Lead paint disclosure in Florida

Under the federal rule, nearly all housing built before 1978 needs a lead disclosure, whether it's being sold or rented. Before anything is signed, the seller or landlord has four duties:

• Disclose any lead paint or lead dangers they're aware of.
• Share whatever records or reports on lead they have for the property.
• Provide the EPA pamphlet on lead.
• Put a Lead Warning Statement into the contract or lease.

Buyers also receive a 10-day window to check the home for lead.

No, there isn't one. Florida's recent disclosure requirement for sellers deals with flooding. The Florida Legislature put Florida Statute 689.302 on the books in 2024 and updated it in 2025. A home seller must give you a written flood disclosure no later than the moment you sign the sales contract. The form covers flooding in the past, flood insurance claims, and flood assistance like FEMA. Lead-based paint isn't on it.

When it comes to lead, the federal paperwork is what you'll receive.

Florida also asks for a radon gas warning on one or more documents you sign at or before the contract, whether you're buying or renting. Radon is a gas that can collect inside buildings. In Florida sale and lease papers, you'll typically find the radon notice sitting right beside the federal lead warning.

A Florida agent acting as a transaction broker assists both sides in a sale rather than fully representing one side. That agent, under Florida Statute 475.278(2)(d), must tell you every known fact that has a real effect on the home's value and isn't something you could easily notice on your own.

Under the state's Lead Poisoning Prevention Screening and Education Act, a rental unit counts as an "affected property" in 2 situations:

• The unit went up before January 1, 1960.
• The unit went up between 1960 and 1978, and the owner actually knows there is lead-based paint.

Units that aren't up for rent are excluded.

The same law also sets limits for lead dust. Lead dust wiped from a surface counts as a dust-lead hazard when it reaches these levels:

About a third of Florida homes, and a third of rentals, were built before 1980, so many could still have old lead paint under newer coats. The federal rule covers homes built before 1978.

The US Census Bureau is the source for these numbers.

Florida law spells out when children should have their blood checked for lead. Kids in the state's target groups, with all children on Medicaid first in line, should be screened at age 1 and again at age 2. A child who has never been tested should get one between 36 and 72 months.

Health care providers, including doctors, must give lead poisoning information from the state to parents of children 6 and under. This happens at birth and again when children come in for vaccinations. Day care centers, preschools, and kindergarten programs have to hand out the same information each year, no later than October 15.

Blood lead is measured by the Florida Department of Health in micrograms per deciliter of blood (ug/dL), and 3.5 ug/dL or more counts as lead poisoning. Results all go to the state, though the timing differs:

Lead poisoning counts as a condition doctors must report under Florida rule 64D-3.029. So every blood lead result, whether it's high or normal, gets reported.