New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a resolution of her office’s lawsuit to protect Buffalo children and families from lead poisoning in their homes.
An agreement filed Friday in Erie County Supreme Court settles the lawsuit and requires the real estate company Raiszadeh Group to correct unsafe and deteriorating conditions at dozens of rental properties it owns in Buffalo, many of which are located in low-income neighborhoods. The Raiszadeh Group will pay $515,000 in penalties, including $70,000 to create a tenant relief fund and $445,000 for lead hazard remediation. The landlord has also agreed to oversight to ensure that its buildings are safe for current and future tenants.
The settlement also prohibits the sale of any identified properties until they have been certified lead-safe, requires annual third-party inspections of all of the firm’s New York rental properties for the next four years, and mandates that every tenant receive an Environmental Protection Agency -approved lead hazard disclosure form, a lead safety information pamphlet, and copies of any inspection reports for their home. If the Raiszadeh Group fails to comply with the settlement terms, it faces an additional suspended penalty of up to $445,000 plus interest.
The defendant landlord and companies said they entered into the consent judgment solely for the purpose of settlement and they neither admit nor concede any violation of law, rule, or regulation, or any liability or wrongdoing
In March 2023, Attorney General James sued Buffalo landlord Farhad Raiszadeh and his associated companies alleging their failure to properly address lead-based paint hazards.
According to the attorney general, since 2008, the Raiszadeh Group has owned and managed 78 buildings in Buffalo, primarily rented to low-income families of color. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that the Raiszadeh Group failed for years to properly address peeling and deteriorating lead paint, despite warnings and citations from the city and Erie County. These violations, documented in hundreds of city and county inspections since 2008, contributed to the lead poisoning of 14 children living in Raiszadeh Group properties between 2017 and 2025. In total, 75 percent of the 78 properties Raiszadeh Group owned and managed were cited by inspectors for conditions conducive to lead poisoning, and all of its buildings were presumed to contain lead paint in some capacity.
Lead is a highly toxic metal that can cause serious and irreversible health problems, particularly for children under the age of six. Even low levels of lead in blood can affect brain development, causing learning disabilities, attention deficits, and long-term harm. Buffalo has one of the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning in the nation, with children of color and those living in low-income neighborhoods disproportionately affected.
“Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and healthy home, free from the devastating and irreversible harms of lead poisoning,” said James in a re;ease announcing the settlement. “For years, Farhad Raiszadeh and the Raiszadeh Group failed to protect tenant families despite receiving repeated warnings and violations. Today, we are ensuring that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be invested directly into making these homes safe.”
Topics New York
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