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Without insurance, a child has little chance of getting their money back when a homeowner has few resources. Owners of substantial assets have found ways to legally distance themselves from troubled leases by increasingly using LLCs to conceal their assets and identities. In 2019, for example, a Virginia family with a $2 million court order agreed to only accept $140,000 after its homeowner, a major developer, avoided collection efforts.
As a result, lawyers for litigants who often collect contingencies, reimbursement, and payment only if there is a favorable decision or settlement are increasingly refusing to sue.
“I would still be standing before juries,” said Richard Serpe, an attorney who represents the Virginia family and stopped taking lead cases last year after working on it for three decades, if it weren’t for the obstacles. “We shifted the load to the people who could least handle it, namely these kids.”
The issue of lead poisoning took on a new urgency: In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the threshold for identifying those at risk, meaning more children will have high lead levels. In New York State alone, that number would nearly double from about 6,000 new cases per year to about 11,500, according to health data reviewed by The Times.
Exposure to lead is considered unsafe, and even low levels have been shown to affect a child’s intelligence, learning ability, and behavior. according to HKM The effects can last a lifetime, and taxpayers cost of care – billions of dollars per year for medical treatment and special education.
The ultimate goal is to correct lead hazards so that children are not exposed at all, which local, state and federal agencies have addressed with limited success. David Jacobs, chief scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, points out that there are known remedies for dangerous properties and argues that homeowners and insurers who can provide or refuse coverage should play a role in solving the problem. problem. “We can’t keep ignoring it – it costs too much and it causes so much damage,” he said.
Some states have limited or tried to ban insurance exclusions – a bill is pending in New York – but the insurance and real estate industries have opposed such measures. managers At these businesses, they say requiring lead coverage will crash the insurance market and increase the cost of housing without addressing the presence of lead paint before a child is poisoned.
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