Lead-based paint disclosure

Lead-based paint disclosure is the federal precontract process for most housing constructed before 1978. Before a buyer or tenant becomes obligated, the seller or lessor must provide an approved lead pamphlet, disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide available records and reports, and place the required warning, acknowledgments, certifications, signatures, and dates in the contract or attachment. A sale also gives the buyer an evaluation opportunity.

Target housing generally means housing constructed before 1978. The definition excludes housing for elderly persons or persons with disabilities and zero-bedroom dwellings, unless a child under age six resides or is expected to reside there. The rule also excludes specified transactions, including foreclosure sales, qualifying short leases, certain lead-free leases, and qualifying lease renewals. Apply the exact definition and transaction exception before choosing an answer.

No. Federal disclosure law requires the seller to disclose known information and provide available records, but it does not create a positive duty to conduct a lead evaluation or reduction. Illinois seller disclosure law likewise uses actual knowledge and does not require a specific investigation to complete its report. A buyer may still negotiate testing, and federal law ordinarily gives the buyer a 10-day evaluation opportunity in a covered sale.

The seller discloses known lead-based paint and known lead-based paint hazards, plus available details such as the basis, location, and painted-surface condition. The seller also provides available lead records and reports. In multifamily target housing, that can include common-area records and building-wide evaluation or reduction information concerning other units. Saying no knowledge is not the same as certifying that no lead exists.

Before the buyer is obligated to purchase covered target housing, the seller must permit 10 days for a lead risk assessment or inspection. The parties may agree in writing to a different period, and the buyer may waive the opportunity in writing. The federal 10-day right applies to purchasers, not lessees, and it should not be confused with a general home-inspection contingency created by contract.

The contract attachment must contain the prescribed Lead Warning Statement, the seller's knowledge statement, the list of reports or a statement that none are available, the buyer's receipt acknowledgments, the buyer's evaluation-opportunity or waiver statement, the agent certification when an agent acts for the seller, and dated signatures of sellers, agents, and buyers. The rule requires the disclosure in the language of the contract.

No. The federal regulation requires the 10-day evaluation opportunity for a purchaser. A covered lease still requires the pamphlet, known-information disclosure, available records and reports, the lease warning statement, receipt acknowledgments, agent certification when applicable, and signatures and dates before the tenant is obligated. Do not import the sale-only 10-day provision into a lease question.

An agent for the seller or lessor must inform that principal of the federal duties and ensure that the required activities are performed, or personally ensure compliance. The completed document also records the agent's certification and signature. If the agent informed the principal as required, the agent is not liable under this rule for lead information the principal knew but withheld from the agent. Buyer-only representatives paid entirely by the buyer are excluded from the rule's agent definition.

The seller and any agent retain the completed sales attachment for at least three years from completion of the sale. The lessor and any agent retain the completed attachment or lease containing the required information for at least three years from commencement of the lease term. This recordkeeping period does not shorten a person's other legal rights or limitation periods.

They are separate duties. Item 17 of the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Report asks whether the seller is aware of unsafe concentrations or unsafe conditions involving lead paint, lead water pipes, lead plumbing pipes, or lead in soil. Federal law separately controls most pre-1978 sales and leases and requires its own pamphlet, warning, records, acknowledgments, and sale evaluation opportunity. Completing one form does not automatically complete the other.

No. The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule governs compensated work that disturbs painted surfaces in covered pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities. It generally requires certified firms, trained renovators, lead-safe practices, pre-renovation education, and records. The transaction disclosure rule governs information before a sale or lease. A property can trigger one, both, or neither depending on the facts.

No. The practice questions are original. The PSI Illinois outline, 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F, EPA and HUD materials, 765 ILCS 77/35, 410 ILCS 45, and 77 Illinois Administrative Code 845 were checked through August 1, 2026. This is exam education, not legal, environmental, medical, leasing, or renovation advice. Use the current forms, property facts, licensed lead professionals, and counsel for a live transaction.