www.charlesjeromeware.com "Here to make a Difference."
Charles Jerome Ware, LLC is a premier, Maryland-based, nationally recognized and respected landlord lead paint poisoning defense law firm. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact the firm at (410) 720-6129. We can help you when you have been named as a defendant in a lead poisoning lawsuit.
Lead poisoning ("Plumbism") has existed since Antquity. Lead (Pb) has been mined and used by humanity for over 6,000 years, and the history of lead poisoning is over 2,500 years old. Lead was known to humanity as early as 4,000 BC. Both the Egyptians and the Hebrews used lead, and the Phoenicians mined lead ore in Spain around 2,000 BC. The Roman Empire is credited with being the first society to widely use lead in their wine and other drinks, cooking utensils, pottery, pipes and other plumbing, etc. With the many illnesses generated from their ingestion and inhalation of lead, it is said that this lead-consumption habit of the Romans contributed to the downfall of their society.
Lead (Pb) lasts, and lasts, and lasts. Because it is not able to dissolve in water, nor biodegrade, nor decay, nor burn, this makes lead an extremely harmful hazard to the human body in sufficient quantities. It is estimated that over 10 million metric tons of lead residue exists in our environment.
Lead is everywhere in the Baltimore metropolitan area : in the air we breathe, the water we drink, soil, dust, pipes and other plumbing fixtures, industrial and other job sites, car batteries, playgrounds, commercial buildings, home remedies, jewelry, cosmetics, , toys, furniture, etc., and in most pre-1978 built houses and apartments ( in lead-based paint, dust, etc.). In fact, numerous judges and commentators in Baltimore have suggested that in certain circumstances lead poisoning cases are "indefensible". At Charles Jerome Ware, LLC, we respectfully disagree. There are always defenses in these cases.
There are three major keys to avoiding and winning lead paint cases in Baltimore : (1) MAINTENANCE of the residential properties, (2) NOTICE to tenants in the residential properties, and (3) DOCUMENTATION of the maintenance and tenant notices for the residential properties.
All residential property landlords must be knowledgeable about the 1992 Federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4852d), also commonly referred to as TITLE X (10). The Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to write regulations specifying how TITLE X's goal of lead hazard reduction should be accomplished ( 24 CFR Part 35 and 40 CFR Part 745). The regulations apply to rental property built before 1978.
The regulations specify that, before signing a lease or rental agreement, the landlord must give every new tenant the EPA pamphlet, Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home. Both the landlord and the tenant must sign an EPA-approved form --- Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards --- that will prove that the landlord informed the tenants about any known lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards [ or use any alternate approved Maryland form].
Landlords must keep the disclosure form as part of their tenant/rental property records for three years from the date of the start of the tenancy.
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