If you are selling or renting out a Florida home built before 1978, federal law requires you to make a Florida lead-based paint disclosure before the buyer or tenant becomes contractually bound. You must tell them what you know about lead-based paint in the property, give them any records or reports you have, and provide the EPA’s “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” pamphlet. Florida does not add any state-level lead disclosure requirements on top of the federal rule, so the obligations are the same statewide. Skipping these steps can trigger civil penalties above $49,000 per violation and private lawsuits for triple the buyer’s or tenant’s actual damages.
Which Florida Homes Are Covered
The rule applies to most residential properties built before 1978, the year lead-based paint was banned for residential use. The federal regulations call these properties “target housing,” and it does not matter whether the home is privately owned, public, or federally assisted.1U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule Section 1018 of Title X
If your Florida property was built in 1978 or later, none of this applies to you. For pre-1978 homes, several categories are also exempt:
- Housing designated for the elderly or persons with disabilities, unless a child under six lives or is expected to live there.
- Zero-bedroom units such as efficiencies, lofts, and dormitories, again unless a child under six lives or is expected to live there.
- Short-term rentals of 100 days or less with no possibility of renewal or extension.
- Sales of target housing at foreclosure.
- Housing certified by a licensed inspector or risk assessor as containing no lead-based paint.
The foreclosure exemption covers the foreclosure sale itself.2eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property If a bank or investor later resells the property on the open market, that resale is a normal transaction and full disclosure applies.
What a Seller Must Do Before the Contract Binds
Three things have to happen before the buyer is obligated under the purchase contract. You must disclose what you actually know about lead-based paint or lead hazards in the home, including the location and condition of any known paint. You must hand over any records or reports you have, which in a multifamily building includes records about common areas and any building-wide evaluations. And you must give the buyer the EPA pamphlet.3eCFR. 24 CFR 35.88 – Disclosure Requirements for Sellers and Lessors
This is a disclosure of what you know, not an investigation you have to run. The rule does not require you to hire an inspector or test anything. If you have no actual knowledge of lead paint and no reports, you say so on the form. What you cannot do is sidestep the rule by refusing to look at records already in your possession.
The purchase contract itself has to carry a Lead Warning Statement notifying the buyer that pre-1978 housing may contain lead-based paint and that exposure is especially dangerous for young children and pregnant women. Both parties must sign certifications in the contract confirming the disclosures were made.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property The EPA publishes a standard disclosure form for sales that satisfies these requirements.5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sellers Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards
The Buyer’s 10-Day Inspection Window
Buyers get 10 days to arrange their own lead-based paint inspection or risk assessment, at their own expense, before the contract becomes binding. This right has to be written into the sales contract, and the seller cannot push toward closing until the period runs out or the buyer waives it in writing.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
The 10-day period is a default. Both sides can agree in writing to a longer or shorter window.6U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards Buyers in a competitive market sometimes waive the inspection entirely to strengthen their offer. That is allowed, but the waiver has to be knowing and in writing. The buyer is giving up a federal right, not just a line in the contract.
What Landlords Have to Do
Landlords of pre-1978 units in Florida owe tenants the same core disclosures as sellers: tell them what you know about lead-based paint or hazards, give them any records or reports, and provide the EPA pamphlet. All of this has to happen before the lease takes effect.3eCFR. 24 CFR 35.88 – Disclosure Requirements for Sellers and Lessors
The lease needs several specific pieces built into it: a Lead Warning Statement in the same language as the rest of the lease, your disclosure about any known lead paint, a list of any records provided, the tenant’s signed acknowledgment that they received the disclosures and pamphlet, and a signed certification section covering all parties and any agents.7eCFR. 24 CFR 35.92 – Requirements for Contracts to Sell or Lease Target Housing
One important difference from sales: tenants do not get the 10-day inspection window. The statute gives that right only to purchasers. A tenant can still ask for an inspection before signing, but the landlord is not required by federal law to pause the lease for one.
Agent Duties
Any agent involved in a sale or lease of target housing has an independent duty under the federal rule. The agent must inform the seller or landlord of their obligations and then either verify that every required step was taken or personally make sure it happens.8eCFR. 24 CFR 35.94 – Agent Responsibilities
Agents can be held liable on their own if they skip these duties. The one shield in the regulation: an agent who properly informed the seller is not liable for information the seller actively concealed from both the agent and the buyer.8eCFR. 24 CFR 35.94 – Agent Responsibilities Lease contracts also need a statement from the agent confirming that the landlord was informed of the obligations and that the agent knows their own role in compliance.7eCFR. 24 CFR 35.92 – Requirements for Contracts to Sell or Lease Target Housing
Keep the Signed Forms for Three Years
Sellers, landlords, and their agents have to keep signed copies of the completed disclosure documents for at least three years. For a sale, the clock runs from the closing date. For a lease, it runs from the date the lease begins.7eCFR. 24 CFR 35.92 – Requirements for Contracts to Sell or Lease Target Housing Landlords with multiple pre-1978 properties often get caught here. If you cannot produce the signed form three years later, you have no proof you ever made the disclosure.
Sending Disclosures by Email
You can deliver the pamphlet and disclosure documents electronically, but you have to follow the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. That means getting the recipient’s electronic consent in a form that shows they can actually open the documents, telling them they have the right to receive paper copies, explaining how to withdraw consent, and listing the hardware and software needed to view the files.9U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Is an Electronic Version of the Lead Information Pamphlet Sent to a Customer by E-mail an Acceptable Means Emailing a PDF without those steps does not satisfy the rule.
What Happens If You Skip Disclosure
The consequences come from two directions.
On the government side, violations are treated as violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA can impose civil penalties of up to $49,772 per violation under the most recent inflation adjustment, and that figure rises each year.10U.S. Government Publishing Office. Federal Register Vol 90 No 5 – Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustments HUD has independent enforcement authority as well. Each missed disclosure, missing pamphlet, or unsigned form can count as a separate violation, so a landlord with several pre-1978 units can run up large aggregate exposure quickly.
On the private side, anyone who knowingly violates the disclosure requirements is liable to the buyer or tenant for three times their actual damages.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property If a buyer later finds undisclosed lead hazards and spends $30,000 remediating, the damages exposure alone is $90,000. Courts can also award the prevailing plaintiff court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees, and expert witness fees, and the buyer or tenant may have grounds to rescind the transaction.
The word “knowingly” matters. A seller who genuinely did not know about lead paint and said so on the form is in a different position from one who painted over peeling lead paint and marked “no knowledge.” Treble damages attach to knowing violations, which is exactly why the signed form matters so much on both sides of the deal.