EPA, with cooperation from its radon partners, has developed a number of tools and resources for use by the real estate community:
- Revised Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide
-
Breathing Easy: What Home Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Radon
- Financing Residential Radon Mitigation Costs: the HUD 203(k) Mortgage Insurance Program
- American Society of Home Inspectors
(ASHI)
Radon Mitigation System Inspection Checklist
- How to Find
a Qualified Radon Service Professional in Your Area
Federal Housing Commissioner takes action on radon
On May 28, 2004, Dr. John C.
Weicher, the Federal Housing Commissioner issued a
radon gas and mold Notice (H 2004-08) requiring that a
release agreement (HUD-9548-E) be included in all
sales contracts for HUD-acquired single family
properties. The agreement notifies purchasers of the
potential health problems caused by exposure to radon
and some molds. Required use of the agreement expires
on May 31st 2005. In fiscal year 2004 HUD
sold about 78,000 Real Estate Owned (REO)
single-family properties.
View the Commissioner’s Notice (H-2004-08) and
download the release agreement (HUD-9548-E - a MS Word
file) at www.hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/cgi/pdfforms/9548-e.doc
In a January 22, 2004 letter, Dr. John C. Weicher, the Federal Housing
Commissioner at HUD informed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgagees that its home inspection form (HUD 92564-CN)
had been revised. The new form now includes information on radon in indoor air which reiterates the EPA and U.S. Surgeon General testing
recommendation and refers readers to EPA’s 1-800-SOS-Radon hotline. The form is mandatory for all FHA insured mortgages. Homebuyers must
sign the form before/at the time a sales contract is executed. In fiscal 2003 HUD issued about 1.3 million FHA insured loans. View the
Commissioner’s letter (hud_morgagee_ltr.pdf
a 77KB adobe acrobat pdf file) and the home inspection
form (HUD 92564-CN) (hud_form_92564-cn.pdf
a 83KB adobe acrobat pdf file) here.
EPA
has updated its Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon (EPA
402-K-00-008, July 2000). This guidance is also available in Spanish (www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/hmbyguidsp.html) The updated 38-page Guide includes a
number of changes, among them:
- information on the 1998 National Academy of Sciences BEIR
VI radon report;
- revised sections on radon-in-water and radon-resistant new
construction;
- an expanded section on where to get copies of the Guide
and other radon and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) information and
documents;
- an up-to-date listing of
state radon and EPA
regional office contacts.;
- a section on radon related Hotlines; information on EPA's
radon (and IAQ) web sites; and,
- an Index.
This new edition also reflects the closing of the U.S. EPA
Radon Proficiency Program, and advises what consumers should look for in a
qualified radon services provider. The Guide has been designed to be more
readable, with improved cross-references.
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The video satisfies a long-standing need for a short visual educational tool on how to
best include radon in residential real estate transactions. With a bit of light humor, the video covers the basics, including radon science, the lung cancer risk, home inspection, building a new home
radon-resistant, testing and fixing a home, disclosure, state radon offices, hotline and web resources, and key radon numbers, e.g., EPA's action level
and the U.S. indoor and outdoor averages. The primary audiences are home buyers and sellers, and real estate sales agents and brokers. Home inspectors, mortgage lenders, other real estate
practitioners, and radon services providers will also find the video helpful. Single copies of the video are free from IAQ-Info (1-800-438-4318) in VHS,
CD, and DVD formats
[ask for (EPA 402-V-02-003) (TRT 13.10)].
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Financing Residential Radon Mitigation Costs:
Using the HUD 203(k) Mortgage Insurance Program
to Reduce the Risk of Lung Cancer in People.
The Section 203(k) mortgage financing program is
the Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) primary tool for rehabilitating and improving single family homes. The program allows home buyers to finance the purchase and repair or improvement of a home using a single mortgage loan. Reducing radon levels in a home is an improvement that can be financed through a 203(k) mortgage loan.
Part of the 203(k) mortgage proceeds must be used to pay the costs of rehabilitating or improving a residential property. To qualify, the total cost of the eligible repairs or improvements, including fixes to reduce radon levels, must be at least $5,000. The 203(k) program is an important tool for expanding home ownership, revitalizing homes, neighborhoods and communities, and for making homes healthier and safer for those who occupy them.
Homes eligible for 203(k) financing include:
- one to four-family dwellings that have been completed for at least one year;
- dwellings that have been demolished, provided some of the existing foundation system remains; and,
- converting a one-family dwelling into a two, three, or four-family dwelling; or, alternatively, converting an existing multi-unit dwelling into a one to four-family unit.
The 203(k) program has been used successfully by many lenders to rehabilitate properties through partnerships with state and local housing agencies, and with non-profit organizations. To further help borrowers buy homes, lenders have found innovative ways to combine the 203(k) program with other financial resources like HUD's HOPE and Community Development Block Grant Programs.
Contact an FHA-approved lender in your area for more information about HUD’s
203(k) program, or if you’re interested in getting a 203(k) insured mortgage
loan. Check your phone directory’s blue pages for the HUD office nearest you;
they can get you a list of the 203(k) approved lenders in your area.
Home inspectors now have a new service to offer
their home inspection clients; radon mitigation system inspections. The tool
that makes this possible is the Radon
Mitigation System Inspection Checklist (available here as a 42.9KB PDF
file), created by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), in cooperation
with the U.S. EPA's Indoor Environments Division. The Checklist
promotes radon awareness, testing and mitigation with people who are having
their home, or prospective home, inspected. With just seven inspection elements,
the Checklist takes under 15 minutes to complete. Inspectors can easily
integrate it into a general home inspection. The inspection results indicate
whether the home has a mitigation system, and if so, whether the system is
active or passive. It also encourages the consumer to verify that indoor radon
levels are below 4 pCi/L, and to consult a qualified mitigator if the inspection
notes any apparent deficiencies.
The Checklist was constructed using several
sources, including EPA technical radon mitigation and radon-resistant documents,
and radon inspection checklists used by state radon programs, e.g.,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Iowa. It was also field tested by ASHI and reviewed
by the state radon programs. The Checklist includes information on
radon risks, the NAS radon report, ASHI and EPA web sites, the IAQ Clearinghouse
and more. The Checklist also encourages consumers who have questions to
contact their state radon office. ASHI's 5,000+
members will be sent copies of the Checklist and it will soon be
available from ASHI's web site - www.ashi.com/
).
For more information on radon and real estate, contact
Philip Jalbert (202) 343-9431, or via e-mail at: jalbert.philip@epa.gov).
- Contact your State
Radon Contact to determine what are, or whether there are, requirements associated with providing radon measurement and or radon
mitigations/reductions in your State. Some States maintain lists of
contractors available in their state or they have proficiency programs or
requirements of their own.
- Contact one or both of the two privately-run
Radon Proficiency Program (listed here alphabetically) who are offering proficiency listing/accreditation/certification
in radon testing and
mitigation.
The National Environmental Health
Association (NEHA)
National Radon Proficiency Program
Administrative Office
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2109
Fletcher, NC 28732
Delivery Address:
313 Banner Farm Road, Suite 1-B
Horse Shoe, NC 28742
Toll Free: (800) 269-4174 or
(828) 890-4117
Fax: (828) 890-4161
Website:
www.radongas.org/
E-Mail Address:
angel@neha-nrpp.org |
The National Radon Safety
Board (NRSB)
P.O. Box 703
Athens, TX 75751
Toll Free:
(866) 329-3474
Fax: (903) 675-3748
WebSite:
www.nrsb.org
E-mail Address: info@NRSB.org |
(Reference herein
to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name,
trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute
or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United
States Government.) Please Note: EPA-issued Radon Measurement (RMP)
and Mitigation (RCP) photo-identification cards, ANY item with EPA's logo or
name, listing letters and
identification numbers have not been valid since EPA closed its proficiency
program in October 1998. Consequently, persons and companies should not represent themselves, their
products or their services as "EPA Listed" or "EPA Approved", or otherwise
imply an EPA sanction. Consumers are encouraged to contact their State radon
office ( www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html
) for additional information or if you have a complaint/question. EPA's
Position on These Two Privately-run Programs |
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