As noisy, negligent, and noncompliant landlords complain about decades-old laws, children continue to be poisoned

"We cannot continue to allow these few noisy, negligent, and noncompliant landlords to delay the work necessary to protect our children’s health and safety.”

Alison Fonseca, Policy and Legislative Counsel for the Rhode Island Attorney General, testified before the Special Legislative Commission to Study the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act last Thursday. At issue were complaints from what Fonseca called “a few noisy, negligent, and noncompliant landlords who are willing to risk the health and safety of our children rather than follow some common sense health and safety laws.”

The Rhode Island Rental Registry serves as “a vital source of information about rental properties and was developed to meet the requirements of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-58). Landlords must submit the required information in the registry at rentalregistry.ri.gov no later than October 1, 2024.”

I’ll let Fonseca tell the rest:

“The Statewide Rental Registry was designed to protect one of our most vulnerable populations - children. It has not imposed any new lead mitigation requirements. Yet, this Commission, the Legislature, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Department of Health continue to hear from a few noisy, negligent, and noncompliant landlords who are willing to risk the health and safety of our children rather than follow some common sense health and safety laws.

“The Statewide Rental Registry was passed more than 18 months ago. It was reaffirmed by the General Assembly during the last session and received overwhelming support from both chambers.

“It required no new lead mitigation requirements. This [resolved] a very important and longstanding issue [and] was designed to address the enforcement of the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act that was passed in 2002. We know lead poisoning can cause irrevocable and irreparable harm to a child’s brain. It can lower their brain development, lower their IQ scores, result in behavioral problems, and lead to life long health effects. Due to decades of inequitable infrastructure development, a lack of investment, and a lack of enforcement, lead poisoning has continued to affect our communities here in Rhode Island and across the country, disproportionately in low-income or minority communities.

“This issue has been longstanding, but it is entirely preventable. Rhode Island has the third oldest housing stock in the country, with 72% of our homes built before 1980. Today, over 40 years after lead-based paint was banned, more than one child per day is still being poisoned in Rhode Island.

“Rhode Island has the second-highest rate of serious lead poisoning in New England. Landlords have been required to maintain certificates of lead conformance under the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act of 2002 for over twenty years. Before the registry, the Department of Health maintained an online database that housed some lead-safe certificates, but it included less than 10% of the homes required.

“Let me be clear: the Rental Registry is not a novel concept. This is something that’s been implemented in states and municipalities across the country, including Maryland, which is seen as the gold standard in this industry, that implemented a lead-safe rental registry and reduced the rate of lead poisoning in their state between 95 and 99%, something completely doable in our State.

“Again, this registry does not impose any new lead mitigation requirements. It establishes a registry where all landlords will be required to register their units with basic contact information for the landlord or agent.

“It also requires landlords of pre-1978 properties, those built before lead base paint was banned, to file their lead safe certificates. Again [this law has been] on the books for over 20 years. Significantly, a primary purpose of the legislation was to ensure the allowance of a publicly available database that could be used by tenants when they’re looking for housing or tenants when they’re currently in housing and wanting to make sure that their homes are safe. Since the Registry’s introduction and passage, and throughout the implementation, we’ve received complaints from certain non-compliant landlords, which, while in some instances [these complaints] may be genuine, are based on inaccurate facts or insufficient reasoning.

“I want to talk through a couple of them [because] I know these are issues that have come to you or that you may be hearing.

“One of them is that there are not enough lead inspectors. That is simply not true. There has been an increase in demand since the passage of this law over 18 months ago because those landlords who had not been complying for over 20 years are now required to become compliant because of this enforcement. They’re now required [to comply, and] they must seek out the inspectors. So yes, there was a period of time when you had to call through the list that was available on the Department of Health’s website, but since the implementation, the Department of Health has significantly increased the available inspectors on their website. 78 inspectors are now listed on the Department of Health’s website. They can correct me if it’s more, but our policy analyst, just this week, called through the entire list available on the Department of Health’s website and found that 20 inspectors were available within the next two weeks, some as soon as today.

“With that said, there simply is no lack of available inspectors. If [you are a] landlord seeking an inspector, call through the list. Don’t stop at one, don’t stop at three. Call through the list.

“The second issue that continues to come up is the issue of the cost. There can be a cost to comply with lead safety laws, but the risk to our children is so severe and far too great to fail to make those investments. Again, landlords were required to maintain their housing in a lead-safe manner before this registry was enacted. Registering your unit on the new rental rental registry is free, and tens of thousands of landlords have already done so. As with any industry demand, this can increase prices. But what’s important to know is that this changes. Yes, in October, when the registry was implemented, there was a heightened lack of inspectors. Costs may have varied, but again, make sure that you’re calling through the list. Make sure you know that this is something you must do.

“I want to note that every dollar spent in preventing lead poisoning can yield at least $17 in economic benefit, and there is public money available to landlords to do remediation work. You can look through Rhode Island Housing, similar City programs, and estate tax credits. The Rhode Island Congressional delegation recently brought in $13 million from HUD. $6.5 million will go to the City of Providence, $6.5 million will go to the City of Woonsocket, and individual homeowners or landlords can apply directly through the City of Providence or the City of Woonsocket.

“Another issue we’ve been hearing about is uprooting families and wanting to make sure that their tenants are not going to be evicted because they have to do this lead remediation work. I want to make it clear that the majority of inspections do not result in remediation. The level of remediation that requires moving out of the property, not permanent removal, but in some cases even temporary removal, would be minimal. And if landlords need to temporarily remove their tenants from their premises, there are already processes in place. Again, I want to make it clear that the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act has been in place since 2002. We cannot continue to allow these few noisy, negligent, and noncompliant landlords to delay the work necessary to protect our children’s health and safety.”