Lead Paint Disclosure for St. Louis Sellers

If the house was built before 1978, federal lead-paint rules are part of the sale whether you list it, sell it yourself, or sell it as-is to a cash buyer. Missouri disclosure statutes are a different stack. Occupancy is a third stack. Sellers mix the three together and then ask whether “as-is” lets them skip the pamphlet. It does not.

I am David Dodge, Senior Buyer at House Sold Easy. Michael Slane and I buy St. Louis houses as-is for cash, including old brick that has not been painted in a generation. Typical close is about two weeks when title is ready. We typically cover our standard closing costs. Call 636-525-1566. We are not your attorney and this is not legal advice. Read the EPA pages. Hire counsel if the file is odd.

The matching Missouri statute post is Missouri seller disclosure rules in plain English. The matching as-is pages are sell your house as-is in St. Louis and can I sell a house as-is in Missouri?. If the house is simply dated (pink tile, old paneling, a kitchen that stopped in 1974) also see old and outdated.

What EPA Section 1018 actually requires

Congress put the rule in Section 1018 of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. EPA explains it on two official pages you should open, not a flyer from a contractor:

EPA states that before a homebuyer signs a contract, sellers (and landlords, agents, and property managers on the rental side) must, for most pre-1978 housing:

Disclose any known information about the presence of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards, including location and the condition of painted surfaces when that is known.
Provide all available records and reports on lead-based paint and hazards in the housing being sold. In a multi-unit building, that includes common areas and other units from building-wide evaluations.
Give the buyer a copy of the pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.
Include a Lead Warning Statement (as an attachment or as language inserted into the contract) explaining, among other things, that lead from paint can pose health hazards if not managed properly. EPA says this should be in the same language as the rest of the contract.
Give homebuyers a 10-day period to conduct a paint inspection or risk assessment. The parties may mutually agree in writing to lengthen or shorten that period. Homebuyers may waive the inspection opportunity.

EPA also says to keep a signed copy of the disclosures for three years after the sale is completed.

St. Louis has a lot of pre-1978 brick. That is an observation about the housing stock you can see from a South City sidewalk. It is not a statistic.

Who is exempt: only what EPA lists

EPA says the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule does not apply to:

Zero-bedroom units, such as efficiencies, lofts, and dormitories, unless a child under the age of six lives or is expected to live in the housing
Leases for 100 days or less, such as vacation houses or short-term rentals where no lease renewal or extension can occur
Housing specifically for the elderly or persons with disabilities, unless a child under the age of six resides or is expected to reside in such housing
Housing in which painted surfaces have been tested by a certified lead-based paint inspector or risk assessor and found to be lead-based paint free
Foreclosure sales
Housing built after 1977

If you think you are in an exemption, read the EPA pages and confirm the facts. A one-bedroom brick bungalow built in 1928 is not a zero-bedroom unit. A cash sale to us is not a foreclosure sale. “I never saw lead” is not the same as a certified inspector finding the painted surfaces lead-based paint free.

Target housing is most pre-1978 private housing, public housing, federally owned housing, and housing receiving federal assistance. EPA’s own sentence. If your house is 1978 or newer, Section 1018 is not the packet you are in. You may still have Missouri disclosure duties on other topics.

As-is does not waive the federal packet

As-is is a condition term. It means the buyer takes the house without a repair obligation from you after the contract. It is not a federal waiver. You still disclose known lead-based paint and hazards. You still hand over the records you have. You still give the pamphlet. The contract still needs the Lead Warning Statement. The buyer still gets the inspection opportunity unless the buyer waives it.

On our cash purchases, the walkthrough is about thirty minutes. We price the house we see. We do not need you to paint, encapsulate, or replace windows first. We still expect the file to include the federal papers the closer requires on a pre-1978 house. Title will tell you what that looks like on your closing. We will not coach you to skip a statute.

If you have an old inspection, a risk assessment, or a letter from the City about lead, give it to us. Hiding a report you already have is the opposite of the EPA rule.

Missouri’s own written-disclosure statutes (methamphetamine production, known radioactive or hazardous contamination, and the “psychologically impacted” rule) are on the disclosure post. Lead is federal. Do not treat a realtor booklet as a substitute for Section 1018, and do not treat Section 1018 as a substitute for those Missouri sections.

Occupancy is a separate inspection

A City Housing Conservation certificate, or a municipal occupancy punch list, can mention peeling paint. That inspection is not the EPA pamphlet and it is not a certified lead inspection unless the paper says it is.

City rules live on the official residential occupancy / Housing Conservation page. Unincorporated County occupancy is a County process. Other municipalities run their own programs. Read St. Louis occupancy and inspection permits and selling in St. Louis City vs County.

A listed buyer’s lender may want occupancy cleared. A cash buyer can often still close while an occupancy file is open. Who scrapes the peeling paint on a punch list is a contract question. It is not an EPA abatement order unless an agency issued one. If you have an actual enforcement letter, bring it. Do not guess.

What a cash sale looks like on an older St. Louis house

Call or send the address. We ask the year built if you know it, what you know about paint and prior reports, and whether anyone under six lives there, not because we are the EPA, but because it helps us understand the file. David or Mike walks the house. You get a written offer. You pick the closing date when title is ready.

We buy within about 75 miles of St. Louis. Pre-1978 brick in the City, inner-ring bungalows, and older County houses are ordinary inventory for us, not a special program. How it works. Payment is usually one to two business days after closing.

You do not have to remodel a 1912 four-square to sell it to us. You do have to tell the truth about what you know. If you do not know whether the paint contains lead, say you do not know. Known information is what EPA asks you to disclose. Inventing a clean bill of health is not disclosure.

We have done this since 2016. 1,000+ houses. Google shows 4.7 from 65+ reviews. Office: 1750 S Brentwood Blvd, Suite 503, Brentwood, MO 63144.

What this post will not do

It will not estimate abatement. It will not say what share of St. Louis houses have lead. It will not tell you a child will or will not be harmed in your specific house, that is a medical and inspection question, not a cash-offer question. It will not treat a foreclosure exemption as a trick for a voluntary sale. It will not tell you as-is means “no paperwork.”

If you want the official pamphlet and sample disclosure forms, use the EPA pages linked above. They publish English and Spanish samples. Use those, or the forms your title company or attorney provides that implement the same rule.

Common questions

Does as-is skip lead-paint disclosure?

No. As-is is about repairs. Section 1018 is about disclosure, records, the pamphlet, the warning statement, and the inspection opportunity.

My house is a South City brick from the 1920s. Do I have to test?

What if I already have a lead report?

Provide it. EPA says to provide all available records and reports.

Is City occupancy the same as the EPA rule?

No. Occupancy is a local inspection. Lead disclosure is federal. Do both when both apply.

We are selling after a foreclosure we bought. Are we exempt?

EPA lists foreclosure sales as an exemption. A later resale by the person who bought at foreclosure is a different sale. Read the EPA page and ask counsel.

Who do I call to sell as-is anyway?

636-525-1566. David Dodge or Michael Slane.

Lead-Paint Disclosure When Selling a St. Louis House