Lead inspection and certificate in Prince George’s County.
Get matched with an MDE-accredited lead inspector for your Prince George’s rental. Independent inspection, certificate filed with MDE, correction crews only if the unit fails.
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Prince George’s County has two distinct pre-1978 rental worlds. Inside the Beltway sit the streetcar suburbs along Route 1 and the Metro corridors: Mount Rainier, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park, and Cheverly, with 1920s bungalows, brick Cape Cods, and small apartment buildings. Then come the large post-war garden apartment communities of Langley Park, Suitland, Oxon Hill, and District Heights, built in the 1950s and 60s and still rented today. Both fall under Maryland’s Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing law.
The county runs its own rental licensing program alongside the state law, and the two work best when treated as one file: MDE registration, the current lead certificate, and the county license kept together per unit. MDE’s page Lead Registration for Landlords sets the state side: owners of rental homes built before 1978 must register, and must provide a valid lead inspection certificate at each tenant turnover unless the property is certified lead free.
The certificate itself comes from an MDE-accredited lead paint inspector, never from us. On this page you get matched with an independent inspector who covers Prince George’s County. If the unit fails, we arrange accredited correction crews at published prices and an independent re-test. If it is likely to pass as is, we say so before you spend anything beyond the inspection.
Inspection and certificate in Prince George’s, step by step
- Register the unit with MDE. Owners of rental homes built before 1978 must register (MDE, Lead Registration for Landlords). The Property Owner Compliance Summary sets the first deadline at 30 days after acquiring the property.
- Book an accredited inspector at notice. Only MDE-accredited inspection contractors can issue the certificate. We match you with one covering Prince George’s.
- Paint check, then dust wipes. The Full Risk Reduction standard is met by passing the lead-contaminated dust test, provided chipping, peeling or flaking paint has been removed or repainted inside and out. Samples come from each room and go to a qualified laboratory (MDE, Lead Paint Certificates for Rental Housing).
- Certificate filed with MDE.The inspector submits it through MDE’s Lead Rental Certification and Accreditation database; you keep a copy for the tenant file.
- If it fails, fix the listed components with accredited crews and re-test. Our failed inspection guide reads the report line by line, and the cost guide publishes correction prices.
Which test applies to which situation, how long each certificate lasts, and who must register are covered on the inspections guide. The certificate types and the turnover timeline are on the lead certificate page.
Areas we cover in Prince George’s
Hyattsville · Mount Rainier · Riverdale Park · College Park · Langley Park · Capitol Heights · District Heights · Suitland · Oxon Hill · Cheverly, and the neighborhoods between.
Garden apartment turnover in the Langley Park and Suitland corridors runs high, and the units share the same original steel casement or wood double-hung windows. Once one unit in a building has been brought to standard, the fix list for the rest is usually identical, which is where per-component pricing pays off.
What Prince George’s landlords ask
I have a county rental license. Does that cover the Maryland lead requirement?
No. The county license and the MDE lead registration are separate programs run by separate agencies. A pre-1978 rental needs both: MDE registration, which the Compliance Summary says is due within 30 days of acquiring the property, plus the turnover inspection certificate from an accredited inspector. Keep the county license and the MDE certificate in the same lease file so neither surprises you at renewal.
A tenant sent me a written complaint about peeling paint. What changes?
The trigger changes from turnover to notice. MDE’s Inspections for Rental Housing page describes the Modified Risk Reduction certification as a visual inspection plus a dust inspection, generally in an occupied unit, in response to defective paint notices or a high blood lead level in a child or pregnant woman. The Compliance Summary gives the owner 30 days after a Notice of Defect to either relocate the tenants to compliant housing or pass a dust test after accredited lead hazard reduction treatments.
Do 1970s units near the county line really need this?
If they were built before 1978 and someone pays rent, yes. The law draws the line at the year of construction, and MDE adds regardless of renovation history. The practical difference is that early 1970s stock often has fewer layers of leaded paint and passes the dust test more easily, so the cost is frequently the inspection alone. An XRF survey that finds no lead paint can earn a Lead Free certificate and end the cycle for that unit.
Who files the certificate with the state?
The inspector does. The MDE Compliance Summary says the accredited lead paint inspector is required to issue the certificate with supporting documentation to MDE through the Lead Rental Certification and Accreditation database, and the owner should request a copy for tenants and records. Under COMAR 26.16.02.03 a passing certificate is submitted within 10 calendar days of the inspector receiving the lab analysis.
Turnover coming up in Prince George’s?
Send the address. We confirm the property’s age and registration status, then match you with an independent MDE-accredited inspector.
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