CMHA and City LSC Are Not the Same: What Cleveland Section 8 Landlords Need to Know About Lead Compliance
If your rental property participates in Cleveland’s Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher program, there’s a critical compliance gap you need to know about — and it’s costing landlords time, money, and voucher delays every month. A City of Cleveland Lead Safe Certificate (LSC) is not accepted by CMHA. They are two separate processes, governed […]
Cleveland.com’s Sherwin-Williams Lead Paint Series: What Local Landlords Should Know
A quick summary of Sam Allard’s Axios Cleveland piece, “Sherwin-Williams series”, published July 21, 2026. Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn recently ran a five-part investigative series digging into Sherwin-Williams’ history with lead paint — and Axios Cleveland’s Sam Allard has a worthwhile rundown and critique of it. What the series found According to Allard’s summary of […]
Good News (With a Catch): Cleveland Sees Two Straight Years of Declining Childhood Lead Poisoning
For the second year in a row, fewer Cleveland children are showing up with elevated blood lead levels — and early 2026 data suggests the trend is continuing into a potential third year. That’s genuinely encouraging news for a city that has long struggled with one of the worst childhood lead poisoning rates in Ohio. […]
Selling a Cleveland Property? A Missing Lead Safe Certificate Can Derail Your Closing
If you’re planning to sell a Cleveland rental property, you may be thinking: “I’m getting out anyway — why bother with a Lead Safe Certificate?” It’s a common thought. And it can cost you your closing. The Law Requires You to Disclose It Under Cleveland City Code § 367.12 and Ordinance #1039.203 (enacted February 5, […]
787 Calls. No One Answered. What Cleveland’s Lead Hotline Failure Means for Property Owners.
A new investigative report from Signal Cleveland lays out in stark detail how bureaucratic failure has hobbled Cleveland’s fight against childhood lead poisoning — and why the clock is now ticking on millions of federal dollars. The findings are worth every property owner and landlord in Greater Cleveland reading carefully. The 787 Calls Nobody Heard […]
Syracuse Landlords Settle With NY AG Over Lead Hazards — A Warning Shot for Ohio Mom-and-Pop Landlords
On April 20, 2026, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with Syracuse landlords Brian A. Murphy and Harry Murphy after a multi-year investigation found widespread lead-paint hazards and unsafe conditions across nearly two dozen of their rental properties. Seven children living in Murphy-owned homes were found to have elevated blood lead levels. […]
More Than 2,800 Tickets to Landlords Each Month — Council Demands More Enforcement
At last week’s City of Cleveland budget hearing, the Law Department put some numbers on the table that every Cleveland landlord needs to hear. During Q4 2025 alone, the city issued more than 1,500 civil infraction tickets to landlords for housing code violations. That’s roughly 500 tickets per month. At $200 per ticket, the city […]
Cleveland Lost $3.3 Million in Lead Safety Funding — Here’s What That Means for Landlords
The City of Cleveland just lost $3.3 million in state funding that was earmarked to make homes lead-safe. The Ohio Department of Development pulled the grant after City Hall failed to spend the money fast enough. Columbus lost funding too — over $6 million total redirected away from Ohio’s two largest cities. As a lead […]
Cleveland Councilman Fined for Lead Safe Certificate and Rental Registration Violations at His Own Properties
Even the lawmakers who created Cleveland’s lead-safe requirements aren’t exempt from enforcement — and that’s exactly how it should work. Earlier this month, Cleveland.com reported that City Councilman Kevin Bishop was issued seven code violation tickets across four rental properties he owns. The violations? Failure to obtain Lead Safe Certificates and failure to register properties […]
Cleveland’s Lead Safe Progress: Council Presentation Recap — February 9, 2026
Cleveland’s fight against childhood lead poisoning is showing real results. On February 9, 2026, the City presented an update to Council on the Lead Safe Certification program — and the numbers tell an encouraging story. Lead Poisoning Rates Are Dropping The most important takeaway: fewer Cleveland kids are being poisoned by lead. The percentage of […]