FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 13, 2024

39 Organizations Call on Mayor Byron Brown to Comply with Proactive Rental Inspections (PRI) Law

The city’s own PRI legislation, intended to combat lead poisoning among children by boosting inspections of single and double rental units, remains largely unenforced

Buffalo, N.Y. – Community advocates, health professionals and concerned citizens gathered today at Niagara Square to call on the Brown Administration to comply with the city’s Proactive Rental Inspections (PRI) Law enacted by the Buffalo Common Council in November 2020. Among other health and safety benefits, the law aimed to reduce childhood lead poisoning – a critical threat to children under 6 living in the city. The harm is especially great for Buffalo’s families of color. Children in neighborhoods with predominantly residents of color are 12 times more likely to be poisoned than children in predominantly white neighborhoods (University at Buffalo Regional Institute).

PRI requires the city’s Department of Permit & Inspection Services to make regular inspections of investor-owned single and double rental units. Under the law, investor landlords are required to earn Certificates of Rental Compliance to be renewed every three years, contingent on their rental units passing inspection and remaining free of visible lead. PRI inspection also checks for fire safety, functioning utilities and other health-harming conditions such as mold, asbestos and rodents. Similar cities in the state, like Rochester, have had this requirement for over a decade.

According to public records, the city carried out only 4,334 inspections from 2020-2022 and issued 156 certificates of compliance. This means 88% of the 36,000 units covered under PRI have not been inspected and only 0.4% have a certificate of compliance. When PRI was passed, the City planned to inspect 6,000 units per year, reaching all 36,000 high-risk units in a six-year period.

“The majority of children diagnosed with lead poisoning each year in Erie County reside in Buffalo, in single and double homes,” explained Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Executive Director for the Partnership for Public Good. “Based on the latest report from the city, it’s clear the Brown

Administration is failing to perform the non-discretionary duties required by this law. The current level of compliance is wholly inadequate.”

Janayia Capers, Housing Justice Organizer for PUSH Buffalo, described the PRI law as a lifeline for the community.

“By making this program mandatory and proactive, we're ensuring that 60% of Buffalo's renters can enjoy better living conditions,” she said. “Gone are the days of waiting for issues to escalate – we're taking the initiative to address safety, sanitation, and habitability from the get-go.”

Rev. George F. Nicholas, CEO for the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, highlighted the racial disparities inherent in the lead poisoning rates in the city and made a personal appeal.

“My appeal today to city leaders and to the Mayor is not so much a political one. I’m appealing to them as a parent,” he implored. “Whatever is the stumbling block … we’re appealing to you today to address those things. Get this done. Because this is going to impact a generation of children who do not have the power to protect themselves from the environment in which they are forced to live.”

Prior to the press conference, representatives from the Partnership for Public Good hand-delivered a letter to Mayor Byron Brown and Commissioner of Permits and Inspections, Cathy Amdur, demanding documentation within 30 days showing the city’s full compliance with the rental inspections required by the PRI law.

The letter’s signatories include:

Allentown Association

Beyond Support Network

Buffalo Center for Health Equity

Buffalo Immigration Leadership Team

Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network

Center for Elder Law and Justice

Clean Air Coalition

Cooperation Buffalo

Cornell University ILR Buffalo Co-Lab

Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition

Fillmore Forward

Friends of Night People

Good Food Buffalo Coalition

Grassroots Gardens of Western New York

Heart of the City Neighborhoods

Housing Opportunities Made Equal

Jericho Road Community Health Center

LEAD 716

Liftoff Western New York

Massachusetts Avenue Project

Mother Earth Literacies

National Lawyers Guild (Buffalo Chapter)

Neighborhood Legal Services

Partnership for the Public Good

Peace of the City

Providence Farm Collective

People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo

Talking Leaves… Books

Tenant, Owner, Landlord Alliance

The Tool Library

University at Buffalo Center for Urban Studies

Upward Design for Life, Corp.

Urban Roots Cooperative Gardens

VOICE Buffalo

Western New York Environmental Alliance

Western New York Law Center

Western New York Lead Poisoning Prevention Resource Center—Buffalo Office

Western New York Peace Center

Western New York Youth Climate Council

Additional research on the impacts of Buffalo’s health-harming housing stock, lead poisoning and the history of the Proactive Rental Inspections law is available at www.ppgbuffalo.org.