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RI Real Estate Investor Agrees to Pay $20,000 to Settle Violations of Lead Disclosure Laws

Release Date: 12/08/2004
Contact Information:

Contact: Dave Deegan, Public Affairs Office, 1-617-918-1017

For Immediate Release: Dec. 08, 2004; Release # am04-12-04

BOSTON - Providence-based real estate investor Patrick C. Conley and three of his companies have agreed to pay $20,000 to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that they violated federal lead paint disclosure rules involving six houses in Providence, Central Falls and Narragansett.

The complaints, filed in April, alleged that Conley and his companies - Options Realty, LLC, Skybox Realty, RIPG, and Sedona Associates, LLC - violated the federal lead paint disclosure rule when they sold six residential properties in Providence, Central Falls and Narragansett between 2000 and 2002 without providing warnings of potential lead paint hazards in the properties. Nearly all the violations took place in low-income and minority neighborhoods.

Specifically, Conley and his companies were cited for failing to provide purchasers with lead warning statements and lead hazard information pamphlets and for failing to disclose whether they had knowledge and records or reports pertaining to potential lead-based paint hazards.

“These enforcement actions send the message that real estate investors are subject to the lead paint disclosure rule requirements.” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office. “These requirements help to ensure that buyers are aware of the potential hazards posed by lead-based paint prior to making a purchase.”

The cases are among dozens of lead-related civil and criminal cases EPA's New England Office has taken since launching a region-wide effort to make sure landlords and property owners and managers are complying with federal lead disclosure laws. This effort has included hundreds of inspections around New England, as well as compliance assistance workshops.

Among the most important requirements of the lead disclosure rule is that property owners and realtors provide prospective buyers and tenants –– before they buy or rent a property –– with an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet, Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home. The pamphlet provides important information about lead exposure from paint, dust and soil. It highlights health risks that can be caused by lead exposure and it offers simple suggestions to guard against exposure and potential lead poisoning.

For more information on lead paint disclosure requirements and other issues regarding lead, visit the agency’s web site at https://www.epa.gov/region1/topics/pollutants/lead.html.

Related Information:
Internet Training Course: Lead Safety for Remodeling, Repair, and Painting (EPA HQ)
Lead Poisoning, Lead Paint, etc.
Lead Paint Enforcement Program
Lead Paint Disclosure Rules