8 landlords fined $240,000 by MDE

I can't wait until this issue is over with. Maryland and Baltimore require lead based paint tests mostly for an additional source of revenue, just started 2 years ago. They are a pain and can be very expensive. My rental unit was completely renovated, yet every year when I get a new tenent I have to go through the same process. Remember to check the inspector credentials, my last inspector charged me $300 and then I got a notice from Baltimore saying the test was invalid and had to do it again, because the inspector wasn't official.

If lead based paint is still an issue in any of these houses, most likely the house is in very poor shape and probably should be condemed. It's been 30 years!

I own rental property in Baltimore City and I live in Baltimore City, so I understand the state's issue regarding lead paint reduction.
Blaming landlords for old paint isn't going to change the failures of indigent mothers who don't feed their children resulting in children gnawing on the windowsills eventually ingesting lead paint from 10 paint jobs ago. The state's lead paint reduction program doesn't require removing the lead paint that is underneath today's non-lead paint; it requires that the current paint job not be scraped or have holes. That means that people have got to be responsible for their own behavior -- this applies to tenants AND landlords. I have met the lead paint reduction requirements; now I expect indigent parents to do their part and feed their children.
I don't rent to people with children, mostly because my apartments are 1BR, not because I am afraid of a lead paint lawsuit. But the governnment can only go so far in regulating behavior -- my behavior as a landlord has been regulated in the form of a revenue-producing program for lead paint inspectors and the State's fees. Now, where's the expectation for the tenant to not scrape walls?
The landlords who were fined because they didn't meet the requirements must be out of touch because the lead paint reduction program has been publicized for 10 years, alerting everyone to the final date last spring.

No animal except the famous Baltimore Dope eats paint chips. Eating lead paint is Darwins theory at work. Eat up Baltimore.

Incorrect.

Aim is to insure that the property is in compliance with State law which is more inclusive.