4 Steps to Rental Property Compliance with New York’s Lead Laws

New York State’s lead law for rental properties seeks to reduce lead exposure in homes, especially those with young children. With compliance requirements beginning in 2026, the law focuses on identifying and fixing lead hazards in dust, paint, and bare soil in older housing.

As an environmental testing lab, Pace® has years of experience analyzing paint, soil, dust, and water samples for lead and other contaminants. This post is designed to answer common questions from New York clients to help them move toward full compliance. However, even with our testing expertise, final compliance decisions should be made in consultation with legal counsel and a certified lead Inspector/Risk Assessor and a licensed lead-abatement professional.

Who Is Covered by the New York Lead Law?

In early 2026, New York State’s lead law went into effect for residential rental properties in older communities where the risk of lead exposure is higher. Rental properties that meet all three qualifying criteria are required to comply:

• The structure must be a residential rental building with two or more units. It does not matter whether a unit is owner/family occupied.
• Buildings must have been built before 1980, when lead-based paint was still common. Keep in mind, this clause is stricter than federal law.
• Properties must be located in one of 25 designated “communities of concern,” including cities such as Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Yonkers.

Owners and managers of rental units in these communities must follow the state’s requirements for lead hazard inspections, lead remediation, certification, and reporting. Compliance with New York’s Lead Safety Law can be broken down into four steps.

Step 1: Register Your Property at LeadSafeNY

A key feature of the New York lead law is the statewide LeadSafeNY lead rental registry. The registry tracks covered rental properties and their lead safety status. Owners were required to register covered rental properties in LeadSafeNY by January 3, 2026. Registration links each property to its inspection results and LeadSafe Certificates (issued once the property passes inspection), giving regulators and tenants a clearer view of lead safety conditions in rental housing safety status. If a covered New York rental property is not registered by the deadline, the owner is considered out of compliance and may face fines and civil penalties. Owners who do not register may also be blocked from lawfully renting units or renewing occupancy certificates.

Step 2: Schedule an Initial Lead Hazard Inspection

Once registered, property owners are expected to schedule an initial lead inspection and to submit the results by October 1, 2026. (The window for inspection obligations technically opens on May 3, 2026.) A property cannot receive or renew a lead safety certificate without passing this inspection and any required clearance testing.

By law, lead hazard inspections must be conducted by “qualified” or “certified” professionals, such as local health department staff, code enforcement officers, or private companies that hold the appropriate. At a minimum, each inspection must include a visual check for deteriorated/peeling paint and bare soil, plus dust-wipe sampling.

Step 3: Perform Remediation as Required

Landlords must fix any identified lead hazards, such as peeling paint or dust, within 21 days of detection. Remediation involves methods such as wet scraping, stabilization, enclosure, encapsulation, or full abatement by EPA-certified contractors following lead-safe work practices.

Abatement of lead in soil is typically done by either removing or securely covering contaminated soil so people, especially children, cannot come into contact with or inhale it. Common bare-soil remediation methods include excavating and replacing the top layer with clean soil, capping it with barriers such as sod, mulch, gravel, or pavement, or stabilizing it by mixing in amendments (e.g., certain phosphates or compost) and establishing dense groundcover to keep lead-contaminated dust from becoming airborne.

After inspection, the certified inspector or risk assessor should issue a LeadSafe Certificate, which the owner must keep on file and use to update the property’s status. The certificate confirms that either no lead hazards were found or that any hazards were remediated and the unit passed clearance. Each certificate is linked to the LeadSafeNY rental registry so there is a clear record of the property’s lead safety status over time.

Step 4: Schedule Ongoing Lead Hazards Inspections

New York law requires every covered rental unit and common area to be inspected at least once every three years. After each inspection (or any necessary remediation), the property owner is responsible for updating the LeadSafe Certificate information in the LeadSafeNY lead rental registry.

Enforcement Timeline for New York’s Lead Law

January 3, 2026 – The deadline for registering properties in the LeadSafeNY lead rental registry.

May 3, 2026 – The lead inspection obligation begins for covered rental properties.

October 1, 2026 – Lead‑Safe Certificates are due for properties in the covered communities.

Ongoing – Owners must complete follow-up inspections and update LeadSafe Certificates at least every three years.

How Pace® Supports Compliance with New York Lead Laws

Pace® can help New York landlords navigate every step of lead law compliance, from initial inspections through final documentation. As an accredited NYS ELAP environmental testing laboratory, Pace® provides fast, reliable analysis of dust-wipe samples, paint chips, soil, and water so owners have clear, defensible data for meeting LeadSafeNY inspection and clearance requirements. Our specialists can also work with your certified lead inspector or risk assessor to establish sampling plans, interpret results against current federal and New York standards, and identify where remediation is most urgently needed.

Beyond lab testing, Pace® offers consultative support to property owners, managers, and contractors as they plan remediation projects and prepare for reinspection. This includes guidance on LeadSafe work practices, help understanding evolving state and New York City rules, and streamlined reporting formats that make it easier to maintain records, update LeadSafe Certificates, and demonstrate compliance to regulators, lenders, and tenants.

Answers to Common Questions About New York Lead Laws & Lead Testing

Q: How are the New York State lead laws enforced?

Local health departments are responsible for enforcing New York’s lead law for rentals. They are expected to audit at least 10% of Lead‑Safe Certificates annually through on‑site verification inspections. Fines and enforcement orders can be issued for failure to register, inspect, remediate, or maintain documentation. They also have the power to withhold or condition certificates of occupancy, which can affect an owner’s ability to rent units until lead hazards are resolved.

Q: Can New York property owners perform their own lead hazard investigation?

Property owners generally cannot perform their own official lead hazard investigations for purposes of complying with New York’s lead rental registry and related laws. New York requires compliance inspections and risk assessments to be conducted by individuals holding active New York State Lead Inspector or Lead Risk Assessor certifications.

Q: Can New York property owners perform their own lead abatement?

In most cases, New York property owners are not considered qualified to perform their own lead abatement. Under the New York lead laws, remediation must be carried out by individuals with EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) training or full lead-abatement certification, which means an owner could perform their own lead abatement, but only if they obtain those certifications and operate as a certified firm.

Q: Will painting over peeling paint with newer formulations solve a lead issue?

No. Simply painting over peeling lead paint with newer paint does not solve the lead problem and can actually make it worse if the peeling surface is disturbed during prep. Peeling or chipping lead paint generally needs to be properly stabilized, enclosed, or removed using LeadSafe methods, and true encapsulation requires a special lead-rated coating applied to a sound, non-peeling surface—not just a coat of regular paint over deteriorated layers.

Q: If I suspect (or know) my paint contains lead but the results come up negative, do I need to do anything?  

If peeling paint is observed, your lead inspection will most likely involve an analysis of the paint for lead. However, if there is no observable deteriorating paint and a qualified New York inspection does not find evidence of any lead hazards, you generally do not have additional duties under the New York lead law for that surface. 

However, New York City Local Law 1 goes further than the state law by presuming that paint in most pre-1960 multiple dwellings where a young child lives is lead-based unless the owner rebuts that presumption with acceptable test results submitted to the housing department. New York City property owners may either accept that presumption and treat the paint accordingly or have the paint professionally tested to prove it is leadfree. Check with your local housing authority and health department for more information on local lead laws and processes in your area.

Q: I don’t have any peeling paint in my units. If the dust wipe analysis detects lead, where else might it be coming from?

While deteriorating lead-based paint is the most common source of lead in settled household dust, it is not the only one. Lead-contaminated soil tracked in on shoes or pets, residue from jobs or hobbies that involve lead (like construction, shooting sports, or stained glass), older imported vinyl blinds, certain imported consumer products, and lead-contaminated water that dries on surfaces can all contribute lead to indoor dust.

Q: When is soil testing required under the New York State lead law?

For New York’s lead rental registry program, the initial inspection must include a visual property check for bare soil. If bare soil is present in areas where children might come into contact with it (yards, play areas, building perimeter), it must be evaluated as a potential lead hazard. In practice, inspectors look for exposed soil rather than grass or other ground cover. When bare soil is found, they should collect samples and have them tested by a qualified laboratory to determine if the soil presents a lead hazard.

Q: How common is lead soil contamination in New York?

Lead contamination in soil is widespread in many parts of New York, especially in older and more urban neighborhoods, but levels vary by location. Studies of New York City community gardens found that about 70% of gardens had at least one soil sample above health-based guidance values, although most individual samples (around 78%) stayed below those thresholds. Research in specific neighborhoods shows even higher rates: in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, preliminary testing found that roughly 92% of private backyards had at least one sample above the U.S. EPA’s residential “safe” level for lead in bare soil, and about 84% of all backyard samples exceeded that benchmark. Similar work in some New York City parks has found average lead levels in the hundreds of milligrams per kilogram, well above federal cleanup values, especially in areas with a history of industry, heavy traffic, and older housing.

Q: How reliable is dust wipe analysis?

Dust wipe analysis can produce false positives, but they are relatively uncommon when samples are processed by accredited laboratories using standard methods. Research on laboratory-analyzed dust wipes and related X-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods shows false-positive rates are typically low, though the exact percentages can depend on the laboratory, device, and methods used.

False positives are more likely with consumer spot-test kits or field screening tools, which can be affected by user error, surface conditions, or interference from other metals. While these methods may be used for quick assessments, professional sampling and confirmatory lab analysis are required for compliance and should be used when making abatement decisions.

Q: If lead is detected, do my tenants need to move out during the abatement process, and do I need to compensate them or pay their expenses?

Depending on the type of abatement required, tenants may need to move out of the work area during lead abatement if the work cannot be done safely with them in place, especially when children are present. In those situations, New York rules require the owner to offer temporary relocation to a suitable, safe, and lead-hazard-free unit. If tenants refuse to relocate, owners can document that refusal and may be able to obtain limited relief on timing of the work, but they remain responsible for correcting the hazards. Relocation and compensation details can vary by program and locality, so owners should check with their local health department or housing agency.

Q: What happens if the property fails the dust clearance test after abatement?

Failure of dust clearance testing means the cleanup or remediation was not adequate, and the work area must be recleaned and then clearance tested again until it passes, while the original correction deadline and any enforcement consequences (like fines) still apply.

Q: Do I need to follow both New York State law and local lead laws?

New York property owners must comply with both the new statewide lead rental registry rules and the city’s own, stricter lead laws. For example, New York City laws (like Local Law 1 and Local Law 31) presume that most pre-1960 buildings have lead paint, require proactive inspections and repairs—especially where children under the age of six live—and mandate full XRF testing of living units and common areas on a set schedule. If you own covered property in New York City or elsewhere, you need to follow local inspection, repair, and documentation rules in addition to registering units and meeting the inspection and clearance requirements under the New York State program.