HUD AND EPA ANNOUNCE LEGAL SETTLEMENT WITH L.A. LANDLORDS
Companies agree to pay $125,000

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced legal settlements with twelve Los Angeles-area property owners and one property management company, represented in negotiations by Lance J. Robbins. The government alleges these associated companies failed to inform tenants their homes might contain potentially dangerous levels of lead in violation of federal disclosure rules.

Through this settlement, Brick Investment Corporation, as general partner for eight companies, and 7th Street Associates, Inc., as a signatory itself as well as general partner for four additional companies, have agreed to pay a total civil fine of $125,000 and certify that they are now in full compliance with the Lead Disclosure Rule.

�Landlords have a legal responsibility to tell their tenants if their homes may contain hazardous lead,� said HUD Deputy Secretary Roy A. Bernardi. �This agreement should remind all landlords that the federal government will do everything it can to protect the health and safety of children.�

Wayne Nastri, administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region, said, "Lead poisoning is a serious health threat for children around the country. Today's settlement illustrates that we will aggressively protect our young children, and our most sensitive populations from lead poisoning. Further, we plan to continue to enforce lead disclosure laws until childhood lead poisoning is eliminated."

Background

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 and the Lead Disclosure Rule implementing the Act require home sellers and landlords of housing built before 1978 to disclose to purchasers and tenants knowledge of lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards using a disclosure form, signed by both parties, attached to the sales contract or lease containing the required lead warning statement, provide any available records or reports, and give an EPA-approved pamphlet entitled �Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home.�

Health Effects of Lead-Based Paint

Lead exposure causes reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, reduced height, poorer hearing, and a host of other health problems in young children. Many of these effects are thought to be irreversible. In later years, lead-poisoned children are much more likely to drop out of school, become juvenile delinquents and engage in criminal and other anti-social behavior. As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that even at low levels, lead exposure in children can significantly impact IQ and even delay puberty in young girls.

At higher levels, lead can damage a child's kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 310,000 of the nation's 20 million children under the age of six have blood lead levels high enough to impair their ability to think, concentrate and learn.

Eliminating lead-based paint hazards in older low-income housing is essential if childhood lead poisoning is to be eradicated. According to CDC estimates, the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels has been cut by two-thirds since the early 1990's, although the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning in low-income, older housing without Federal assistance remains high. HUD estimates that the number of houses with lead paint has declined from 64 million in 1990 to 38 million in 2000. About 24 million homes have significant lead-based paint hazards.

The following Los Angeles corporations are covered under today's settlement:

* All properties are managed by 7th Street Associates, Inc.