We are fielding a lot of questions about the lead paint form snafu.  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) rolled out an imperfect new lead form, and now has agreed to a period where agents may use either the old or new lead paint forms to comply with disclosure requirements. If you use the old forms, you remain in compliance and will not have to update the form in the future for the same property/owner when the “revised version” is eventually released.  While both forms area available in your forms library platforms, we do suggest you consider returning to the old, tried and true form that don’t have glaring errors.  For background, the new form issues identified are:

• General Typos
• References to tenant when it should be buyer,
• Intermixing “Owner/Lessor” and “Seller” to indicate the same parties
• Concerns about a seller having to determine the difference between a property having “lead paint” and, additionally having “lead paint hazards”.
• Where the buyer’s agent is asked to signoff that they have “informed the seller of the seller’s obligations …”. No!  The buyer’s agent should only be sharing information with their own buyer clients. No agent should contact a client of anther agent, without the agent’s express consent. Article 16 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics strictly prohibits interference with the exclusive representation or brokerage agreements that other REALTORS® have with their clients.