Section 8 Lead Paint Requirements NYC: What Landlords Must Do by 2025

If you own rental property in New York City that was built before 1960 and you accept Section 8 vouchers, you are subject to some of the strictest lead paint regulations in the country, and the requirements are tightening further with a critical deadline approaching in August 2025. Lead paint compliance sits at the intersection of federal HUD regulations that govern the Section 8 program and New York City's Local Law 1, which imposes additional obligations that go well beyond what federal law requires. Understanding both layers of regulation is essential because failing to comply can result in failed HQS inspections that suspend your HAP payments, HPD violations with penalties up to $1,500 per violation, and potential civil liability if a child is harmed by lead exposure in your building.

The Two Regulatory Frameworks

Section 8 landlords in NYC must satisfy both federal and local lead paint requirements, and the local rules are considerably more demanding than what HUD mandates. Federal law under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 requires landlords of pre-1978 housing to disclose known lead hazards, provide the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home," and include a lead warning statement in the lease. These federal requirements apply to all Section 8 units because HUD incorporates them into the Housing Quality Standards inspection process.

New York City's Local Law 1 of 2004 and its subsequent amendments impose far more extensive obligations on landlords of buildings constructed before 1960, or buildings built between 1960 and 1978 where the owner has knowledge of lead paint. The city presumes that all paint in these older buildings contains lead unless testing proves otherwise, and this presumption triggers annual notice requirements, mandatory inspections, turnover work requirements, safe work practices for any repairs, and now a comprehensive testing mandate with an August 2025 deadline. For Section 8 landlords, compliance with Local Law 1 is not optional because HPD enforces these requirements through violations that can compound your problems during NYCHA inspections.

The Lead-Based Paint Disclosure for Section 8

When you submit a rental packet to NYCHA for a new Section 8 tenancy, one of the required documents is the Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint form, which both you and the voucher holder must sign. This disclosure confirms that you have informed the tenant about any known lead hazards in the unit, provided the EPA pamphlet, and given them access to any lead testing reports or risk assessments you have on file. The disclosure is a federal requirement under 24 CFR Part 35, and NYCHA will not process your rental packet without it.

What landlords sometimes miss is that this disclosure obligation is not a one-time event. You must provide the disclosure again at lease renewal, and you are required to update the tenant if you discover new information about lead hazards at any point during the tenancy. If you have had XRF testing performed and know exactly which surfaces contain lead paint, that information must be shared with the tenant. The signed disclosure forms become part of the documentation you must maintain for at least ten years under Local Law 1.

Housing Quality Standards and Lead Paint

During HQS inspections, NYCHA inspectors conduct a visual assessment for deteriorated paint in units where children under six reside or are expected to reside. For buildings constructed before 1978, the inspector looks for any paint that is peeling, chipping, cracking, chalking, or otherwise not intact on interior and exterior surfaces. If deteriorated paint is found and a child under six lives in the unit, this becomes a lead-based paint hazard under HUD rules and will result in a failed inspection.

The critical point for Section 8 landlords is that HQS requires you to stabilize deteriorated paint before the unit can pass inspection, and if the building is pre-1978, you must use lead-safe work practices for the repair regardless of whether you have tested the paint. Simply painting over peeling surfaces without proper containment, cleanup, and worker protection violates both federal and city regulations. An inspector who sees evidence of improper paint repair work can fail the inspection and potentially trigger additional scrutiny from HPD.

NYC Local Law 1 Annual Requirements

For buildings built before 1960, Local Law 1 requires landlords to complete an annual cycle of notices and inspections focused on identifying units where children under six reside. Between January 1st and January 16th each year, you must deliver an Annual Notice to every tenant asking whether a child under six routinely spends ten or more hours per week in the apartment. Tenants must return this notice by February 15th, and you must retain documentation proving you delivered the notice and received the response.

If a tenant indicates that a child under six resides in the unit, or if they fail to respond and you cannot determine occupancy through follow-up investigation, you must conduct an annual visual inspection of all painted surfaces in that apartment looking for deteriorated paint, chewable surfaces with teeth marks, friction surfaces on doors and windows, and impact surfaces. This inspection does not require professional certification, but HPD recommends completing HUD's online visual assessment training to know what to look for. After completing the inspection, you must provide a copy of the results to the tenant and retain your records.

If you find deteriorated paint during the annual inspection in a unit where a child under six resides, you must repair it promptly using EPA-certified contractors and lead-safe work practices. The presumption that all paint contains lead applies unless you have XRF testing documentation proving the specific surface is lead-free. All records of annual notices, inspections, and any repair work must be maintained for ten years and produced to HPD upon request.

The August 2025 XRF Testing Deadline

Local Law 31 of 2020 requires owners of pre-1960 buildings to have all dwelling units and common areas tested for lead paint using an XRF machine by August 9, 2025. This testing must be performed by an EPA-certified lead inspector or risk assessor who is independent of the property owner and any contractor you might hire for remediation work. The testing identifies exactly which surfaces contain lead at or above the 0.5 mg/cm² threshold, replacing the general presumption with specific knowledge.

For Section 8 landlords, completing XRF testing before the deadline offers significant advantages beyond mere compliance. Once you know which surfaces actually contain lead and which do not, you can focus your monitoring and maintenance efforts more efficiently. Surfaces that test negative can be exempted from the lead paint presumption if you file for a Lead-Free Exemption with HPD, which eliminates the annual notice and inspection requirements for those areas. Surfaces that test positive require continued monitoring but at least you know where they are.

The penalty for failing to complete XRF testing by the deadline is a Class C immediately hazardous violation with civil penalties up to $1,500. More practically, once the deadline passes, HPD will require you to provide XRF testing records whenever they issue lead-based paint hazard or turnover violations, and inability to produce those records triggers additional violations for non-compliance with the testing mandate.

Turnover Requirements

When a Section 8 tenant moves out and you prepare the unit for a new tenant, Local Law 1 imposes specific lead paint work requirements that must be completed before the new occupant takes possession, regardless of whether the new tenant has children. These turnover requirements include remediating all peeling paint and underlying defects, removing or encapsulating lead paint on chewable surfaces that show teeth marks, removing lead paint from friction surfaces on all doors and door frames, and making all bare floors, window sills, and window wells smooth and cleanable.

The turnover work must be performed using lead-safe work practices by EPA-certified contractors, and you must certify completion on the Lease/Commencement of Occupancy Notice that you provide to the new tenant. For Section 8 tenancies, this turnover certification becomes part of the documentation NYCHA expects you to maintain, and failure to complete turnover work can result in HPD violations if discovered during an audit or complaint inspection.

Starting January 1, 2025, Local Law 123 adds additional requirements for units where a child under six resides. In these units, you must abate lead paint on door and window friction surfaces and make floors smooth and cleanable within specified timeframes, with different deadlines depending on whether the child was already residing in the unit on January 1, 2025 or moved in afterward.

Safe Work Practices

Any repair work that disturbs more than two square feet of paint in a unit where a child under six resides, or in common areas of a building where any child under six resides in any unit, must be performed using lead-safe work practices if the paint contains lead or has not been tested. For Section 8 landlords, this means routine maintenance like fixing a leaky window or repairing a door frame can trigger certification requirements for your contractors.

Lead-safe work practices include containing the work area to prevent dust from spreading, using wet methods to minimize dust generation, prohibiting certain high-dust activities like dry sanding or using heat guns, and cleaning up thoroughly with HEPA vacuums after work is complete. The contractor performing the work must be EPA-certified under the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) program at minimum, and more extensive work requires abatement-level certification.

After work is completed, you must have an EPA-certified inspector collect dust wipe samples to verify the area is free of lead-contaminated dust below the levels specified in Local Law 1. You must retain documentation of the contractor's certification, the work performed, and the dust clearance results for ten years.

HPD Violations and Enforcement

HPD enforces lead paint requirements through complaint-based inspections and proactive audits. When a tenant files a complaint about peeling paint and indicates that a child under six lives in the unit, HPD will schedule an inspection with an XRF machine to test deteriorated surfaces. If the paint tests positive for lead at or above 0.5 mg/cm², HPD issues an immediately hazardous Class C violation requiring prompt correction.

HPD also conducts audits of required compliance documents, selecting buildings through criteria that include the Building Lead Index, the number of prior violations, and geographic areas with higher rates of elevated blood lead levels in children. During an audit, you must produce ten years of records including annual notices, inspection documentation, turnover compliance records, and XRF testing results. Failure to provide these records results in additional violations with penalties of $1,000 to $5,000.

For Section 8 landlords, HPD violations compound your problems because they can affect your standing with NYCHA. Accumulating code violations suggests you are not maintaining the property to required standards, which can factor into NYCHA's decisions about lease renewals and your eligibility to participate in the program going forward.

Practical Steps for Section 8 Landlords

If you have not yet completed XRF testing of your pre-1960 building, prioritize scheduling this work before the August 2025 deadline. You can find EPA-certified lead inspectors through the EPA's website at epa.gov by searching for lead-certified contractors. Plan for the cost of testing, which varies by building size but typically runs several hundred dollars per unit, and budget additional funds for any remediation that the testing reveals is necessary.

Establish systems for tracking your annual notice and inspection obligations. Create a calendar reminder for January delivery of annual notices and February follow-up for non-responses. Maintain organized files for each unit showing notice delivery, tenant responses, inspection results, and any work performed. These records are your defense if HPD audits your building or a tenant files a complaint.

For any repair work that might disturb paint, verify your contractor's EPA certification before they begin and ensure they understand lead-safe work practices are required. Request copies of their certification and documentation of dust clearance testing after work is complete. The few hundred dollars for proper procedures is insignificant compared to the potential liability if a child is harmed.

Resources and Next Steps

Use VoucherMatch's Pre-Inspection Checklist to identify potential lead paint issues before your HQS inspection. For the official requirements and sample compliance forms, visit HPD's Lead-Based Paint page, which includes downloadable templates for annual notices, inspection documentation, and turnover compliance. The federal lead disclosure requirements are detailed in 24 CFR Part 35, and the EPA's RRP program page explains contractor certification requirements. HPD also offers a series of Get Ahead of Lead webinars covering different aspects of compliance. For questions about specific situations, you can call HPD's Lead Information line at 212-863-5501.

If you are ready to find qualified voucher holders for your compliant property, list your unit on VoucherMatch to connect with tenants actively searching for Section 8 housing. And browse our current listings to see available units in your neighborhood.

---

Lead paint compliance protects children from serious harm and protects you from significant legal and financial liability. The investment in proper testing, documentation, and certified work practices is worthwhile.