What Can You Do If Your Rental Has Asbestos?

Asbestos that is intact and will not be disturbed can usually stay where it is; EPA advises leaving it alone and checking it for damage over time. Damaged material, or material that a repair or renovation will disturb, should be sealed, covered, or removed by a trained, accredited professional, and you should have an accredited inspector sample it first. Before work begins, federal safety rules require you to find out where asbestos is and tell the contractors, and buildings with 5 or more units also need an asbestos inspection before any renovation or demolition.

Can asbestos stay in place?

Usually, yes. Asbestos harms people when its fibers get into the air and are breathed in, which happens when the material is damaged, crumbling, or handled, hit, or rubbed. EPA says material in good condition that will not be disturbed generally does not need testing or removal.

Common places to find it in older rentals are pipe and boiler insulation, sprayed or troweled ceiling and wall coatings, and vinyl or asphalt floor tiles. Federal safety rules presume pipe insulation and sprayed or troweled coatings in buildings built in 1980 or earlier contain asbestos, and treat vinyl and asphalt flooring installed by 1980 the same way, unless testing shows otherwise.

Signs of damage include tears, abrasions, water damage, crumbling drywall, and insulation falling apart. Removal is not always the safer choice: EPA notes that improper removal can increase exposure.

Who should inspect and remove it?

Hire two separate firms. An asbestos inspector takes samples for lab analysis and gives you a written report on location, extent of damage, and recommended fixes. A licensed asbestos contractor does the repair or removal. EPA recommends that the firm assessing the problem not be connected to the firm doing the work, to avoid a conflict of interest.

Before hiring, ask for proof of federal or state-approved training and accreditation for each worker, and check the company's record with your state or local air pollution and worker safety agencies. Federal law does not require accreditation for work on detached single-family homes, but some states and localities do, and state agencies keep lists of accredited professionals.

Require the contractor to:

1. Seal off the work area with plastic sheeting and duct tape, and turn off heating and air conditioning.
2. Post the area as a hazard and keep tenants and pets out until the job is done.
3. Wet the material, avoid breaking it into small pieces, and seal waste in labeled bags.
4. Clean up with wet methods or HEPA vacuums, never a regular vacuum.
5. Give you written assurance at the end that all required procedures were followed.

Do not sample it yourself, and tell maintenance staff not to sand, saw, scrape, or drill suspect material, sand vinyl flooring, or sweep or dust up debris that may contain asbestos.

What rules apply before renovation or demolition?

Two federal rules apply, and they cover different buildings.

Worker safety rules (OSHA) apply to any building where contractors or your employees work. Before work starts, the building owner must determine the presence, location, and quantity of asbestos-containing or presumed material in the work area. You must then tell contractors bidding on the job, your own employees, other employers on site, and commercial tenants who will occupy areas containing the material. OSHA interprets this tenant-notification requirement as excluding residential tenants. The notice can be written or in person; in writing gives you a record.

EPA's air pollution rule for asbestos covers renovation and demolition of most buildings but excludes residential buildings with 4 or fewer units. For a building with 5 or more units:

• The owner or operator must thoroughly inspect the affected part of the building for asbestos before any renovation or demolition.
• Notice to your state or local air agency is required at least 10 working days before any demolition, and before a renovation that will disturb at least 260 linear feet of regulated asbestos-containing material on pipes, 160 square feet on other surfaces, or 35 cubic feet of material off building components whose length or area could not previously be measured. Regulated asbestos-containing material includes material with more than 1% asbestos that can crumble under hand pressure when dry, plus certain firmer materials that have been or will be sanded, ground, cut, or worn away, or have crumbled or are likely to crumble during the work.

Call your state or local air agency before you schedule the work, since it receives the federal notice and can tell you about any added local requirements.

Do you have to warn tenants about asbestos?

Federal law has no lease-signing asbestos form like the federal lead paint disclosure.

Some states go further. California's tenant guide says landlords of properties built before 1981 must disclose asbestos whenever they discover or reasonably suspect it, and our California lease disclosures guide lists that notice with the state's other required disclosures. Even where no statute requires it, a written notice of known asbestos, with the location and a request that tenants not drill, sand, or hang items on it, gives you a record that you warned them. If the building also has old paint, the lead rules are separate and stricter; see what to do if your rental has lead.

What if a tenant says the unit is uninhabitable because of asbestos?

Treat the complaint as a repair request and answer it with facts:

1. Respond in writing and schedule an inspection by an accredited inspector, and ask whether air testing is needed.
2. Limit exposure right away. If material is crumbling, keep people out of that area until it is assessed.
3. Share the report with the tenant. If the material is intact and not a hazard, the written report is your evidence. If it is damaged, give the tenant the repair plan and dates.
4. Fix it with a licensed contractor and, if the work area is inside the unit, arrange for the tenant to stay elsewhere during the job.
5. Keep the file: the complaint, your reply, the report, the contract, the contractor's completion statement, and any clearance air test.

If you do not act, the tenant's remedies depend on your state. In California, a tenant facing a serious health and safety defect can, after notice and a reasonable time, use repair and deduct (for repairs costing no more than one month's rent in total, no more than twice in 12 months), withhold rent, or move out, and you cannot retaliate with an eviction or rent increase. Other states' rules are in whether a tenant can move out due to bad conditions, and your general repair duty is in how much maintenance and repair the law requires.

Asbestos is one of several hazards you are responsible for; your key liabilities as a landlord covers the rest.