Mayo Group, EPA reach settlement

LYNN – Boston-based Mayo Group, which has substantial Lynn real estate holdings, reached a settlement Friday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the company’s failure to provide tenants with proper lead paint disclosures.However, the Mayo Group on Tuesday issued a statement purporting that the action between the company and the federal government “arose entirely from the failure of some of our rental staff to adequately obtain signed lead paint disclosure forms from our tenants. When this inadequacy was discovered, the Mayo Group took immediate action to remedy the situation,” according to Taran Grigsby, Mayo Group’s corporate counsel.The EPA issued a $28,301 fine for lead paint disclosure violations, which the Mayo Group was to pay as part of a settlement. The company also agreed to spend $152,420 to replace 157 windows containing lead-based paint at 137-149 and 161 Broad St.Grigsby described the situation as a “paperwork violation” and the result of a “based solely upon a clerical error” on the part of Mayo Group staff members.Under the lead paint laws of 1978, property owners must inform renters that toxic hazards in the apartment or in common areas of the building have been encapsulated or otherwise abated. The environmental report must be attached to the form that the renter must sign in acknowledgement. The law also prohibits landlords from renting to tenants with children under age 6 if the premises contain lead paint.”Again, at no time were any of our tenants in the affected buildings exposed to lead paint,” said Grigsby. “Once this error was uncovered, the Mayo Group moved quickly and forcibly to fully comply with the law.”Grigsby said the Mayo Group has rectified the problem “and will now move to replace the affected windows in Lynn as required by our agreement. Most importantly, we will stand behind our buildings as clean, safe and well-managed homes for working people and their families.”