Southwest Fair Housing

Help from your City! by Scott Wilson

   The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City of Tucson are working together to help eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the U.S. by 2010. In order to achieve this goal, HUD gave a 3 million-dollar grant to the City of Tucson to offer complimentary lead paint inspections, housing rehabilitation and blood lead level medical screening for children. Check below to see if you are eligible for one of these complimentary services!

If you are a homeowner or tenant living with Tucson city limits in housing built pre-1978, have at least one child under the age of 6 living in or regularly visiting that housing, and meet the income restrictions below, call 520-798-1568 now!

If you are a landlord in the City of Tucson with tenants that meet these income restrictions and your units are pre-1978, call 520-798-15678 now!

# in Family				Income
1				25,000-30,800
2				31,000-35,200
3				36,000-39,600
4				40,000-44,000
5				45,000-47,500
6				48,000-51,050
7				52,000-54,550
8				55,000-58,100

For information on the actual processes of assessment and rehabilitation, you may also wish to contact Karla Timmons at 520-837-5330 or Scott Wilson at 520-837-5318 for more details. You may also visit the website at:

http://www.tucsonaz.gov/csd/Housing_Programs/Rental/LHCP%20022608.pdf

Fair Housing and Lead-based Paint

Does a housing provider have the right to deny housing to a family with young children if the housing unit has potential lead hazards? NO! This would be a violation of the Fair Housing Act! Even though lead-based paint can be extremely hazardous to families with young children, it is still ILLEGAL for a landlord to decide whether or not housing is suitable for you and your family. It is required that a landlord provide information about lead-based paint to anyone occupying a unit built before 1978 that has not undergone lead hazard control treatments, but they cannot tell you that you and your family should not live there.

The Lead Hazard Control Program in Tucson

Welcome to the Lead Hazard Control Program's Weblog! On this site, you will find notices of current lead awareness events going on in Tucson, as well as helpful facts about the hazards of lead and lead poisoning.

So, what is lead? Lead is a highly toxic substance that was used in paints and gasoline. If ingested, this substance is extremely harmful to the human body.

Where is lead found? Lead-based paint was commonly used on homes prior to 1978 on both the interior and exterior of the house. Also, leaded gasoline caused dangerous emissions from motorvehicles. Today, even though the use of lead is prohibited, it can still be present in homes built before 1978, bare dirt, ceramics, some drinking water, hair dyes, cosmetics, toys, and a variety of other places.

How can I check my home for lead? It is very important to check your home and the surrounding area for the presence of lead. It is possible to buy a home-test kit from here or from your local hardware store. Remember, even an amount equivalent to a grain of salt is enough lead to read as an "elevated blood lead level."