On Oct. 20, 2020, Toledo City Council approved a lead-safe ordinance to “address the consequences of lead exposure, especially among children.” The Lead Safe Ordinance (TMC 1760) requires owners of single-family rental properties, duplexes, family child care homes and rental structures with up to four units built before 1978 to have properties inspected and certified lead safe.
According to LeadSafeToledo.com, every year hundreds of Toledo’s children test high for lead in their blood because the majority of the city’s housing was built prior to 1978, when the US government outlawed lead paint.
In 2022, Charmarlyn Strong, a landlord and rental manager, sued the City of Toledo and Toledo-Lucas County Board of Health, alleging that several aspects of Chapter 1760 were invalid. The court imposed a preliminary injunction on the ordinance. Early in 2023, the city council amended 1760 in order to remedy some of the claims and Strong then amended her lawsuit to drop the remedied areas of dispute and proceeded on the remaining areas of dispute – the involvement of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department in issuing the Lead-Safe Certificates and certain other delegated responsibilities.
In November of last year, a judge ruled in favor of Toledo’s lead ordinance and lifted the injunction. However, the lawsuit is being appealed and the city is currently not enforcing the ordinance. Once the injunction is lifted, failure to comply could result in a first-degree misdemeanor as well as other fines and penalties.
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Monica Smith, Toledo’s Lead-Safe Coordinator, says that 4,102 Lead-Safe Certificates have been obtained, but currently the funds for the Lead Stabilization Grant (a grant that provides reimbursement funds for lead stabilization activities) are exhausted.
“As of today, we do not have any financial assistance available. It is our hope that we will receive some additional funding in the near future,” Smith said.
Joshua Northup owns rental properties in Toledo and has made updates to his properties and is the owner of a Lead-Safe Certificate. According to Northup, his average cost was approximately $300 for the lab testing and inspection, but he supports the city’s ordinance.
“The tenants deserve to live lead-free. After seeing all the poor conditions from my service visits of other landlords rental units, this needs to be enforced. I’ve personally met families who have been impacted by lead poisoning. I do understand the investors’ stance on the ordinance as being costly, but it is small per unit to keep tenants safe and happy,” Northup said.
Tonette Thomas, lead clearance technician says that there are still lots of rental properties in the inner city that have old wood windows and wood siding–a sign that lead is present.
“You get the dust in the window well and grandma comes over and the little ones have their hands up in the window well and they get a little piece of cookie or something and ‘boom,’ that’s it — it happens that quick,” Thomas said. “You can sit up here and repaint windows, but in five years you’ll be doing it again. Cover, replace or remove [is the best policy].”
Sometimes all the landlords have to do is paint to be lead safe, but occassionally a deeper dive is necessary.
“If the roof is bad, it doesn’t matter what you do to the sidewalls in that you’re always going to have moist conditions, unless you replace everything… you need to replace the roof so that the sidewalls will be good enough to hold paint. If you see paint fall off the house [in layers], that’s lead. Lead will curl,” Thomas said.
Thomas says she has been a landlord since 1999 and was lucky enough to get some of her units into the city’s program (she received 20-year certificates for her units). Thomas adds that the city’s program worked, but the city needs more reimbursement funds for Toledo landlords and more lead contractors.
“We could get landlords to do those reimbursement grants. Landlords are motivated by money,” Thomas said.
According to The World Health Organization (WHO), children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead and can suffer permanent and profound health impacts, especially on the brain and nervous system. Once lead enters the body, it is distributed to the kidneys, brain, liver and bones. Lead is stored in the teeth and bones. Results from ingesting lead can cause behavioral issues, lower IQ, anemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs.
The City of Toledo is currently in its 6th out of its ten-phase plan. According to ToledoLeadSafe.com, if a property owner has already received a Lead-Safe Certificate under a previous ordinance, then no further action needs to be taken and a certificate should have been mailed to the address provided on the previous application.
Steps for Lead-Free Compliance in Toledo:
- Register your rental property with The Lucas County Auditor
- Hire a local Lead Inspector
- Prepare property for inspection
- Apply for a Lead-Safe Certificate
Visit ToledoLeadSafe.com for more information.
