We Think Melbourne Tenancy Laws are Tough

Having been involved with property management in the United States for over 15 years, I believed that although their tenancy legislation was primarily ‘landlord friendly ‘in most States, there were problems with lead-based paints. The following article was posted on Boston real Estate Now on 15 June 2011 by Rona Fischman.

"Earlier this year, the Attorney General sued a Metro-Boston landlord for evicting or threatened to evict tenants with young children, renting apartments containing lead paint to tenants with young children, failing to abate lead hazards in those apartments, failing to provide proper notice of lead hazards to his tenants, and making misrepresentations regarding the presence of lead paint in his apartments. The complaint further alleges that the landlord retaliated against tenants when they reported him for violations of the law.  

Unfortunately, many Greater Boston landlords aren’t prosecuted by the AG’s office and are allowed to impose family unfriendly and unlawful housing practices like advertising that “Unit Not Deleaded.” The ad, while albeit truthful, it might as well read “Children Under 6 Not Wanted.”  

Under the Massachusetts Lead Paint Law, whenever a child under six years of age comes to live in a rental property, the property owner has a responsibility to discover whether there is any lead paint on the property and to de-lead to protect the young children living there. A property owner or real estate agent cannot get around the legal requirements to disclose information about known lead hazards simply by refusing to rent to families with young children. They also cannot refuse to renew the lease of a pregnant woman or a family with young children just because a property may contain lead hazards. Furthermore, property owners cannot refuse to rent simply because they do not want to spend the money to de-lead the property. Any of these acts is a violation of the Lead Law, the Consumer Protection Act, and various Massachusetts anti-discrimination statutes that can have serious penalties for a property owner or real estate agent.  

The law is somewhat conflicting regarding landlords for owner occupied two family homes. Chapter 151B, the state anti-discrimination law, exempts owner occupied two family homes from the prohibition of discrimination against children. However, there is no such exemption written into the lead paint law. So if a child is born into an owner occupied 2 family, it must be de-leaded. Of course, the safest practice is not to discriminate against tenants with children at all."

The obvious complexity of legislation governing lead paints makes our bleating about legislation governing smoke detectors and abandoned goods appear quite puerile. My concern is that is this form of legislation going to cross the Pacific and land on our shores. Haven’t we used lead-based paint in the past and aren’t our children at the same risk as those in Boston?