Lead Safety Compliance Early Bird Matching Grant Announced

The City of Toledo, Department of Neighborhoods, launched a new grant program today to help property owners become compliant with the city’s Residential Rental Properties and Lead Safety Compliance law, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced.

Early Bird Matching Grants are designed to incentivize owners to comply early with the law’s five-year phase-in to improve the health and wellbeing of tenants and avoid fines.

The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block Grant. Owners who are qualified may receive up to 50 percent of certain costs to become compliant under the law as a reimbursable matching grant, up to a maximum of $5,000 per unit.

Funds are limited, so grants will be awarded to eligible applicants on a first-come, first-served basis. In the event funds are exhausted, remaining applicants will be placed on a waiting list. Properties must be compliant with Toledo Municipal Code 1760, which is commonly referred to as the city lead ordinance. The unit must successfully pass a local lead inspection, receive a lead-safe certificate (5 or 20 years) from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and be registered with up-to-date information on the Lucas County Auditor’s Rental Registry.

“Toledo is committed to protecting its children from the horrific effects of lead-paint poisoning,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “We know this work will not be easy — but it is work we must do in order to build the future we want our children to inherit. I want to thank all of our many community partners for joining the City of Toledo in this work. County Auditor Anita Lopez deserves particular praise for using the tools of her office to allow easy online rental registration. This is the sort of cooperation and commitment we will need in order to reach the goal of making Toledo lead-safe.”

More information on the new grant, and the application, can be found at ToledoLeadSafe.com/match.

The lead-safe law requires rental properties with four units or fewer built before 1978, and family child-care homes built before 1978, to obtain lead-safe certificates. The law has a five-year compliance schedule, with the first and most at-risk properties required to be certified by June 30, 2022, and all to reach compliance by Dec. 31, 2026. The deadline to complete the rental registration is June 30, 2021. More information can be found atToledoLeadSafe.com.

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