| Tenants and home buyers who are aware
of potential home-related health hazards are better equipped to make sound
housing decisions. In order to ensure that renters and purchasers are well
informed, federal law and a number of state and local laws require specific
hazards to be disclosed to tenants and home buyers before they are obligated
under a lease or sale contract. Title X requires lessors and sellers of
pre-1978 housing to disclose known lead-based paint or lead hazards to prospective
lessees and purchasers and to provide a federally approved pamphlet containing
tips on identifying and controlling lead hazards. Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
and the cities of Cleveland and Philadelphia have similar lead disclosure
requirements, expanding enforcement capacity in those jurisdictions to the
state and local level.
A number of states require disclosure of a range of environmental
hazards, including asbestos, radon, and lead, as well as structural
issues, water problems, and other property-specific information,
but these requirements typically apply only upon a sale of
property containing one to four dwelling units. A recently
passed Arizona law requires disclosure of pesticide use during
the past three years to purchasers of property, and California’s
Toxic Mold Protection Act will require landlords to disclose
known mold contamination and provide an informational brochure
to tenants after the state adopts mold exposure standards
and develops the brochure. These types of disclosure requirements
could be combined and made uniformly applicable to both sales
and leases of property, to help ensure that purchasers and
tenants have access to information covering a broad range
of healthy homes issues. Ideally, requiring disclosure of
environmental hazards provides an incentive for landlords
and sellers to address those hazards and improve conditions
in their properties. However, the benefits of disclosure are
limited in tight housing markets, particularly for low-income
tenants living in distressed communities where the likelihood
of environmental health hazards is significant and housing
choices are minimal.
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