Small children haven been known to eat paint chips and to even bite contaminated window sills. Authorities maintain, and data suggests, that lead can cause brain damage. Prudence therefore suggests that all home purchasers determine whether the home they are buying contains lead. It is very common practice for homes to be sold with contingencies. But there are few rules in real estate, only customs.
Parties are free to adjust their contracts as they deem fit.
In the last ten years there has been a tremendous amount of litigation nationwide over injuries allegedly attributed to lead contamination. Older paint manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been included in these mammoth cases, and plaintiffs' attorneys have collected a sizable war chest of shared information. Their clients, often people who came into prolonged contact with lead as children, are alleged to be suffering from irreversible brain damage. Home purchasers never are interested in buying into these kinds of horrifying lawsuits. They might therefore consider confronting this issue before the purchase.