Landlord Didn't Falsely Certify Correction of Violations

HPD issued seven lead paint violations to landlord for tenant's apartment. Landlord later certified that the violations were corrected. HPD then sued landlord, claiming false certification. Landlord claimed that the conditions had been cleared. The court ruled for landlord and dismissed the case. Landlord had hired a lead abatement contractor to fix the lead-based paint conditions. The president of the contracting company testified that his employees removed all of the wood surfaces containing lead from the apartment and replaced them with new baseboards, window frames, and door frames. The contractor also testified that he had been a lead abatement contractor for 14 years and that he had gone to the site to inspect the work done. An independent inspector then inspected the apartment and also found that the lead paint conditions had been abated. An HPD inspection found the opposite. But HPD's finding was based on a visual inspection only, and no one with personal knowledge of HPD's inspection testified at trial. Landlord's witnesses had visited the apartment and also submitted lab reports supporting their claim that lead paint had been removed from the apartment.

HPD v. 528-538 W. 159 St. LLC: NYLJ, 6/7/06, p. 26, col. 1 (Civ. Ct. NY; Capella, J)