Lead-Safe Services of Greater Cleveland
Assisting landlords and homeowners to make homes lead-safe

Grants

Grant amounts increased significant in December 2022

Overview

The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition has raised $110 million to assist owners to make their properties lead-safe. These resources are divided into two buckets.

  1. Incentive fees tied to obtaining a Lead Safe Certificate (or a 20-year Lead-Free Exemption)

  2. Grants and loans to write the specs and perform the work to make a property lead-safe.

Incentives to comply with the Lead Safe Certification law

Environmental Health Watch (EHW) administers these incentive fee payments. The amount of the incentive is $750 for each unit that receives a lead-safe certificate and $1,000 for each unit that receives a lead-free exemption. Payments are capped at 12 units per zip code up to a maximum of 50 units citywide. EHW recently changed its policy. The good news… incentive fee payments are now available for BOTH the initial certification AND the first recertification. The bad news… for multifamily buildings, the fee is only paid for the units that were actually tested rather than for all the units in the building.

After an owner receives the Lead Safe Certificate (or exemption letter) from the City of Cleveland, this needs to be submitted to EHW, along with a W-9 form and proof that your real estate tax payments are current. To learn more about applying, call 833-601-5323. To apply, e-mail incentives@ehw.org. You will receive an automated response with a link to the online application. The amount of the incentive fee is much more than the cost of the original inspection — at least if you utilize my services!

Grants and loans to complete lead-safe work

CHN Housing Partners administers these funds. CHN provides turn-key services, including spec writing, hiring the contractor(s),closing out the job and conducting the final clearance exam.

All owners that are current on their taxes can obtain grants of $4,500 per unit to cover the cost of work, regardless of income. Income-qualified owners can receive grants of $20,000 per unit (a running average). The URL for CHN’s Lead Program is https://chnhousingpartners.org/lead/ and their phone number is 844-614-LEAD (5323).

The CHN application is designed for low-income owners rather than for rental property owners and their LLC ownership entity. Some of my clients who own properties through an LLC have tried to apply, but have given up after months of effort. CHN has stated that it understands this problem and plans to change the application.

A final note (and disclaimer)

The above information is provided as a courtesy to my clients. CHN and EHW administer these resources, and will provide the most complete and current information about these grant resources.

The difference between lead safe and lead free

Lead Safe means that on the date of the inspection, there was no deteriorated paint, and more important, no lead dust (or chips) had fallen to a horizontal surface (such as floors, windowsills, soil, etc.) that could be hazardous to people, and especially to children under age 6 who frequently play on the floor and put their hands in their mouths..

Lead Free means that there is no lead-based paint in the residential structure, or if there is one or more layers of lead-based paint, these areas have been covered with a material that is designed to last for 20+ years. Examples of such enclosure materials include vinyl siding, aluminum coil stock, drywall, and plywood over a porch floor.