Michigan Lead Laws: Disclosure, RRP Rule, and Penalties

If you own a home, rental, or childcare building in Michigan that was built before 1978, Michigan lead paint laws require you to disclose known lead hazards to buyers and tenants, use state-certified professionals for any inspection or abatement, follow lead-safe work practices during renovations, and register treated rental and childcare properties with the state. Ignoring these duties can bring administrative fines up to $10,000 per violation, misdemeanor charges with jail time, and civil lawsuits from anyone harmed by the exposure.

The rules sit in two layers: the federal disclosure and renovation rules enforced by the EPA, and Michigan’s Lead Abatement Act (Part 54A of the Public Health Code, MCL 333.5451–333.5478). Both apply, and both have tightened recently, with new EPA dust-lead standards taking effect in January 2026.

Which Properties Are Covered

Consumer paints with more than 0.06 percent lead were banned effective in early 1978.¹ Any building constructed before that cutoff may still carry lead paint on walls, trim, windows, and doors. Michigan’s Lead Abatement Act calls these buildings “target housing” and uses the pre-1978 line as its trigger.²

A few pre-1978 buildings fall outside the definition: housing designated for the elderly or people with disabilities where no child under six lives, studio apartments, and buildings awaiting demolition. Everything else built before 1978 is in scope.

Disclosure Before Sale or Lease

Federal law (Section 1018 of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act) requires sellers and landlords of most pre-1978 housing to disclose known lead-based paint and hazards before a contract or lease is signed.³ Michigan’s Lead Abatement Act incorporates these federal obligations.²

Three things must happen before the signature:

You give written notice of any known lead-based paint or hazards, including location and condition.
You hand over any existing lead inspection or risk assessment reports.
You provide the EPA’s “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” pamphlet.

Sellers must also give buyers a 10-day window to arrange a lead inspection or risk assessment before the sale closes.⁴ Skipping disclosure, or falsifying it, exposes you to both federal penalties and Michigan enforcement.

Only Certified Professionals Can Do Lead Work

Under Michigan’s Lead Abatement Act, lead inspections, risk assessments, and abatement must be performed by professionals certified by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). Property owners cannot do this work themselves unless they hold the certification.²

A certified inspector uses an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to find lead in paint. A certified risk assessor then evaluates whether what was found is a hazard. The same person often holds both certifications.⁵ MDHHS keeps a public registry of certified professionals, and a separate Lead Information Registry that tracks lead-based paint services on rental and childcare properties since January 2015.⁶

Two more procedural duties sit around the work itself:

Pre-abatement notice. Before starting any abatement project, the person doing the work must notify MDHHS at least three business days in advance using approved forms. The notice window exists so the state can show up unannounced to verify safety protocols.
Lead Safe Housing Registry. If you own a rental or childcare facility and have had abatement or interim controls performed, you must register the property with the state’s Lead Safe Housing Registry. Registration is free, and prospective tenants and parents can search it.

Renovations: The RRP Rule

Lead rules reach beyond formal abatement. Any firm doing renovation, repair, or painting that disturbs lead-based paint in pre-1978 housing or a childcare facility must be EPA-certified under the Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule.⁷ This covers kitchen remodels, window replacements, plumbing work, and anything else that breaks through painted surfaces.

Certified firms must assign a certified renovator to each job and follow specific practices: sealed containment of the work area, no open-flame burning of paint, no power tools without HEPA exhaust control, thorough cleanup verified through a formal procedure, and distribution of the EPA’s “Renovate Right” pamphlet to occupants before work begins, with documentation that it happened.⁸ Firm certifications last five years, and firms should apply for recertification at least 90 days before expiration to avoid a lapse.⁹

One boundary worth knowing: the RRP Rule generally does not apply to a homeowner doing work on their own home. It does apply if you rent out any part of that home, run a childcare business there, or flip houses for profit.⁷

Fixing Hazards: Abatement or Interim Controls

Once a hazard is identified, Michigan law gives you two routes. Both are acceptable; the choice depends on the property and your resources.

Abatement permanently eliminates the hazard. That includes removing lead-based paint, permanently enclosing or encapsulating painted surfaces, replacing lead-painted fixtures, and removing or covering contaminated soil.² Cleanup, disposal, and post-abatement clearance testing are part of the abatement process under the statute.

Interim controls are temporary measures: specialized cleaning to lower dust-lead levels, repair of deteriorating paint, and barriers over contaminated soil. These require ongoing maintenance and periodic re-evaluation, and you have to document the work and keep records showing compliance.

New Dust-Lead Standards

The EPA overhauled its dust-lead rules in a final rule published in late 2024. Any reportable level of lead dust detected by an EPA-recognized laboratory now qualifies as a dust-lead hazard, replacing the older numeric thresholds.¹⁰ The compliance date is January 2026.¹¹ Soil remains hazardous at 400 parts per million or higher in children’s play areas and 1,200 ppm or higher elsewhere in the yard.¹²

After abatement, the property must pass clearance testing before anyone moves back in. The EPA’s Dust-Lead Action Levels, effective January 12, 2026, are:¹²

Floors: 5 µg/ft²
Windowsills: 40 µg/ft²
Window troughs: 100 µg/ft²

If a dust sample comes back over the limit, the contractor has to re-clean and re-test until the property passes.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Michigan’s enforcement scheme comes in three tiers.

Administrative Fines

MDHHS can impose fines for each violation, and each day a violation continues counts separately:²

First violation: up to $2,000
Second violation: up to $5,000
Third or subsequent violation: up to $10,000

A landlord who sits on a known hazard for weeks can accumulate fines fast, because each day is a fresh violation.

Criminal Charges

Owners, property managers, and housing commissions convicted of violating the rental provisions of the act face a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries up to 93 days in jail, a fine up to $5,000, or both. A second conviction keeps the jail exposure and raises the fine ceiling to $10,000.²

Separately, anyone who willfully or repeatedly violates the act, or ignores an MDHHS notice to fix a violation, faces a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $5,000 on a first conviction. A second or later conviction raises the ceiling to $10,000 and adds up to six months in jail.²

Civil Lawsuits

Statutory penalties are often not the biggest exposure. Tenants or occupants who develop health problems from lead exposure can sue, and courts tend to look harshly at landlords who knew about a hazard or should have known. A lead-poisoned child’s medical costs, developmental delays, and long-term cognitive effects can translate into substantial damage awards that dwarf the fines.

Help Paying for Abatement

Lead abatement is expensive, and whole-house projects can run into thousands of dollars. Michigan offers two main financial resources.

The MDHHS Lead Safe Home Program provides free lead abatement services for eligible homes.¹³ For homeowners and landlords who don’t qualify, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund offers low-interest loans up to $50,000 through a partnership with Michigan Saves, designed for low-to-moderate-income property owners.¹⁴ Local health departments can often help walk you through either application.

1
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC Announces Final Ban On Lead-Containing Paint
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 368 of 1978 Part 54A Lead Abatement
3
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
4
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule – Section 1018 of Title X
5
MDHHS Mi Lead Safe. Hire a Lead Professional
6
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Lead Information Registry
7
US Environmental Protection Agency. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program
8
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program – Work Practices
9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program – Firm Certification
10
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hazard Standards and Clearance Levels for Lead in Paint, Dust and Soil – TSCA Sections 402 and 403
11
Federal Register. Reconsideration of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and Dust-Lead Post-Abatement Clearance Levels
12
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home – English
13
MDHHS Mi Lead Safe. Mi Lead Safe
14
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Resources for Lead Prevention in Your Home