If you rent a home built before 1978 in Massachusetts, the lead conversation is not optional paperwork theater. It is a notification + certification workflow — and when a child under six is in the unit, it connects directly to your duty to make the home lead-safe.
This guide walks Fall River and South Coast landlords through the Tenant Lead Law Notification package from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP), based on CLPPP Form 95-17 series materials. Educational summary only — always use the current state form.
What the Tenant Lead Law Notification is
CLPPP’s Tenant Lead Law Notification gives tenants and owners important information about lead exposure risk and legal rights/responsibilities for lead paint hazards in homes built before 1978. It describes steps owners must take for tenant safety, including providing lead hazard information and, when required, deleading. If available, lead inspection reports and compliance documents must be given to tenants as part of the Tenant Certification Form process.
The form package is designed to comply with both Massachusetts and federal lead notification laws.
Lead paint forms for rental units (owner checklist)
- Property owners/agents and tenants must sign two copies of the Tenant Certification Form before renting a housing unit built before 1978.
- The owner/agent must provide the tenant with one signed copy.
- The document can be copied or digitized, but the type size must not be reduced.
Property owner obligations (the big ones)
- Owners of homes built before 1978 must make a home lead-safe if a child under the age of 6 lives there.
- Lead-safe means free of lead hazards. The only way to know if a unit has lead hazards is a lead inspection by a licensed lead inspector.
- To comply with the MA Lead Law, hazards are addressed by deleading or, where allowed, fixing urgent hazards after a risk assessment for Interim Control (temporary).
- Use only authorized people for deleading work. High-risk deleading must be done by a licensed deleader. Other deleading may be done by trained owners or agents within their authorization.
- After work and a passing reinspection, a lead inspector issues a compliance document.
| Job | What it is | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Lead Law Notification | Disclosure + certification paperwork with the tenant | Before renting pre-1978 housing |
| Lead inspection | Licensed determination of hazards | When you need to know; required path for lead-safe with child under 6 |
| Deleading / interim control | Authorized hazard correction + letters | After hazards are identified and a plan is set |
Skipping notification because “we’ll deal with lead later” is still a leasing failure. Skipping authorized deleading after hazards are found is a compliance failure — see our post on unauthorized deleading.
Letters tenants may receive with the package
Letter of Compliance: a legal letter under state law saying either there are no lead paint hazards or the home has been deleaded. Signed and dated by a licensed lead inspector.
Letter of Interim Control: a legal letter saying work needed to make the home temporarily safe from urgent lead hazards has been done. Valid for one year (per notification materials) — temporary, not “done forever.”
Deep dive on Compliance vs Interim Control lands later in this lead series — until then, treat Interim Control as temporary (often described as one-year validity in notification materials), not “done forever.”
Fortified leasing ops note
On managed pre-1978 stock, notification is part of move-in discipline — not a drawer form. We pair paperwork with inspection status and authorized vendors — same documentation bias as vendor enforcement and field trails in video-verified commercial oversight. Investors underwriting pre-1978 Fall River multi-families should also read how we underwrite with the Buy & Hold Analyzer and the evergreen Fall River lead remediation guide. Questions: (508) 671-7228.
Tenant Lead Law Notification FAQs
Do I need Tenant Lead Law Notification for every Massachusetts rental?
CLPPP materials focus the package on housing units built before 1978. Use the current official form and your counsel/compliance process for edge cases (age of building, exemptions).
How many copies of the Tenant Certification Form must be signed?
Per CLPPP notification materials, owners/agents and tenants must sign two copies before renting a pre-1978 unit, and the owner/agent must give the tenant one signed copy.
What if a child under 6 will live in the unit?
Owners of pre-1978 homes must make the home lead-safe if a child under 6 lives there. Lead-safe means free of lead hazards, determined through licensed inspection and proper compliance work.
Is the notification the same as deleading?
No. Notification is disclosure and certification with the tenant. Deleading or interim control is the physical/legal hazard correction path after inspection and planning with authorized people.
Educational summary for Massachusetts landlords. Based on MA DPH CLPPP Tenant Lead Law Notification (Form 95-17 series) materials. Not legal advice. Forms are updated by the Commonwealth — download and use the current official version. Fortified Realty Group coordinates compliant leasing ops; we are not CLPPP or your attorney.
Primary source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP), Tenant Lead Law Notification / Form 95-17 series. CLPPP: 1-800-532-9571 · mass.gov/dph/clppp.