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What parents usually already know

Often the paint is peeling or chalking, the windows stick, dust sits on the sills, and a child under six lives there or spends long hours in the apartment. Sometimes the landlord said the unit was lead safe; sometimes the landlord said nothing at all. You do not have to prove the whole case before you call. Photos of sills, door frames, and radiators help, as do the lease, the lab slip, and anything the Health Department left behind.

A lawsuit over a child’s lead poisoning is not typically a legal basis to evict a tenant who has a lease. Leases, Housing Court matters, and NYCHA tenancies can differ, so call before you assume either outcome.

What the landlord was supposed to do

New York City landlords have duties under Local Law 1 of 2004. In short, they must find out if a young child lives there, look at the apartment, fix hazardous paint, and do extra work when an apartment turns over. Those duties are written out on our guide to Local Law 1.

Three 2023 amendments are now in effect:

• Local Law 122 of 2023 (effective September 1, 2024): if HPD issues a peeling / lead violation under § 27-2056.6 where a child of applicable age resides, the owner must produce annual notice and investigation records within 45 days; XRF records on and after August 1, 2025.
• Local Law 123 of 2023 (main friction rule effective September 1, 2024): permanent abatement of door and window friction surfaces in child-occupied dwellings that were not already abated at turnover.
• Local Law 127 of 2023 (effective September 3, 2024): HPD audits and inspects a minimum of 200 buildings each fiscal year for lead violations — selected by criteria including peeling lead-paint violations and elevated blood lead prevalence areas — without waiting only for a tenant complaint.

In parent words: peeling paint can trigger a records demand; door and window rubbing surfaces may still need permanent work when a young child lives there; and the City is supposed to check high-risk buildings on its own. A condominium or cooperative can sit outside some Local Law 1 protections for the owner’s own family, while a rented condo is a different question — call rather than guess from the form of ownership.

Experience makes all the difference

This firm fought and won the precedent-setting case that established landlord liability for childhood lead poisoning in New York City — Juarez v. Wavecrest Management Team Ltd., 88 N.Y.2d 628 (1996). Juarez remains the landmark Court of Appeals decision on landlord liability for lead-based paint, while housing obligations today are governed principally by Local Law 1 of 2004.

A landlord may be held liable if the landlord was aware, or should have been aware, that a young child was residing there, and knew of a hazardous lead condition and failed to remedy it. Violation of Local Law 1 is not automatic liability; whether a landlord satisfied its duty is governed by a standard of reasonableness.

Owners of buildings built before 1960 — or between January 1, 1960 and January 1, 1978 if the owner knows there is lead-based paint — must presume paint is lead-based unless it tested negative and an HPD exemption was granted. A child under six who routinely spends 10 or more hours a week is residing under the City’s materials.

Michael Stewart Frankel and Reuven S. Frankel welcome your call. There is no fee to speak to us or for us to evaluate your potential case.

Call (212) 888-5100

Lead poisoning information

• Lead poisoning lawyer
• Local Law 1
• What to do now
• Children and lead