Without insurance, there is little chance of recovering money for a child when a landlord has few resources. Property owners who have significant interests have found ways to legally distance themselves from problematic rentals, increasingly using LLCs to hide assets and identities. In 2019, for example, a Virginia family who received a $2 million judgment agreed to accept only $140,000 after the landlord, a major developer, evaded collection efforts.
As a result, plaintiffs’ attorneys — who often work on contingencies, recover costs and collect payments only when there’s a favorable verdict or settlement — are increasingly turning to lawsuits.
If it weren’t for the obstacles, “I’d still be appearing before juries,” said Richard Serpe, a lawyer who represented the Virginia family who stopped taking lead cases last year after working on them for three decades. “We’ve shifted the burden to the people least able to handle it, namely these children.”
The issue of lead poisoning has taken on new urgency: In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the threshold for identifying those at risk, meaning many more children will have elevated lead levels. In New York state alone, that number could nearly double, from about 6,000 new cases a year to about 11,500, according to health data reviewed by The Times.
Lead exposure is not considered safe, and even low levels have been shown to affect a child’s intelligence, learning and behavior, according to the CDC. Repercussions can be lifelong, and taxpayers end up paying a lot of the cost of care — billions of dollars a year for medical treatment and special education.
The ultimate goal is to solve the dangers of lead so that children are not exposed at all, which local, state and federal agencies are addressing with limited success. David Jacobs, chief scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, points out that there are remedies for dangerous properties and argues that landlords and insurers, who can provide or deny coverage, should play a role in solving problems. the problem. “We can’t afford to keep ignoring it – it costs too much and causes too much damage,” he said.
Some states have limited or are seeking to ban insurance exclusions — a bill is pending in New York — but the insurance and real estate industries have resisted such measures. Executives in those companies say demanding lead coverage would collapse the insurance market and drive up housing costs, without addressing the presence of lead paint before poisoning a child.
