Friends,
I am continuing on about the EPA law concerning pre-1978 homes. It is vital that I do.
Its one thing to have liberties and freedoms taken away out side of home, you can always retreat to your house, after all a mans home is his castle - right? But more and more property and homeowner rights have come under attack. Once this basic right is gone where does a person go?
I have been pounding away at educating people of the Fourth Amendment for 2 years since Euclid came after me concerning the rental houses I own. I warned you back then what next a residency permit to live in your own house? Well wake up, it can't be that far off if we don't do something now to protect property rights.
Read below what a friend sent me. She emailed my rant about the replacement windows to her cousin who works for the EPA. This is her cousins reply. I will comment in a follow up email plus I have more info from Wayne and what he is trying to do do repeal the lead law.
Carey Masci
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I work for Ohio EPA, not U.S. EPA, but this is true for the most part. You actually don't have to have a certified installer, but if you don't use one, it could hurt you later when you try to sell your home. The issue isn't the window, it's the lead paint that was used until 1978. Lead is a very hazardous substance and causes mental and neurological problems in chlidren. Many children have been poisoned over the years from exposure to lead paint in older homes and apartments.
Here's an article:http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/03/lack-of-epa-certified-workers-could-stall-home-remodeling/1 . Or go to U.S. EPA's web site and do some research.
Frankly, I personally wouldn't do much renovation work on a home that might contain lead paint. I offered to paint the out buildings on grandpa's farm last year. The new people moving in want the buildings scraped and painted. I told mom I wouldn't go near scraping those buildings and they should hire a pro company because I'm sure there is lead-based exterior paint underneath the outer layer of paint.
If your friend is renting or selling a property, the federal real estate law already requires him to verify that it is free of lead paint, or disclose if the residence DOES contain lead paint. Here is information on that:http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/enforcement/disclosure.cfm
Here's another good brochure: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadpdfe.pdf
Feel free to forward this to your friend. He should be able to buy the windows and install them himself, especially if he is going to live there. He would just be risking losing money on the sale if he ever tries to sell it. I also think he would be risking a lawsuit if he doesn't take steps to make sure the property is either lead-free, or use a certified installer to do the work and take care of the lead paint in the process. What if there is lead and he rents it to someone with kids and the kids get lead poisoning? It's a big liability issue and, speaking peronally, for the cost of a few hundred dollars more, it would be worth having the peace of mind.
I'm sorry he thinks it's socialism - unless protecting children and society at large from hazardous material is socialism. He's free to poison himself if he wants, but not someone else. I'd think we are past the days of landlords being free to exploit renters in unsafe housing.
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