years from the commencement of the leasing period, under 40 CFR 745.113(c). Keep the signed disclosure, a note of which pamphlet edition was delivered and how, and copies of every record you handed over. The signed disclosure is the landlord's primary defence in an EPA or HUD inquiry or a private action, so retaining it for the life of ownership is the safer practice.

What are the penalties for skipping the lead paint disclosure?

Two separate exposures. First, 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3) makes a knowing violator jointly and severally liable to the lessee for three times the amount of damages that person incurred, and 4852d(b)(4) lets the court add court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and expert witness fees. Second, government civil money penalties assessed by EPA and HUD, which are adjusted for inflation every year under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act, with the operative EPA amounts published in the table at 40 CFR 19.4. Do not rely on a dollar figure quoted in any article, including figures that were accurate when written. Knowing violations can also carry criminal exposure.

Does a state law replace the federal lead paint disclosure?

No. The federal duty is a floor that applies in every state, and no state law removes it. A minority of states and cities add duties on top, and those additional duties are typically stronger than the federal rule rather than a substitute for it. Massachusetts requires de-leading or covering hazards where a child under six lives and imposes strict liability for lead poisoning. Maryland and Rhode Island run mandatory rental registries with dust-wipe clearance testing. New York City imposes its own inspection and remediation duties on pre-1960 housing. In most states, however, the federal rule is the whole of the disclosure obligation.

What is the Lead Warning Statement?

It is the fixed federal paragraph required by 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) that must be attached to or inserted into the lease. It states that housing built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint, that lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women, that lessors must disclose the presence of lead-based paint and hazards, and that lessees must receive a federally approved pamphlet on lead poisoning prevention. It is prescribed wording, so rewriting or improving it can defeat the disclosure. The generator on this page reproduces it verbatim.

Can the lead paint disclosure be signed electronically?

Yes. Electronic disclosure and signature are permitted under the E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001. EPA attaches conditions: give a clear statement of the right to receive paper documents, explain the procedure to withdraw consent and its consequences, explain how to access and retain the electronic records, and obtain the tenant's consent demonstrating they can actually access the materials. A link alone is not delivery. Retain the electronic record for the same three years.

Does the disclosure apply to lease renewals?

A fresh disclosure is required for a new lease with a new lessee. A pure renewal with the same tenant in the same unit does not require redisclosure unless something material changed, for example you obtained a new lead report or learned of a hazard since the original disclosure. If new information reached you, it must be disclosed. Redisclosing at each renewal is the conservative practice, costs nothing, and keeps the retention file continuous.

Do I have to give the EPA pamphlet to existing tenants?

Not under the leasing disclosure rule, which attaches to new leases rather than to sitting tenants mid-term. There is one important exception, and it is the renovation rule: if you disturb painted surfaces in an occupied pre-1978 unit, the occupants must receive lead hazard information no more than 60 days before the work begins, regardless of when their lease started. That duty comes from the Renovation, Repair and Painting rule at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E, not from the disclosure rule.

Do I have to disclose records for other units in the building?

Yes, where they exist. EPA states that for multi-unit buildings the records a lessor must provide include those for common areas and other units that come from building-wide evaluations. The disclosure duty is not limited to the four walls of the leased unit: if a building-wide risk assessment identified hazards in a stairwell, a laundry room, or a neighbouring unit, that report is within scope for a pre-1978 building. Owners commonly disclose the unit file and overlook the building file.

When is the lessee's agent required to sign?

Only when that agent is compensated by the lessor. The EPA lessor form carries a footnote making the lessee's-agent item conditional on the lessee's agent receiving compensation from the lessor. The lessor's own agent item is not conditional: any agent engaged by the lessor must confirm they informed the lessor of the obligations under 42 U.S.C. 4852d and are aware of their responsibility to ensure compliance. Where no agent is involved, the item is marked not applicable rather than left blank.

Does failing to disclose void the lease?

No, and this is a common myth. EPA states that the Disclosure Rule does not cancel leasing or sales contracts. A disclosure failure exposes the landlord to treble damages under 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3), fee-shifting under 4852d(b)(4), and government civil penalties, but it does not by itself make the lease void or unenforceable. The remedy is damages and penalties, not rescission of the tenancy.

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Free Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Form

The federal disclosure every landlord must deliver before leasing housing built before 1978 — in all 50 states. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d and 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F. And the 10-day inspection window you see on other rental forms? That is a sales rule. It is not part of the lease disclosure.

Federally Required 42 U.S.C. 4852d 40 CFR Part 745 All 50 States Free PDF

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Reviewed for All 50 States ~20 min read

A lead-based paint disclosure is the federally mandated form a landlord delivers to a prospective tenant before any lease of residential property built before 1978. It carries the fixed federal lead warning statement, states the lessor’s actual knowledge of lead-based paint and hazards, lists the records being handed over, documents the tenant’s receipt of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, captures any agent’s acknowledgment, and is signed and dated by every party. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d (Section 1018 of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992), implemented at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F (EPA) and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A (HUD). The duty is federal and uniform — it applies identically in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. It is one of the disclosures that belongs in every pre-1978 tenancy file, alongside the rest of your lease paperwork — see our guide to writing a lease agreement for where it fits. Generate the form below, then read on for exactly what the rule requires and, just as importantly, what it does not.

Key Takeaways

Pre-1978 is the only trigger. Original construction before 1 January 1978 makes the unit “target housing” and the disclosure mandatory. The build date controls even if the unit was gutted and rebuilt in 1995.
The rule is federal and applies in every state. No state law replaces it. A minority of states and cities add duties on top; most add nothing at all.
The 10-day inspection window does not apply to leases. 42 U.S.C. 4852d(a)(1)(C) and 40 CFR 745.110(a) give it to purchasers only. The lessor rules at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no such item. You may offer an inspection voluntarily; you are not required to.
The regulation lists six elements, not three. 40 CFR 745.113(b) is more demanding than the “three things” summary you will read elsewhere.
You never have to test. The rule compels disclosure of actual knowledge, not investigation. “No knowledge” is honest and lawful when nothing has been tested and you hold no reports.
Deliver before the tenant is obligated, not at move-in and not with the keys. Late delivery is the same violation as no delivery.
Retain the signed disclosure three years from the start of the leasing period (40 CFR 745.113(c)). It is your only real defence in an enforcement inquiry.
Renovation is a second, separate duty. Disturbing paint in an occupied pre-1978 unit triggers the RRP rule and a 60-day lead-hazard-information notice.

▶ Watch overview

Federal lead paint disclosure overview

Federal Lead Paint Disclosure at a Glance

Trigger

Built before 1978

Authority

42 U.S.C. 4852d

Applies In

All 50 states

Retention

3 years

Timing

Before lease obligation

Pamphlet

EPA, mandatory

Duty to test

10-day inspection

Sales only

The one-line answer: if your rental was built before 1978 and the lease runs longer than 100 days, you must hand the tenant this signed disclosure plus the EPA pamphlet before they are obligated under the lease, and keep the signed copy for three years. That is the whole federal duty. There is no federal requirement to test, to remediate, to file anything with an agency, or to give the tenant a 10-day inspection window.

What the lead-based paint disclosure does

The lead paint disclosure — often called the Section 1018 disclosure, after the 1992 statute that created it — is the formal federal notice a landlord delivers to a prospective tenant for any residential property built before 1978. It does four things in one document.

First, it puts the tenant on notice of potential lead exposure through the federally mandated lead warning statement, the fixed language at 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) that must be attached to or included within the lease.

Second, it transmits the lessor’s actual knowledge of lead-based paint or hazards in the dwelling. The lessor picks one of exactly two positions: known lead-based paint or hazards are present, with a description of what is known; or the lessor has no knowledge of lead-based paint or hazards in the housing. There is no third box, and there is no “maybe”.

Third, it transmits any reports the lessor holds from prior inspections, risk assessments, or hazard-reduction work. The lessor either provides copies of all available records and lists them, or affirmatively states that no reports or records exist.

Fourth, it documents the tenant’s receipt of the disclosure and of the EPA pamphlet. The signed acknowledgment is the landlord’s primary defence in any later EPA or HUD inquiry or private civil action.

The disclosure is not optional and the duty is not waivable by agreement. A pre-1978 rental leased without one exposes the landlord to government civil penalties and to a tenant’s private action for triple damages plus fees. Compliance takes fifteen minutes; non-compliance is the most expensive paperwork failure in pre-1978 rental practice.

Do landlords have to give tenants 10 days to inspect for lead?

No. The 10-day risk assessment or inspection opportunity is a sales requirement. It does not apply to leases. This is the single most consequential error circulating on lead-disclosure forms, and it is worth reading the actual text rather than trusting any summary — including ours.

Read the statute. 42 U.S.C. 4852d(a)(1)(C) requires the regulations to ensure that, before a purchaser or lessee is obligated, the seller or lessor does certain things — and subparagraph (C) specifically directs that the seller “permit the purchaser a 10-day period (unless the parties mutually agree upon a different period of time) to conduct a risk assessment or inspection”. The 10-day opportunity is granted to the purchaser. Lessees get the disclosure duties; they do not get an inspection period.

Read the regulation. 40 CFR 745.110(a) provides, verbatim: “Before a purchaser is obligated under any contract to purchase target housing, the seller shall permit the purchaser a 10-day period (unless the parties mutually agree, in writing, upon a different period of time) to conduct a risk assessment or inspection for the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards.” Purchaser. Purchase. Seller. Every operative noun in that sentence is a sales noun. There is no lessee, lessor, or lease anywhere in it.

Now read the lessor rules. 40 CFR 745.113(b) — the six elements set out in the next section — contains no inspection-opportunity item whatsoever. It requires a warning statement, a knowledge disclosure, a records list, a lessee acknowledgment, an agent statement, and signatures. That is the complete list. Neither does the EPA lessor disclosure form include one. EPA’s own guidance consistently describes the duty as providing homebuyers a 10-day period, and EPA states separately that the Disclosure Rule does not require landlords to conduct or pay for inspections.

Where the error comes from — the item is real, just on the other form

The 10-day item is not invented out of nothing. It genuinely exists at 40 CFR 745.113(a)(5), which is the sales disclosure provision. That subsection requires a statement that the purchaser “[r]eceived the opportunity to conduct the risk assessment or inspection required by § 745.110(a)” or “[w]aived the opportunity.” So there is a legitimate received-or-waived line — on the seller’s form. Form vendors build one template, copy it to make the lessor version, and forget to delete the item that has no lessor counterpart. That is how a sales-only line ends up on a rental disclosure, and it is why so many landlords believe a duty exists that Congress never imposed on them.

What this means for you. A landlord owes a prospective tenant no statutory inspection window. You may offer one voluntarily. If a prospective tenant with a young child asks for time to have the unit assessed, allowing it is a reasonable and often sensible gesture — but it is optional best practice, not law. Describe it that way in your own paperwork, and never as a federal right.

Why the checkbox is worse than saying nothing

Some rental forms print a line reading “Tenant was offered the 10-day opportunity to inspect” and “Tenant waived the inspection.” Consider what that does. Element