Do You Have to Remove Lead Paint in Massachusetts? A Quincy Guide for Buyers, Sellers, and Landlords (2026)
The affirmative requirement to remove or cover dangerous lead paint hazards kicks in when a home was built before 1978 and a child under 6 resides there. That is the trigger for the deleading obligation itself, and the duty belongs to the property owner. If no child under 6 lives in the home, you are not required to delead, though you still have other legal duties around disclosure, safe maintenance, and lead-safe renovation.
That distinction matters more in Quincy than in almost any city in the state, because so much of the housing here predates the 1978 lead paint ban. The City of Quincy's 2022 Housing Production Plan reported that 63% of housing units were built after 1940, which means roughly 37% were built in 1940 or earlier. Housing age estimates shift with each new Census release, so treat that as a 2022 snapshot rather than a live number. The practical takeaway does not shift: if you are buying, selling, or renting out a home in Quincy, you are usually working with pre-1978 paint.
The part that catches people off guard is the liability. An owner can face strict liability for damages if a child under 6 is lead poisoned in the home and the poisoning was caused by the owner's failure to comply with the Lead Law. The statute does not require proof that the owner knew lead paint was there. It does require proof of the statutory elements, including a blood lead level that meets the state's lead poisoning threshold. A valid Letter of Full Compliance or an effective Letter of Interim Control provides important protection against that exposure, which is exactly why the paperwork matters.
Who This Applies To
You need this if you are buying any home in Quincy built before 1978, which is most of them, and especially if a child under 6 will live there.
You need this if you own a two-family or three-family in Quincy and rent out a unit. Landlord obligations here are stricter than most owners realize.
You need this if you are selling a pre-1978 home in Quincy, because the disclosure package is a legal requirement with real financial exposure attached to skipping it.
You can mostly skip this if your home was built in 1978 or later, though the disclosure rules still apply if any portion of the property predates 1978.
What Does the Massachusetts Lead Law Actually Require?
It requires the owner of a pre-1978 home where a child under 6 resides to remove or cover the dangerous lead hazards in that home. That obligation comes from the Massachusetts Lead Law, not from federal law, which is why it is stricter than what buyers moving here from other states expect. The law applies to rental property and owner-occupied homes alike.
Lead paint hazards under the law are not every painted surface in the house. They are specific conditions:
- Loose, peeling, chipping, damaged, or flaking lead paint
- Lead paint on windows, which grind and create dust every time they open
- Lead paint on friction and impact surfaces such as doors, door jambs, and stair treads
- Lead paint on certain defined accessible and mouthable surfaces, including items such as low windowsills, stair treads, handrails, and railing caps
You will sometimes hear "everything below five feet" as a shorthand. That is not quite right. The five-foot measurement applies to particular listed surfaces in the regulations, not as a blanket rule for every surface below five feet in the house.
Legal requirements in this section were checked against the Massachusetts Department of Public Health lead law materials on Mass.gov, 105 CMR 460.000, and MGL chapter 111 sections 197 and 199, in August 2026. Requirements and dollar amounts change, so confirm current rules before you rely on them.
Do I Have to Delead Before I Sell My House in Quincy?
No. A seller in Massachusetts is not required to delead in order to sell, even if the buyer has small children. What the seller is required to do is disclose.
Before a buyer signs a purchase and sale agreement, a lease with an option to purchase, or a foreclosure memorandum of agreement on a pre-1978 property, the seller and the real estate agents involved must provide the full Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification package. That means the state notification document, disclosure of known lead information, any lead inspection reports and compliance letters the seller actually has, and the signed certification.
Skipping it is not a paperwork technicality. A seller or agent who fails to comply may face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 under Massachusetts law, plus potential federal penalties. Depending on the facts, a buyer may also assert other civil claims, potentially including a Chapter 93A consumer protection claim. Those remedies are case-specific and should not be assumed either way, but the exposure is real and the fix is free.
One more point sellers and agents should get right: a buyer may personally choose not to conduct a lead inspection after receiving the required notification, and that is their call to make. Sellers and agents should not pressure or require that choice or market the property on that basis. Separately, Massachusetts now restricts conditioning a residential sale on a buyer's waiver of a general home inspection, so building an offer strategy around waived inspections is the wrong instinct in this market.
What Is the 10-Day Lead Inspection Right for Buyers?
Once a buyer receives the Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification on a pre-1978 home, the buyer ordinarily has at least 10 days, or a longer period the parties agree to in writing, to have a lead inspection or risk assessment performed before being bound to purchase. The standard 10-day opportunity does not apply to foreclosure sales, though the notification requirements still do.
Who pays is a contract question, not a statutory one. Put it in writing. In practice, buyers commonly pay for their own lead inspection, the same way they pay for a general home inspection.
The buyer is not required to use the window. Plenty of buyers do not, particularly in competitive Quincy offers where every contingency gets weighed against the odds of winning the house. That is a legitimate choice, but it should be a calculated one rather than an accidental one.
Here is the practical way to think about it. If a child under 6 will live in the home, a lead inspection tells you what the deleading scope and cost will look like before you are the owner holding that obligation. If not, an inspection still tells you what a future buyer of yours will be looking at.
What Happens If I Buy a Pre-1978 Quincy Home and a Child Under 6 Will Live There?
You become the owner at closing, and the obligation becomes yours. If a child under 6 will live or continue to live in the home, you generally have 90 days from taking title to bring the property into full compliance or Interim Control.
That 90-day window is one of the most commonly missed facts in Massachusetts real estate. Buyers assume the seller handled it, or that they have until something goes wrong. Neither is true, and timely compliance is a meaningful part of protecting yourself from strict liability. The clock starts at closing.
There are two ways to satisfy the law, and they are not equivalent:
| Path | What it involves | How long it lasts | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter of Full Compliance | All dangerous lead hazards removed or permanently covered, then inspected and passed by a licensed lead inspector | Remains valid only while its conditions are maintained, including no loose lead paint and intact protective coverings, with required documentation after certain maintenance work | The permanent solution, and the one that clears the property for any future family with a child under 6 |
| Letter of Interim Control | Urgent lead hazards fixed and stabilized as a temporary measure, verified by a licensed risk assessor | One year, renewable once after reinspection, two years maximum from issuance | An owner who needs time or financing to reach full compliance but has a child under 6 in the unit now |
Two things people get wrong here. Interim Control is a bridge, not a destination: after the two-year maximum, a property where a child under 6 still resides has to reach full compliance. And a Letter of Full Compliance is not a permanent hall pass. It holds only as long as the property is actually maintained to the standard, and certain maintenance work triggers follow-up documentation requirements.
Who Can Legally Do the Deleading Work?
High-risk deleading work has to be performed by a licensed deleader. This is not a weekend project with a heat gun and a sander, and doing it wrong creates far more lead dust hazard than leaving the paint alone.
Massachusetts does allow trained and authorized property owners and their agents to perform certain low-risk and moderate-risk work themselves. Even then, an inspection and proper authorization are required before that work begins, and the result still has to pass a licensed inspector to earn the letter. If you are considering the owner-performed route, get the training and authorization requirements directly from the state before you touch a surface.
Renovation work is a separate track. Paid renovation, repair, or painting in pre-1978 housing may trigger Massachusetts Lead-Safe Renovation requirements, which the state administers under EPA authorization. The rules generally apply once the project disturbs more than 6 square feet of interior painted surface per room or 20 square feet of exterior painted surface, and a licensed supervisor has to be on site while covered work is in progress. Before you start a kitchen remodel in a 1920s Wollaston two-family, confirm whether the project crosses those thresholds and hire accordingly.
What Does Deleading Cost and What Help Is Available?
Cost varies too widely by property to quote a reliable number. A single-family with a handful of original wood windows and a three-family with 40 of them are different projects by an order of magnitude, and windows are typically the largest line item because they are both a friction surface and the most expensive component to address. Get at least two quotes from licensed contractors on the actual property before you budget.
What is worth knowing precisely is what the state puts back in your pocket:
| Program | What you get | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts lead paint removal tax credit, full compliance | A state income tax credit equal to your deleading cost or $3,000 per residential unit, whichever is less | Requires a Letter of Full Compliance, claimed on Schedule LP, subject to the statutory calculation |
| Massachusetts lead paint removal tax credit, interim control | A state income tax credit of up to $1,000 per residential unit | Applies toward the same $3,000 per unit limit for that unit |
| MassHousing Get the Lead Out loan, single-family | Up to $30,000 in deleading financing | Income-eligible owner-occupants may qualify for 0% deferred loans not due until sale, transfer, or refinance |
| MassHousing Get the Lead Out loan, two-family | Up to $35,000 in deleading financing | Same program, higher limit for the additional unit |
| MassHousing Get the Lead Out loan, three-family | Up to $40,000 in deleading financing | Same program, higher limit for the additional units |
| MassHousing Get the Lead Out loan, four-family | Up to $45,000 in deleading financing | Same program, income and property eligibility rules apply |
Credit and loan figures were checked against Mass.gov's deleading financial assistance and residential tax credit pages, the Massachusetts Schedule LP instructions, and MassHousing's Get the Lead Out program materials, in August 2026. Amounts, income limits, and eligibility rules change, so confirm current terms with a tax professional and with MassHousing before you count on them.
The increased credit amounts, $3,000 for full compliance and $1,000 for Interim Control, took effect January 1, 2023, up from the prior $1,500. That change meaningfully improved the math on smaller projects. For a Quincy investor with a three-family, the credit is calculated per residential unit, which is worth modeling before you decide the project is unaffordable.
Can a Landlord Refuse to Rent to a Family With Young Children?
No. Under Massachusetts law it is an unlawful practice, enforced under chapter 151B, to refuse to sell, rent, lease, or renew, or to otherwise discriminate in the terms of a housing transaction, because the premises do or may contain lead, because the transaction would trigger Lead Law duties, or because someone exercises rights under the Lead Law.
That is the framing that matters. A landlord cannot screen out a family with a young child in order to avoid deleading costs. The duty to delead or bring hazards under Interim Control belongs to the owner. It cannot be transferred to a tenant, waived by a lease clause, or avoided by choosing a different applicant.
A few related landlord points worth having straight:
- You must give prospective and current tenants the Tenant Lead Law Notification and Certification form, along with any lead inspection reports, Letters of Interim Control, or Letters of Compliance you have for the unit. Both parties sign, and the tenant keeps a signed copy.
- Strict liability applies to owners of residential premises generally, rental and owner-occupied alike, when the statutory elements are met. Do not assume that not knowing about a hazard eliminates your risk. A valid compliance letter is what actually protects you.
- Retaliating against a tenant for reporting a suspected lead, health, or code violation can expose you to the greater of actual damages or statutory damages of one to three months' rent, plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
- If a child under 6 begins residing in your pre-1978 unit, your compliance duty is triggered at that point, whether or not the parties sign a new lease.
Does the Lead Law Apply to Condos?
Yes, and the ownership line runs through the middle of the responsibility. The unit owner is responsible for lead paint hazards inside the unit. Under the regulations, the condominium association is treated as the owner solely with respect to common areas and exterior surfaces and fixtures, so hallways, stairwells, and exterior painted surfaces run through the association rather than through an individual owner.
For a buyer looking at a pre-1978 Quincy condo with a young child, that means two questions instead of one: has the unit been deleaded, and has the association addressed the common areas and exterior surfaces. Ask for both sets of documentation and put them in front of your attorney during the condo document review.
The Bottom Line
Lead paint is not a reason to avoid Quincy's older housing stock. It is a reason to know exactly where you stand before you own it.
If you are buying, find out whether the property has a Letter of Full Compliance and decide deliberately whether to use your 10-day inspection window. If you are selling, deliver the Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification package properly and keep proof that you did. If you are renting out a pre-1978 unit, understand that the compliance duty and the anti-discrimination rules leave you no way around the obligation, and use the tax credit and the Get the Lead Out program to make the project pencil.
This post is educational and is not legal or tax advice. Lead law compliance carries real legal consequences, so talk to a Massachusetts real estate attorney about your specific property and a tax professional about the credit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to delead my house in Massachusetts if I do not have kids?
No. The affirmative requirement to remove or cover dangerous lead hazards is triggered when a child under 6 resides in a pre-1978 home. If no child under 6 lives there, you are not required to delead, though your disclosure obligations, safe-maintenance obligations, and lead-safe renovation rules still apply, and the future obligation stays with the property.
Can a seller be forced to delead before closing?
Not by law. A seller has to deliver the required lead notification and disclosures but is not required to delead in order to sell. Deleading can absolutely be negotiated as a term of the deal, either as work completed before closing or as a credit toward the buyer's cost, and in Quincy that negotiation happens fairly often on older two-families.
What is the difference between a Letter of Full Compliance and a Letter of Interim Control?
Full compliance means the dangerous lead hazards have been permanently removed or covered and the property passed inspection, and that letter holds as long as its conditions stay maintained. Interim Control is a temporary measure that fixes urgent hazards, lasts one year, and can be renewed once for a two-year maximum before full compliance is required if a child under 6 still lives there.
How much is the Massachusetts lead paint tax credit in 2026?
Up to $3,000 per residential unit for full compliance, or up to $1,000 per unit for Interim Control, with the Interim Control amount counting toward the same $3,000 per unit limit. It is claimed on Schedule LP with your Massachusetts return and you need the corresponding letter to qualify. Confirm current amounts and the exact calculation with a tax professional.
How do I know if my Quincy home has lead paint?
If it was built before 1978, assume it may until an inspection says otherwise. The only way to know for certain is a lead inspection or risk assessment by a state-licensed inspector, which produces a room-by-room report of where lead is present. Massachusetts also maintains a public Lead Safe Homes database where you can look up a property's recorded lead history, inspection reports, and compliance letters.
Who pays for the lead inspection when buying a home?
Usually the buyer, but it is a contract term rather than a statutory rule, so put it in writing. Standard home inspectors do not test for lead as part of a general home inspection, so this is a separate appointment with a licensed lead inspector that you have to arrange and budget for.
If you are weighing an older Quincy home and want to understand what the lead situation means for your specific plans, reach out through the contact page. I am happy to walk through what the property is likely to require and what it would take to get it compliant before you commit.