Rental Homes

Lead could be present in paint or pipes. Lead in pipes can get into drinking water, and paint chips and dust from lead-based paint can be ingested. Lead exposure can cause significant bodily injury. Exterior lead-based paint can also leach into the soil around the structure, resulting in cleanup liability.

Mold can develop in building materials from water intrusion or high humidity. Tort claims may also result from inadvertent disturbance or alleged exposure during renovation, construction, or interior remodeling. Third-party bodily injury, property damage, and cleanup claims may result from mold and fungi incidents.

A growing problem for owners/landlords/managers is methamphetamine (meth) manufacturers who move frequently and often leave behind contaminated property. The hazardous chemicals used to make meth, and the chemicals produced during the manufacture of the drug, can seep into floors, ceilings, walls, and ducts and remain for years.

Underground and aboveground storage tanks may be present at home for storing heating oil or storage or throughput of sewage. Spills can occur from the tanks or during loading and unloading. Leaks or a malfunction of equipment, pumps, valves, and pipes can also cause a release of the contents. Improper or no secondary containment can allow contents to leach into the underlying soils and groundwater, collect in run-off, or migrate off-site or into storm drains, sewer drains, drywells, or surface waters.

Tenants may be growing cannabis on a property. Indoor cannabis cultivation requires elevated humidity and warm temperatures. These conditions could lead to mold growth, bodily injury, or cleanup claims.

Sick Building Syndrome refers to a situation where building inhabitants suffer from health problems that occur and are aggravated while in a building. Exposures that can contribute to an unhealthy indoor environment include asbestos, lead-based paint, mold, bacteria, formaldehyde, nitrous dioxide, carbon monoxide, radon, pesticides, pollen, viruses, and volatile organic compounds. Sick Building Syndrome is often attributed to poor design, maintenance, or a faulty ventilation system.

Existing soil or groundwater contamination may be present on, under, or adjacent to a home from historical operations, former heating oil tanks, releases from off-site properties that migrate onto the property, etc. A property owner could become liable for cleanup or third-party claims related to existing contamination.

Pool chemicals are highly concentrated and typically very reactive. Misuse, over-application, improper storage, and spills or leaks of pool treatment chemicals can create cleanup liability and health hazards to third parties. Leaks or spills from improper storage and handling could contaminate drinking water sources or damage ecosystems or aquatic life if the chemicals migrate to surface waters or wetlands.

Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and insecticides may be applied at the property for landscape maintenance. Overuse, misapplication, or spills can cause health impairment to third parties, property damage, or contamination of soil, groundwater, or surface water on-site or off-site.