Lead Paint in Apartment NYC - What to do?

Lead paint found in your apartment? What can you do and what do you need to be concerned with? Do you know your tenant rights? Sandy from NYC writes: “My apartment was just inspected by officials from NYC and they found lead problems. They said that every room has a higher than normal lead reading and will need to be fixed by a EPA certified contractor. There is a hole in the ceiling in my baby’s room and my bathroom is constantly moldy even though I spray with bleach every day.

The paint is peeling a lot in the bathroom and it has a hole in the ceiling that when the renters upstairs walk around in their apartment I can see dust falling down from the ceiling. I have three kids under the age of two. My baby is constantly sick and we even had to admit him to the hospital a couple of weeks ago. The landlord sent the superintendent to fix the problem but all he did was cover the problem. Is that all that needs to be done?

This is a pretty scary situation. Because the apartment has already been checked by city inspectors and they have said the problem needs to be fixed by EPA certified contractor, which I am sure the superintendent isn’t, the landlord will need to take care of this problem in the right manner.

If your children and especially your baby has been sick a lot, you should probably have the baby checked for levels of lead in his/her system. There are free clinics that can run the blood test on your children to see if there are any problems. All of the children in this situation are just at that age where they put everything in their mouth and that is why lead poisoning could really be an issue with them.

Children are usually more negatively affected than adults from the lead dust and/or paint chips. It is important to get the children out of this situation until the paint can be fixed in the proper manner.

What are some of the things that can be caused by high levels of exposure to lead dust or lead paint chips?


Children can develop brain damage, nervous system problems, stunted growth, can affect their intelligence levels, like they may have reading disabilities or problems with attention span when they attend school even a few years down the road, and even their hearing.

If the landlord is not fixing the problem correctly, then it might be best to get out of the apartment. There may be laws in place to either stop your rent while you have to live someplace else while the apartment is being painted and the preparation of getting rid of the lead paint happens.

For sure, your children should not be in the apartment when they are stirring up any kind of dust from the lead paint. You will probably be told to remove all your furniture and clothing out of the building if it is a big enough problem.

If it is bad enough and is definitely causing a health risk to your family, you may have grounds for getting out of a lease agreement. You will have to check your lease for information on that to make sure there is no clause in the agreement that states it is not a liable reason to move out.

If you are in a similar situation, you must document everything that has been done and what the responses have been. I would suggest that you send a certified letter to the landlord explaining all the problems and what you feel you need to have happen so that you and your family are safe. You are entitled to a safe place to live.

You may be at your wits end and need to find a way to get more help. An organization that may be able to help is the RENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. An option is to file a complaint with them.