Lead paint disclosure in Indiana

The federal rule covers most homes built before 1978, whether you're buying or renting. Disclosure here just means putting in writing anything the owner knows about lead paint or lead hazards.

The rule requires sellers and landlords to:

• share what they know about any lead-based paint or lead hazards in the home
• pass along any records or reports they have on the subject
• give you the EPA's lead pamphlet
• attach the standard Lead Warning Statement to your sale or lease paperwork

A Lead Warning Statement is a brief, standard paragraph describing the dangers that lead-based paint can pose in aging houses.

Buyers get 10 days under the federal rule to have the home checked for lead. That window lets you find out about lead before the deal closes, not just what the seller happened to know.

Roughly half of Indiana's housing stock went up before 1980, so older homes are everywhere in the state. The figures in the table come from the US Census.

A 2022 Indiana law, House Enrolled Act 1313, signed on March 10, 2022, requires health care providers to confirm that every child under 7 has been tested, and to offer a test if not. Per the Indiana Department of Health, children should get tested between 9 and 15 months and again between 21 and 27 months.

Any child aged 28 to 72 months with no test on record should get one as soon as possible. Indiana Medicaid follows the same testing schedule.

Indiana requires every blood lead test result, good or bad, to be sent to the state Department of Health within 1 week.

Blood lead is measured in micrograms per deciliter, or ug/dL, and the higher the number, the more lead is in the blood. Once a child's confirmed level reaches 5 ug/dL, the local health department must inspect both the child's main and secondary addresses, as long as those buildings went up before 1978.

Part of that visit is a risk assessment, which means checking the home to pinpoint where the lead hazards are. Only risk assessors licensed in Indiana can perform it.

Children at 5 ug/dL or more can get case management from the Marion County Public Health Department in Indianapolis. The department asks Medicaid providers to screen children at 12 and 24 months, and every Thursday it opens a free walk-in blood lead clinic at 3901 Meadows Drive.

Under Indiana's lead rule, lead-safe work practices are required whenever remodeling, renovation, or maintenance on a pre-1960 rental will stir up lead paint beyond a small, set amount. These practices are ways of working that stop lead dust and chips from getting around.

Owners doing work on their own place are included as well, either when they rent it out or when a child whose blood lead level has been confirmed high lives in the home.

Anyone who inspects for lead or removes it in Indiana needs a license from the state Department of Health, so it's worth asking to see one before you hire someone. Before starting any abatement job in pre-1978 housing, the contractor must give the department written notice and pay a fee, per the rules Indiana sets for contractors.

The City of South Bend will pay up to $40,000 toward lead-safe repairs on pre-1978 homes inside city limits. A household must make less than 80% of the area's median income.

Rented homes can also take part, provided the owner agrees and the tenant meets the income cap.