Lead paint disclosure in New Jersey

Section 1018 of Title X, the federal rule, covers most housing built before 1978, whether the home is sold or rented. Before you sign anything, the seller or landlord has to tell you about any lead paint or lead dangers they know of. They also have to hand over any records they hold.

You should also get the EPA's lead pamphlet, and the contract has to contain a Lead Warning Statement. Buyers get 10 days to test the home for lead.

Renters get extra protection here. The state's lead rental statute, P.L. 2021, c. 182, along with the N.J.A.C. 5:28A rules, which were adopted May 1, 2023, requires lead-based paint hazard inspections for most rentals built before 1978, single-family, two-family, and multiple dwellings alike. The checks are due every 3 years, or any time a tenant moves out, whichever happens first.

The first inspection deadline was July 22, 2024, and a tenant moving out earlier triggered it sooner. When a home passes, the owner receives a lead-safe certificate. That paper shows the unit passed its lead check, and it stays good for 2 years.

Not every rental needs the New Jersey inspection. Some are exempt:

• Rentals put up in 1978 or later
• Seasonal rentals that are rented out for under 6 months out of any year
• Homes the state has certified as free of lead, under its rule at N.J.A.C. 5:17-3.6(b)
• Multi-unit dwellings holding a Department of Community Affairs registration for 10 years or longer, with no lead violations outstanding

A visual check alone doesn't always work. In any town where 3 percent or more of the children tested at age 6 or younger have 5 micrograms per deciliter or more of lead in their blood, the inspection has to use dust wipe sampling. The inspector wipes surfaces, then ships those wipes to a lab for lead testing, rather than only eyeballing the paint.

Selling a rental that falls under the state lead law means extra paperwork for the owner. When the deal closes, at the sale, settlement, or closing, the buyer is entitled to receive copies of the N.J.A.C. 5:28A rules, every lead-safe certificate on hand, and the state guide titled Lead-Based Paint in Rental Dwellings. This is in addition to the federal disclosure.

Any landlord who fails to get the required inspection, or fails to begin fixing a hazard, has 30 days to fix things. Past that, the penalty can climb as high as $1,000 for each week that passes until the inspection happens or the repair work starts.

Towns also charge a $20 fee per unit on every rental lead inspection. That money feeds New Jersey's Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund.

Two state agencies divide this work. The Department of Community Affairs approves the companies that do lead evaluations and abatement work, while the Department of Health licenses the individual inspectors, risk assessors, and abatement workers.

New Jersey mandates blood lead screening for every child at 12 months old and again at 24 months. Children younger than 6 who have never been screened should be tested as well. Insurers, Medicaid included, have to pay for lead testing in children under 17.

During fiscal 2025, the state Department of Health lowered the blood lead threshold that triggers a public health response, dropping it from 5 down to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, per its annual report. That response can involve a nurse who keeps tabs on the case, or a look inside the home itself.

When lead danger shows up in a house where a child has an elevated level, state rules call for abatement. Abatement means the danger is fixed for good rather than temporarily hidden.

New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs operates lead assistance programs, among them the State Lead-Safe Home Remediation Program. That initiative helps households of low to moderate income pay for repairs to lead paint dangers in pre-1978 homes of 1 to 10 units.

A big share of New Jersey homes went up before 1980, per Census Bureau figures.