Lead paint in NYC rentals: what Local Law 1 requires of owners, from the annual notice to turnover

Published 10/17/2026 · 8 min read · By Bulwark

Lead paint is where New York’s housing code is strictest and where its penalties are hardest to argue with. Local Law 1 of 2004 is less about removing every coat of old paint than about a paper trail: you must ask, inspect, fix safely, and be able to prove all of it for ten years.

Which buildings and units are covered

• Multiple dwellings (3+ units) built before 1960
• Multiple dwellings built between 1960 and 1978 if the owner knows there is lead-based paint
• Tenant-occupied units in one- and two-family homes built before 1960
• Co-op and condo units rented to someone other than the owner or their family

In these buildings all paint is presumed to be lead-based unless an EPA-certified inspector has tested it negative and HPD has granted an exemption on that basis.

The key trigger: a child under six

Most of the work is triggered when a child under six “resides” in the unit, meaning routinely spends 10 or more hours a week there, which includes a grandchild in daycare. A lead-based paint hazard is peeling or disturbed paint, dust from friction surfaces like windows and doors, or chewed surfaces in such a unit or the building’s common areas.

What owners must do, every year

1. Send the annual notice in January

   Every tenant gets the Annual Notice asking whether a child under six resides there. In pre-1978 buildings it is combined with the window guard notice. Tenants are asked to return it by February 16.

2. Follow up on the ones not returned

   If a notice does not come back, you must still find out whether a child under six lives there, which usually means visiting the unit.

3. Inspect child-under-six units and common areas

   At least once a year, for peeling paint, deteriorated subsurfaces and friction and impact surfaces.

4. Fix hazards safely

   Repairs must be made by EPA-certified firms using safe work practices, with dust clearance testing at the end. A painter without certification is not compliant even if the work looks good.

The one-time XRF test

By August 2025, owners of pre-1960 rentals (and 1960–1978 buildings with known lead) had to test every painted surface in every unit and common area once, using an XRF inspection by an EPA-certified inspector. Units that test negative can be exempted. A building that missed it is out of compliance in any HPD audit, and a negative test result is the only way out of the presumption.

At turnover

• Before a new tenant moves in, the unit must be made lead-safe: remove lead-based paint from the doors and windows, repair all peeling paint and the surfaces under it, make floors and window sills smooth and cleanable, and pass a dust clearance test
• Give the new tenant the Lease / Commencement of Occupancy notice asking about children under six, the “Lead Paint Hazards in the Home” pamphlet, and your certification that the turnover work was done. The notice is repeated at renewal.
• The same work is required in an occupied unit when a child under six comes to live there

Records: ten years, and HPD does ask

Keep every annual notice, every follow-up attempt, every inspection, every work order, the contractor’s certifications, and the dust clearance results for at least ten years. HPD audits owners it selects through its Building Lead Index, and every owner whose building gets a Health Department Commissioner’s Order to Abate after a child’s elevated blood lead test. Both arrive as a Record Production Order. Missing records are a violation even when the paint is fine.

Violations

HPD and the Health Department issue lead violations with strict correction deadlines, and correction has to be certified with clearance test results. If an owner does not act in time, HPD must attempt the work through its Emergency Repair Program and bills the property, which becomes a tax lien if unpaid.

How we help

We run the annual notice cycle, track the returns, schedule inspections and certified contractors, and keep the ten-year file per unit so an audit is a matter of sending a folder. It is part of violations and compliance and of full management.