Which Arizona rentals require a lead paint disclosure?

Any residential rental built before 1 January 1978, which the rule calls target housing. Units built in 1978 or later are outside the rule. Narrow exemptions cover zero-bedroom dwellings, leases of 100 days or less with no renewal, certified lead-free housing, and housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities. Two of them 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effective January 13, 2025 (89 FR 89416), both the zero-bedroom exclusion and the elderly or disabled exclusion are withdrawn where a child under six resides or is expected to reside there. The 100-day and certified lead-free exemptions do not depend on whether a child lives in the unit. The zero-bedroom carve-out was unconditional before the 2025 amendment, and many older charts still show it that way.

Is a studio apartment exempt if a child lives there?

No, not since the 2025 amendment. This changed on January 13, 2025, and many pages including an earlier version of this one still show the old answer. Read 40 CFR 745.103 as amended (89 FR 89416): target housing means any housing constructed prior to 1978, except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities or any 0-bedroom dwelling (unless any child who is less than 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside in such housing). The child parenthetical now sits after both limbs and governs each of them. A 0-bedroom dwelling means any residential dwelling in which the living area is not separated from the sleeping area, and the term includes efficiencies, studio apartments, dormitory housing, military barracks, and rentals of individual rooms. A studio is therefore target housing when a child under six resides or is expected to reside there; before the amendment it was unconditionally exempt, which is what older charts still show.

Do I have to give Arizona tenants 10 days to inspect for lead?

No. The 10-day inspection opportunity is a sales rule, not a rental rule. 40 CFR 745.110(a) says that before a purchaser is obligated under any contract to purchase target housing, the seller shall permit the purchaser a 10-day period to conduct a risk assessment or inspection. The statute says the same thing at 42 U.S.C. 4852d(a)(1)(C). The lessor requirements at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no inspection-opportunity item at all. EPA states it plainly: renters can ask their landlord or property manager to get a paint inspection from a certified inspector before signing a lease, however landlords and property managers are not required to do so by this Disclosure Rule. You may offer an inspection window voluntarily as a courtesy, but no federal rule compels it for a lease, and you should never print a checkbox claiming a tenant received or waived a right the rule never gave them.

Does an Arizona landlord have to test for lead-based paint?

No. The rule requires disclosure of what you actually know, not investigation. 40 CFR 745.107(a) says in terms that nothing in the section implies a positive obligation on the seller or lessor to conduct any evaluation or reduction activities. If the unit has never been tested and you hold no reports, no knowledge is the honest answer. What you may not do is check no knowledge while sitting on a report, a prior abatement record, or knowledge of a child's elevated blood-lead result in the unit.

How long must an Arizona landlord keep the signed disclosure?

At least three years from the start of the leasing period, under 40 CFR 745.113(c). Keep the signed disclosure, a note of which pamphlet edition was delivered, and copies of every record you handed over. The rule adds at 745.113(c)(2) that the recordkeeping requirement is not intended to place any limitations on civil suits under the Act, or to otherwise affect a lessee's or purchaser's rights under the civil penalty provisions of 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3). Three years is how long you must keep the file, not a measure of how long you can be sued, so retaining it for the life of ownership is the safer practice.

Who enforces lead paint rules in Arizona?

EPA and HUD enforce the disclosure rule everywhere. What is specific to Arizona is that the state runs no lead programme of its own: EPA states that it administers the Lead-Based Paint Activities Program in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming, and separately that the states authorised to run their own Renovation, Repair and Painting programmes are Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-Boise Forte. Arizona is on neither authorised list. Certification, abatement oversight and renovation enforcement in Arizona run through EPA directly, not through a state agency. Claims that Arizona stepped up its own RRP enforcement describe a programme the state does not operate.

What must an Arizona landlord disclose when renovating an occupied pre-1978 rental?

This is a separate duty from the leasing disclosure. Under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E, a renovation that disturbs painted surfaces in a pre-1978 unit requires lead-safe work practices by a certified firm, and occupants must receive lead hazard information no more than 60 days before work begins. If the work is in common areas, 40 CFR 745.84(b) lets the renovation firm either notify each affected unit in writing, describing the general nature and locations of the work and its expected starting and ending dates, or instead post informational signs where the occupants of all affected units will see them. Note the scope word the rule uses: affected units, not automatically every unit in the building. In Arizona this programme is run by EPA, not by a state agency. Entering the unit to do the work is its own question under A.R.S. 33-1343.

Can the Arizona 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.

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 in the dwelling, 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.

What are the penalties for skipping the 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 together with reasonable attorney fees and expert witness fees. Second, government civil money penalties, which EPA adjusts for inflation each year under 40 CFR 19.4. The per-violation figures quoted on Arizona form sites are stale and inconsistent, so check the current table rather than trusting a number. There is a criminal limb too: 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(5) makes non-compliance a prohibited act under section 409 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2689), routing it into TSCA's penalty provision at 15 U.S.C. 2615.

Does the disclosure apply to lease renewals in Arizona?

A fresh disclosure is required for a new lease with a new lessee. Lease renewals are addressed directly by 40 CFR 745.101(d), which exempts renewals of existing leases in target housing in which the lessor has previously disclosed all information required under 40 CFR 745.107 and where no new information described in 745.107 has come into the possession of the lessor. Watch the cross-reference: it points at 745.107, not at 745.113. Both conditions must hold, and the rule adds that renewal includes both renegotiation of existing lease terms and ratification of a new lease. If you obtained a new lead report or learned of a hazard since the original disclosure, the exemption does not apply.

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

Yes, where they exist. For multi-unit buildings the records you must provide include those for common areas and other units that come from building-wide evaluations. The rule defines "common area" broadly — hallways, stairways, laundry and recreational rooms, playgrounds, community centers, and boundary fences. The 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.

Home › Free Landlord Forms › Arizona Landlord-Tenant Laws › Lead Paint Disclosure

Free Arizona Lead Paint Disclosure

Q: Does Arizona have its own lead paint disclosure law?

No. Arizona imposes no lead paint disclosure duty on landlords. The disclosure duty in Arizona is entirely federal, under 42 U.S.C. 4852d with implementing rules at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A. Arizona does have a lead statute, but it is not a disclosure statute: A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 13, Article 6 is headed Lead-Based Paint and runs from 36-1672 to 36-1676. It funds state health programs, requires physicians to report blood-lead results, and makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to apply lead-based paint where children under seven have ready access. None of those sections asks a landlord to disclose anything.

The federal disclosure every Arizona landlord must deliver before leasing housing built before 1978. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d and 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F. Arizona adds no disclosure statute of its own — and the 10-day inspection window you see on other Arizona pages is a sales rule, not a rental rule.

Federally Required 42 U.S.C. 4852d 40 CFR Part 745 Arizona Free PDF

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Reviewed for Arizona ~18 min read

An Arizona lead 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). Arizona imposes no lead paint disclosure statute of its own — the disclosure duty here is purely federal. Arizona does have a lead statute, and almost nobody writing about this topic has read it: A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 13, Article 6 is headed “Lead-Based Paint”, but it regulates health programmes, physician reporting, and the physical act of applying lead-based paint — not landlord disclosure. What Arizona also adds is an independent habitability duty under A.R.S. 33-1324 for deteriorated paint, covered in our Arizona habitability laws guide. Generate the form below, then read on for exactly what the rule requires.

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.
Arizona has no lead paint disclosure statute. The disclosure duty is 100% federal. Any page selling you an “Arizona lead disclosure law” is wrong. Arizona’s real contributions are habitability (A.R.S. 33-1324) and a criminal ban on applying lead-based paint (A.R.S. 36-1674).
Arizona’s own lead statute uses “under seven”. A.R.S. 36-1674(A)(1) makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to apply lead-based paint where children under seven have ready access. The federal target-housing definition uses “less than 6 years of age”. Two regimes, two ages.
The 10-day inspection window does not apply to leases. 40 CFR 745.110 gives it to purchasers only. The lessor rules at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no such item.
A studio is now covered when a child under six lives there. Since 40 CFR 745.103 was amended effective 13 January 2025 (89 FR 89416), the 0-bedroom exclusion carries the same child-under-six condition as the elderly and disabled limb. It was unconditional before the amendment, and most pages still show that older reading.
You never have to test. 40 CFR 745.107(a) says nothing in it implies a positive obligation to conduct any evaluation. “No knowledge” is honest and lawful when nothing has been tested and you hold no reports.
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.
EPA, not Arizona, runs the lead programmes here. Arizona is not an authorised state for either the Lead-Based Paint Activities Program or the Renovation, Repair and Painting programme.

▶ Watch overview

Arizona lead paint disclosure overview

Arizona Lead Paint Disclosure at a Glance

Trigger

Built before 1978

Authority

42 U.S.C. 4852d

AZ Disclosure Statute

None — federal only

Retention

3 years

Timing

Before lease obligation

Pamphlet

EPA, mandatory

Duty to test

10-day inspection

Sales only

The one-line answer: if your Arizona 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. Nothing in Arizona law changes that; nothing in Arizona law adds a disclosure step to it.

What the Arizona lead 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 an Arizona 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. The rule defines “available” at 40 CFR 745.103 as in the possession of or reasonably obtainable by the seller or lessor at the time of the disclosure — which is broader than “sitting in my filing cabinet”.

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 Arizona 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.

Does Arizona have its own lead paint law?

Arizona imposes no lead paint disclosure duty on landlords. Arizona does, however, have a lead-based paint statute — and it is not the one anybody cites. Both halves of that sentence matter, and getting either half wrong is how this topic goes wrong.

Start with the negative, because it is the answer most Arizona landlords actually need. Title 33 of the Arizona Revised Statutes — the title that contains property law and the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at Chapter 10 — does not contain a single lead-paint provision. A.R.S. 33-1322, the ARLTA section actually headed “Disclosure and tender of written rental agreement”, requires the landlord to disclose in writing the name and address of the person authorised to manage the premises and of an owner or owner’s agent for service of process, and to inform the tenant that the Act is available on the Arizona Department of Housing’s website. That is the entire list in that section, and lead is not on it. (The ARLTA imposes a handful of other informational duties elsewhere in the chapter — none of them a lead duty.) A.R.S. 33-1324, the habitability section, does not mention lead either. If you are searching for the Arizona lead disclosure statute number, there is not one to find.

Now the positive, which almost no page covering this topic has noticed. A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 13, Article 6 is literally headed “Lead-Based Paint”. It runs from 36-1672 to 36-1676 — and note that there is no 36-1671; the article begins at 36-1672. Here is what each section actually does, and, more importantly, who owes the duty:

Section	What it actually does	Who owes the duty
A.R.S. 36-1672 Local programs	Authorises the Arizona Department of Health Services to develop and conduct local programmes for the prevention, detection and treatment of lead-based paint poisoning, subject to legislative appropriation — educational programmes and community testing programmes. The director may delegate to a local agency under 36-136(E).	The department. Not landlords.
A.R.S. 36-1673 Reporting of lead levels	The director shall adopt rules under which all physicians licensed under Title 32, chapter 13, 14 or 17 report to the department all analyses of blood samples which indicate significant levels of lead.	Physicians. Not landlords.
A.R.S. 36-1674 Prohibited acts; classification	Makes it unlawful to apply lead-based paint to interior surfaces of residential housing, and to exteriors and porches, in any area readily accessible to children under seven; plus toy, furniture and utensil limbs and a detailed container-labelling regime. A violation is a class 1 misdemeanor.	Any person — the one limb that can reach a landlord.
A.R.S. 36-1675 Administration	The director may adopt implementing rules; department representatives may take samples for inspection and analysis, and may tag and hold regulated items removed from sale.	The department (product enforcement, not housing).
A.R.S. 36-1676 Injunction	The director, with the assistance of the attorney general, may apply to the superior court for injunctive relief.	The department.

Read the article as a whole and the shape is unmistakable. Across all five sections the words landlord, lessor, tenant, disclose, abatement, certification and registry do not appear once. It is a public-health and consumer-product statute from an earlier era: it funds health programmes, it puts a reporting duty on doctors, it bans the sale of unlabelled lead paint, and it criminalises putting lead paint on surfaces children can reach. It does not ask a landlord to disclose anything, to test anything, to register anything, or to remediate anything.

So the honest summary for an Arizona landlord is this: Arizona adds nothing to your disclosure duty, and that is a useful, complete answer. Your disclosure obligation begins and ends with federal law. But Arizona is not a blank page either, and the next section covers the one Arizona provision that can actually bite you.

What we could not verify, and are not going to assert

We verified the state position against the Arizona Legislature’s own published statutes. We did not verify whether any individual Arizona city or county — Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Flagstaff or anywhere else — runs a rental-registration, lead-safe housing, or local inspection programme that could add an obligation. Municipal codes are not state law, and we will not present a guess as either. If you own pre-1978 rental stock in an older Arizona urban core, ring your local code enforcement office and ask directly. That is a five-minute call, and it is the only reliable answer.

A.R.S. 36-1674: the Arizona provision that can actually reach a landlord

Of the five sections in Arizona’s Lead-Based Paint article, one imposes a duty on “any person”, which includes a landlord, a property manager, and a maintenance employee. It deserves its own section because it is genuinely Arizona-specific, genuinely enforceable, and genuinely absent from every competing page.

A.R.S. 36-1674(A)(1) makes it unlawful for any person to apply lead-based paint to any interior surface of residential housing or a public building, and to the exteriors and porches of such housing and buildings, in any area which is readily accessible to children under seven years of age. Subsections (A)(2) and (A)(3) extend the same logic to toys, furniture, and cooking, drinking and eating utensils. Subsection (B) sets out a prescribed container warning label for lead-based paint sold to the public, down to the type sizes. Subsection (C) exempts artists’ supplies from that label requirement —