Lead paint disclosure in New Mexico

The federal disclosure rule makes sellers and landlords reveal any lead-based paint or lead hazards they know about. They also have to pass along any lead records for the home that are in their hands.

You should also receive the EPA pamphlet on lead, along with a Lead Warning Statement. This statement is a required notice spelling out lead's health risks, and it belongs in the sale or lease documents.

A buyer has 10 days to check the home for lead. That window gives you a chance to find out what is really there before the sale closes.

New Mexico gives brokers a duty of their own. 16.61.19.8 NMAC says a broker must put in writing any serious problems with the property that they personally know about, and hand that writing to buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants. These are the kinds of facts that might change your choice.

That same rule also tells brokers to follow the state's owner-resident relations law, along with other local, state and federal laws.

The New Mexico Real Estate Commission sits inside the Regulation and Licensing Department. When a consumer claims a broker stepped outside the real estate license law or the commission's rules, this body looks into the claim and makes the call.

Plenty of homes here are old. Census figures show that about 42% of New Mexico homes, and about 43% of rentals, were built before 1980. That's why it's worth asking about lead before you buy or rent.

Medicaid, according to the New Mexico Department of Health, calls for lead screening of every enrolled child at 12 months and again at 24 months. A state Medicaid rule, 8.320.2 NMAC, also includes a blood lead check among the lab tests in a child's full well-child screen.

The Department of Health's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program tracks blood lead numbers statewide. If a child's or adult's blood lead level is high, the program can help with follow-up support, advice about lead and visits to the home.

In early 2016, New Mexico lowered the level at which the state steps in to help. A child with a blood test result of 5 or more now gets follow-up support, down from 10. The number is micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, the unit your child's test result will use. Under the August 2026 guide to reportable diseases and conditions, lead counts as reportable at any blood level. In other words, the health department must be told about it.