FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 9, 2026

CONTACT: 

Shannon Holfoth, sholfoth@gmail.com, 716-913-5071

Safe Housing Advocates Argue Appeal in Lead Paint Inspections Lawsuit Against City of Buffalo

Rochester, N.Y. – Advocates for safe housing conditions argued their appeal today before the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in their lawsuit against the City of Buffalo to compel the full implementation of the Proactive Rental Inspections (PRI) Law.

The PRI law, adopted in 2020 by City lawmakers, established a mandatory duty for the City to conduct lead paint inspections and inspect for other health hazards. The law also requires landlords to obtain certificates of rental compliance (CRCs). Four local community organizations and four Buffalo residents initially filed a lawsuit on July 10, 2024, after the City failed to enforce the law and carry out the mandatory inspections required by the City’s own legislation. 

Attorneys from the law firm Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford LLC, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice and the WNY Law Center took on the case on behalf of the Partnership for Public Good (PPG), PUSH Buffalo, Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) and the Center for Elder Law and Justice, along with four city residents exposed to substandard housing conditions.

“This case shows that it's not enough to get a new law passed, you also have to make sure it's actually implemented,” said Matthew Parham, Director of Litigation and Advocacy, WNY Law Center. “In 2020 the City changed the law to require proactive inspections of every property in its rental registry, to root out lead and other unsafe conditions from the rental housing market. Even though the law changed, in practice the City just kept doing what it always did, choosing which properties to inspect and doing a handful of inspections every year. Because most properties are still never inspected, lead and other unhealthy conditions continue to plague Buffalo tenants.”

In January 2025, State Supreme Court Justice Michael Siragusa granted the City’s motion to dismiss the case. In their appeal, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the City’s failure to conduct mandatory lead paint inspections of rental properties violates both the PRI law and the Green Amendment, which guarantees the right to clean air, water and a healthful environment.

“We believe the lower court made errors in its reading of the PRI law, the Green Amendment and the petitioners’ claims,” said Carmela Huang, Senior Attorney, National Center for Law and Economic Justice. “If allowed to stand, this dismissal would fail to protect Buffalo residents and violate an amendment to the New York State Constitution that was voted on by the people of New York. The City has a mandatory duty to perform inspections of rental properties for lead paint and other health hazards.”

The Partnership for the Public Good, along with several other community partners, lobbied for the Proactive Rental Inspections Law years before it was enacted, and celebrated with City leaders when the law passed.

“Despite the City’s robust promotion of the passage of this law back in 2020, the City failed to carry out the required inspections, leaving many residents stuck in substandard rental housing conditions and leaving more children subject to the life-altering impacts of lead poisoning,” said Sarah Wooton, Interim Executive Director, Partnership for the Public Good.

From 2021 to 2023, 1,262 children in the City of Buffalo were confirmed to have high levels of lead in their blood. Most children who have elevated blood lead levels live in single and double-unit rentals — the same units that are supposed to be inspected under this law.

"Our homes should not hurt us,” said Dawn Wells Clyburn, Executive Director, PUSH Buffalo. “And yet, due to the city’s negligence, too many Buffalo renters are forced to contend with conditions that most homeowners and landlords wouldn’t put up with in their own homes: black mold, lead paint, poor insulation, broken windows, rodents, the list goes on. Do you want to live with that? Neither do we. The City of Buffalo owes its residents the satisfaction of healthy homes with proper, lawful inspections.”

To protect renters in Buffalo, the groups involved in the lawsuit vowed to continue to advocate to compel the City to follow its own law and enforce its health and safety codes for rental housing.

“The Proactive Rental Inspection Law’s proper enforcement is critical to ensure the health and safety of the residents living in rental housing throughout the City of Buffalo,” said Amy Gathings, Esq., Director of Impact Litigation for the Center for Elder Law & Justice. “Our eviction defense attorneys are overwhelmed with cases involving units that should be covered by this law where our clients have complaints about property conditions that threaten health and safety. These deplorable conditions include interior lead paint, inoperable furnaces and hot water tanks, leaking ceilings, rotting floors, insect and rodent infestation, broken and backed up sewer piping, black mold, exposed electrical wiring, and other dangerous conditions. Tenants frequently fear retaliation for speaking up and are forced to live with their children in dangerous conditions – a situation that would be prevented if the City enforced the PRI legislation it passed.”