How to Fill Out and Deliver the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Form

The lead-based paint disclosure form is the federal document a seller or landlord must complete before finalizing any sale or lease of housing built before 1978. You fill it out by reporting what you already know about lead paint in the property, attaching any inspection or abatement records you have, handing the buyer or tenant the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, and collecting initials and signatures from every party involved — including real estate agents. The EPA publishes free sample forms for sellers and for lessors in English and Spanish on its real estate disclosures page.¹

Who Has to Complete It

The form applies to virtually all sales and leases of “target housing,” defined by federal regulation as housing built before 1978.² Private homes, public housing, and federally assisted residences all fall under the rule. Subleases count. If a building went up before 1978 and someone is buying or renting it, the disclosure is almost certainly required.

A short list of transactions falls outside the rule: foreclosure sales, rentals of a property that a certified inspector has confirmed is lead-free, short-term rentals of 100 days or fewer with no renewal option, housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities where no child under six lives or is expected to live, zero-bedroom units such as studios and dormitories, and lease renewals where the landlord already made a full disclosure and has learned nothing new about lead hazards since.³ If new information reaches a landlord between leases — for instance, a contractor spots deteriorating lead paint during a repair — an updated disclosure is required at renewal even to the same tenant.

What to Gather Before You Sit Down With the Form

The disclosure rule does not require you to test the property. You are only disclosing what you already know.⁴ That said, you have to hand over everything you actually have, so pull these together first:

Any lead inspection or risk assessment reports on the property, whether the results were positive or clean.
Records of any abatement work done to remove or encapsulate lead-based paint.
Records of any renovation, repair, or painting projects that used lead-safe work practices.
In multifamily buildings, records that cover common areas like hallways, laundry rooms, and stairwells.⁴
A copy of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, which is available for free from the EPA in pamphlet and booklet layouts. Some states have their own EPA-approved equivalent that can be used instead.⁵

If you genuinely have no knowledge of lead-based paint in the property and no records, you still fill out the form. You check the box that says so. Having nothing to report does not excuse you from completing and signing the disclosure.

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

The EPA publishes separate sample forms for sales and for leases. Both share the same structure, though the sale form adds a section covering the buyer’s inspection rights. The current versions ask you to describe what you know, not just check a yes-or-no box the way older forms did.⁶

Lead Warning Statement

The form opens with a pre-printed warning statement that every covered housing contract must contain, either on the form itself or inserted into the lease or purchase agreement. It explains that lead paint can pose health hazards and that federal law requires disclosure. You do not write anything here, but the language must appear in the final document.

Seller’s or Lessor’s Disclosure

This is where you report what you know. Initial next to one of two options: you have knowledge of lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards in the property, or you have no knowledge. If you do have knowledge, describe it. Write the location of the paint, the condition of the surfaces, and how you know (a professional inspection, your own observation of chipping paint, records from a previous owner). Then indicate whether you have records or reports to share, and list them. If you have none, initial the line that says so.⁴

Purchaser’s or Lessee’s Acknowledgment

The buyer or tenant initials this section to confirm they received the lead hazard pamphlet and any records you provided. The updated forms let them separately confirm that they actually received copies of reports, rather than bundling everything into one acknowledgment.⁷ On the seller’s form, this section also addresses the buyer’s 10-day inspection opportunity.

Agent’s Acknowledgment

If real estate agents are involved, each one initials separately. The seller’s form has a line for the seller’s agent and a line for the buyer’s agent; the lessor’s form has a line for the lessor’s agent and a line for the tenant’s agent. Each agent confirms they informed their client of the disclosure obligations and understand their own responsibility to ensure compliance.⁶ Write “N/A” if no agent is involved on a given side. Agents share legal responsibility for the accuracy of the disclosure, so this section is not optional when agents are in the deal.

Signatures and Date

Every party signs and dates the form. Use initials where the form calls for them (not checkmarks) and a full signature at the bottom. The date reflects when the disclosure was provided, not the closing date.

The Buyer’s 10-Day Inspection Right

In a sale, the buyer has a 10-day window to hire a professional to inspect or assess the property for lead-based paint hazards. This right applies to sales, not leases.¹ The parties can agree in writing to shorten or extend the period, and the buyer can waive the inspection entirely. The form includes a place to document that waiver.⁸

Waiving does not remove the seller’s obligation to disclose honestly. But it does mean the buyer loses the right to cancel the contract based on lead findings, so the choice should be deliberate, especially when a pre-1978 home will house young children.

Delivering the Form and Keeping It on File

Timing controls compliance. Every part of the disclosure process — handing over the pamphlet, sharing records, completing the form — must happen before the buyer or tenant becomes legally obligated under a purchase contract or lease.³ If a buyer has already submitted an offer before the disclosure is made, the seller must complete the disclosure before accepting that offer and give the buyer a chance to review and amend.⁴

Delivery can be physical or electronic. Every party should walk away with a signed copy. The seller then keeps the completed form for three years from the date the sale closes; landlords keep it for three years from the date the lease begins.³ Store the record somewhere you can find it. It is your proof of compliance if a dispute or audit comes up later.

What Happens If You Get It Wrong

Penalties break into three categories, and they can stack.

The EPA can impose civil penalties of up to $22,263 per violation after inflation adjustments.⁹ Each transaction where disclosure was missing or incomplete counts separately, so a landlord with many units can face cumulative fines quickly.

Buyers and tenants can also sue. Anyone who knowingly violates the disclosure requirements is liable for three times the actual damages the buyer or tenant suffered, plus attorney fees, expert witness fees, and court costs.⁸ If a child develops lead poisoning in a unit where the landlord concealed known hazards, that treble multiplier applies to medical costs and remediation expenses.

Knowing or willful violations can also trigger criminal prosecution under the Toxic Substances Control Act.³ Criminal cases are uncommon and tend to target egregious conduct, but they happen; the EPA has publicized cases where real estate agents were convicted of criminal misdemeanors for knowingly failing to provide the required disclosure, resulting in fines and restitution orders.¹⁰

1
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
2
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 – Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention in Certain Residential Structures
3
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
4
eCFR. 40 CFR 745.107 – Disclosure Requirements for Sellers and Lessors
5
US EPA. Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home (English)
6
US EPA. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X)
7
US EPA. EPA Releases Updated Resources to Ensure Renters and Buyers Are Informed – Lead
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
9
eCFR. 40 CFR 19.4 – Statutory Civil Monetary Penalties, as Adjusted for Inflation, and Tables
10
Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Enforces Lead Paint Laws