A company literally named “Affordable Housing Solutions” rented out a 130-year-old building to tenants and never once told them it might be coated in lead paint.

The Non-Financial Ledger

A Complaint Had to Exist Before Anyone Looked

The federal government did not find these violations on its own. The EPA received a complaint from someone connected to this property on or about July 9, 2024. That means a real person, a tenant or someone close to one, had to take the extraordinary step of filing a formal complaint with a federal agency before anyone in authority looked twice at what Affordable Housing Solutions, LLC was doing to the people who rented from them.

That person filed the complaint, the EPA sent an information request letter on August 8, 2024, and the company submitted its own leasing records on August 16, 2024. The violation was confirmed not by an independent inspection, but by the company’s own paperwork. Affordable Housing Solutions handed over the evidence that convicted them.

Think about what it takes for a low-income renter to file a complaint against their landlord with the EPA. You have to know the law exists. You have to find the right agency. You have to trust that anything will happen. You have to be willing to potentially anger the person who controls your housing. That is not a casual act. Someone in that building was scared enough, or sick enough, or angry enough to do it anyway.

Built in 1895: The History Speaks for Itself

The building at 616 W Mercury Street, Butte, Montana was constructed in 1895. That is 83 years before the federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in residential housing in 1978. Under federal law, any housing built before 1978 is classified as “target housing,” meaning there is a recognized, systemic risk that lead paint is present. This is not speculation. This is why the law exists.

The specific pamphlet tenants are supposed to receive is titled “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.” It exists because lead poisoning in children causes permanent brain damage, reduced IQ, behavioral problems, and developmental delays. In pregnant women, lead exposure causes miscarriage, premature birth, and harm to the developing fetus. These are not hypothetical risks in a century-old Butte building. They are the exact reason Congress created these disclosure requirements in 1992.

Affordable Housing Solutions signed the first lease on June 29, 2021, and signed the second lease on December 18, 2023. Both times, the company failed to provide the required pamphlet acknowledgment. On the 2023 lease, the company also failed to include a Lead Warning Statement and failed to make any disclosure about the presence or absence of lead paint whatsoever. The tenants who moved into that building in 2021 and 2023 had no idea, in writing, what they were walking into.

“Affordable Housing” as a Brand, Not a Mission

There is something particularly grotesque about the branding here. The company named itself “Affordable Housing Solutions” and positioned itself as serving people who need lower-cost housing options. The people who rent “affordable housing” are disproportionately low-income families, single parents, people without safety nets. They are often the least able to absorb the medical costs of a child with lead poisoning, the least able to take time off work for doctor appointments, and the least likely to know their legal rights.

The lead disclosure laws exist precisely to protect these exact people. Landlords who own older, cheaper properties and rent them to lower-income tenants are the primary target of these regulations because those are the buildings most likely to have lead paint and those are the families least equipped to discover and fight the hazard on their own. Affordable Housing Solutions operated in this space, benefited from this market, and stripped away the one basic protection their tenants were legally entitled to.

Legal Receipts

Straight From the Document: No Spin Required

“Respondent failed to obtain a statement by the lessee affirming receipt of the lead hazard information pamphlet required under 15 U.S.C. § 2686, as required by 40 C.F.R. § 745.113(b)(4).” — EPA Consent Agreement, Paragraph 25. This violation applied to BOTH leases: 2021 and 2023.

“For the lease referenced in paragraph 22.b., above, Respondent failed to include, as an attachment or within the contract to lease target housing: (a) the Lead Warning Statement as required by 40 C.F.R. § 745.113(b)(1); and (b) a statement by the lessor disclosing the presence of known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards in the target housing being leased or indicating no knowledge of the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards.” — EPA Consent Agreement, Paragraph 27. This describes the three-violation cluster on the December 2023 lease alone.

“The Montana Department of Revenue’s online property records for the residential dwelling located at 616 W Mercury Street, Butte, MT, reflects the year 1895 as the year-built date.” — EPA Consent Agreement, Paragraph 23. This building predates the federal lead paint ban by 83 years.

“Housing built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. Lead from paint, paint chips, and dust can pose health hazards if not managed properly. Lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women.” — The exact Lead Warning Statement that federal law requires to appear in every lease for pre-1978 housing. Affordable Housing Solutions omitted this from the 2023 lease entirely.

“Respondent: neither admits nor denies the factual allegations contained herein; and consents to the assessment of the penalty specified in this Consent Agreement.” — EPA Consent Agreement, Paragraph 31(c) and (d). The company paid $4,900 (about six months of groceries for one person) and walked away without ever saying they did anything wrong.

Societal Impact Mapping

Public Health: Lead Doesn’t Ask Permission

Lead paint in pre-1978 housing does not stay in the walls. It deteriorates into dust and chips. Children touch surfaces, put their hands in their mouths, and absorb lead into their bloodstreams. According to the federal law underlying this entire case, lead exposure is “especially harmful to young children and pregnant women.” The required pamphlet, “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” exists because Congress recognized that the danger is real, documented, and preventable through disclosure.

The building at 616 W Mercury Street was constructed in 1895, making it 130 years old at the time of this settlement. Lead paint was the industry standard for most of that building’s existence. The probability that no lead paint exists anywhere in a 130-year-old structure that has never been tested and certified as lead-free is vanishingly small. The law does not require the landlord to prove lead exists. It requires the landlord to disclose what they know and warn tenants regardless, because the risk is that serious.

Two separate tenants moved into this building, once in 2021 and once in 2023, without the legally required written warning. If children under six lived in that building, or if pregnant women lived there, they did so without the knowledge to take protective measures, without any documented evidence of disclosure, and without any record that they were ever told the words: “Lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women.”

Economic Inequality: Affordable Housing, Unaffordable Consequences

The people who rent “affordable housing” in Butte, Montana are, by definition, people with fewer financial resources. Lead poisoning treatment, neurological evaluations for children, and the long-term costs of developmental damage are not cheap. The landlord who skips a pamphlet acknowledgment saves nothing meaningful in time or money. The tenant who suffers lead exposure pays for it for the rest of their life, and often so do their children.

The fine Affordable Housing Solutions paid, $4,900 (roughly what a minimum-wage worker in Montana earns in three months of full-time work), does not compensate any tenant for any harm. It goes to the federal government. The tenants who lived in that building, who filed the complaint that triggered this investigation, receive nothing from this settlement. The consent agreement resolves federal civil penalty liability only. It is explicitly “without prejudice” to other claims, but pursuing those other claims requires a lawyer, money, and time that most affordable housing tenants do not have.

Butte, Montana has a significant history of industrial pollution and environmental health challenges tied to its mining past. It is not a wealthy community. The people renting a 130-year-old building on W Mercury Street are not renting there because they have options. They are renting there because they need somewhere to live that they can afford. Affordable Housing Solutions knew that. They used a name that explicitly signals they serve that market. And they still skipped the paperwork that could have protected those exact people.

The Cost of a Life: What the Fine Actually Means

What Now?

The People Still at the Table

The consent agreement names James Marquardt as the representative for Affordable Housing Solutions, LLC, with the email address listed in the public legal document. The EPA’s compliance officer who handled this case is Kristin Jendrek. The agreement was signed by Scott Patefield on behalf of the EPA on August 7, 2025.

The enforcement action resolves federal civil penalty liability for these specific violations. It does not resolve any criminal liability, any state law claims, or any private civil claims a tenant might bring. The EPA explicitly reserved all of those rights.

Watchlist: Who Enforces These Rules

• EPA Region 8 (Montana) handles lead paint disclosure enforcement for residential landlords. They can be reached through the EPA’s lead program at epa.gov/lead.
• The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) monitors state-level housing hazards and environmental health issues.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) co-enforces lead paint disclosure rules and has its own complaint process separate from the EPA.
• Montana Legal Services Association provides free legal help to low-income residents facing housing and environmental health issues.
• The CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program provides resources for families who suspect lead exposure. Your pediatrician can order a blood lead level test.

The Move That Actually Works

If you live in pre-1978 housing anywhere in the United States, your landlord is legally required to give you a lead hazard pamphlet and a signed disclosure before you sign your lease. If they didn’t, that is a federal violation you can report directly to EPA Region 8 (or your regional EPA office) at no cost and with legal whistleblower protections. Tenant unions in Montana and across the country have begun compiling records of landlords with EPA violations. The complaint that triggered this entire investigation came from a tenant. One person’s complaint forced a federal enforcement action. Local tenant organizing chapters, mutual aid networks, and housing justice organizations can help you file, document, and follow up. The system rarely moves on its own. It moves when people push it.