Cleveland files 100 affidavits to hold property owners accountable for not getting lead paint out of homes
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CLEVELAND — The battle to break free from the risks of lead paint is still raging in Cleveland.
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But city leaders took another step in holding property owners accountable by filing 100 affidavits of fact on lead nuisance properties that still need to comply to get the lead out.
It’s been four years since the Lead Safe Cleveland initiative was created, and News 5 has followed through ever since, keeping track of the process and bringing you the stories of those whose lives have been impacted by lead poisoning.
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The federal government outlawed lead paint in 1978, but 80% of Cleveland’s housing stock was built before then, and many of those homes are rentals. In 2019, Cleveland City Council passed a law requiring all landlords and property owners to have their homes deemed lead-safe by March of this year, but that didn’t happen.
As of the end of last year, just over 20,000 units had passed, meaning 4 out of 5 rentals still needed to comply.
City leaders hope these affidavits put them on notice.
There are 400 placarded properties with known lead paint hazards that the owner has seemingly ignored, and they are homes that children and pregnant mothers should not be living in.