New York Attorney General Letitia James, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh filed a lawsuit on Monday against Syracuse landlord Todd L. Hobbs and his companies — TLH Holdings LLC and TLH Properties LLC — for what they claim are repeated and persistent violations of lead safety laws at more than a dozen rental properties in and around Syracuse. The lawsuit claims that between 2016 and the present, there were 413 violations of lead safety laws at 19 different properties owned by Hobbs, and at least 11 children were poisoned by lead while living at those properties.
In the complaint filed on Monday, Attorney General James, County Executive McMahon, and Mayor Walsh seek to require Hobbs to pay substantial penalties and thousands in restitution to the impacted families and disgorge all ill-gotten profits, such as rent payments. They are also seeking an order to stop Hobbs’ harmful housing practices and require him to inspect every unit for lead hazards on a regular basis; swiftly remediate all lead exposure risks in a safe manner; and provide tenants with legal and accurate lead disclosures.
Lead is a highly toxic metal that can cause serious and irreversible adverse health effects. Children who have been exposed to even very low levels of lead are at risk for neurological and physical problems during critical stages of early development. In fact, no lead level in children has been identified as safe. Children under the age of six are more likely to be exposed to lead than any other age group, as their normal behaviors have resulted in chewing lead paint chips, and breathing in or swallowing dust from old lead paint that gets on floors, windowsills, and hands.
Lead-based paint in residential housing is a pervasive problem in Syracuse because 81 percent of the housing stock was built before lead-based paint was banned in New York in 1970. Lead poisoning in Onondaga County is highest among children of color, the majority of whom live in Syracuse. In 2022, 510 children in Onondaga County had elevated levels of lead in their blood, and 90 percent of those children lived in Syracuse. More than 11 percent of the Black children tested in 2021 had elevated blood lead levels, compared to just two percent of white children tested. According to city and county records, all of Hobbs’ rental properties were built prior to 1960.
Since 2014, Hobbs has owned and managed at least 62 rental properties with at least 91 individual residential units in the Syracuse area, primarily rented by low-income families of color. Despite being cited numerous times for hundreds of lead paint violations, Hobbs failed to properly address lead-based paint hazards at his rental properties.
Hobbs routinely violated city, county, state, and federal laws by allowing lead paint to deteriorate, and further violated regulations dictating how to safely repair lead paint hazards and communicate risks to tenants. Hobbs’ properties have frequently been cited for chipping and peeling paint, as well as other conditions conducive to lead poisoning. Hobbs regularly failed to supervise and ensure that workers used mandatory, lead safe work practices and that tenants were properly notified, warned, and protected from lead hazards while work was being done. As a result, lead dust and lead-based paint chips were often left in living areas, which is extremely dangerous to residents, especially children, who could ingest or inhale them. Hobbs also repeatedly failed to provide tenants with accurate lead disclosures upon renting and did not warn residents of lead hazards associated with renovations.
The complaint alleges that, because Hobbs failed to prevent and properly remedy these hazards, at least 11 children suffered lead poisoning while living at his properties. The lawsuit seeks full disgorgement of all ill-gotten profits, such as rent payments received, and penalties of up to $5,000 for every false, misleading, or non-existent lead disclosure Hobbs provided to tenants over the years. Attorney General James is also seeking thousands of dollars in restitution for the families of every child poisoned by lead while living at a Hobbs property.
The lawsuit also seeks robust injunctive relief to swiftly identify and eliminate lead paint hazards at all Hobbs properties in an order requiring Hobbs to:
- Immediately correct all existing lead paint-related violations cited by the City or County that are past their respective deadlines;
- Require a lead-based paint risk assessment at each of Hobbs’ residences through a third-party Environmental Protection Agency-certified risk assessor approved by OAG;
- Create a Lead Safe Work Plan for removing and/or remediating all conditions conducive to lead poisoning following the inspection;
- Promptly make any renovations necessary using EPA-certified lead-based paint professionals and properly trained and certified workers; and
- Hire an independent monitor to supervise and report to OAG on the defendants’ compliance.
“No parent should have to question whether their children are safe living in their own homes,” said Attorney General James. “By failing to properly address lead paint hazards, Todd Hobbs betrayed his tenants’ trust and put families’ health and well-being in danger. In New York and nationwide, children of color and their families are exposed to lead paint at disproportionate and alarming rates. We have fought to address this public health crisis across the state, and we will continue to go after landlords who flout our lead safety laws so all children can grow up in healthy homes.”
“Syracuse is fighting against lead contamination every day. I am grateful to Attorney General James and her team for helping us hold bad landlords accountable and forcing them to provide safe housing,” said Syracuse Mayor Walsh. “We will not accept property owners profiting while children and families suffer from lead poisoning. With the help of Onondaga County and the state, we will keep going after dangerous landlords to protect our most vulnerable.”
