Phoenix’s Pro Properties fails to comply with lead disclosure laws / Property management company fined for not informing tenants about lead hazards

SAN FRANCISCO – March 10, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Pro Properties, Inc., one of Phoenix’s largest property management companies, was fined $7,500 for violating federal lead-based paint disclosure requirements at numerous apartment buildings in the Phoenix area.

Pro Properties, Inc. 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.

“This information is the key to renters and buyers knowing whether there are potential lead-based paint hazards in their homes,” said Kathy Taylor, the EPA’s associate director of the Communities and Ecosystems Division for the Pacific Southwest Region. “All landlords and home sellers have a responsibility to warn tenants and home buyers that their homes may contain lead hazards.”

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act helps prevent exposure — especially 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 the harmful effects from lead-based paint and lead hazards, such as dust and contaminated soil. 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.

More than half of the U.S. housing stock built before 1978 has significant lead-based paint hazards.

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: http://www.epa.gov/lead/

For more information on lead poisoning call the Arizona Department of Health Services at 1-800-367-6412. If you want your child’s blood lead levels tested, please contact your healthcare provider.

Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, 415.947.4149 Perezsullivan.margot (at) epa (dot) gov