If you know anything about FHA loans, you know a defective paint surface is something that needs to be cured. If the exterior of a house has chipping, peeling or flaking paint, it can be a health and safety issue if the house was built before 1978 due to a potential for lead-base paint exposure. If you didn’t know, FHA has an exhilarating 51-page manual for how to properly cure a defective paint surface (PDF). This is just the type of ready you love to do, right?
DO NOT LEAVE PAINT CHIPS ON THE GROUND: If you’re dealing with a defective paint surface, make sure you or your contractor scrape away any defective paint and then completely reseal the surface with new paint (or some sort of HUD-approved sealant). Moreover, DO NOT leave paint chips or any defective paint dust or residue on the soil. This might seem like a minor point, but you don’t want to have to deal with potential environmental consequences for lead-base paint touching the soil, right? The appraiser cannot verify the paint problem was taken care of if there are paint chips all over the place on the soil.
This is why I include something like the following in my lender reports:
The appraiser noted a defective paint surface on the southern portion of the house near the roofline. All this portion of defective paint should be properly scraped and there should be no bare wood after scraping. The surface should be repainted or sealed according to FHA standards. As always, there should be no paint chips or paint dust left on the soil when the issue is cured.
I’ve written quite a few FHA appraisal articles in case you’d like to know more. Let me know if you have any questions.
If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.
Question from Buyer: Hello. I stumbled upon your video because I made an appointment to look at a house and the Realtor told me she hoped I had a conventional loan because an FHA loan has issues with the chipping paint on the outside. I have no idea if the paint is lead (the house was built in 1940 so there is a possibility). What are the options if the FHA loan is what I was approved for but don’t have the money to have the house painted? Could money be held in escrow to have the house painted or would the seller maybe pay to have it painted? Any help you could give me would be great! Great video!
that the issue needs to be cured – no matter how it gets done. Any paint surface that is defective (flaking, chipping or peeling paint) will have to be properly remedied and sealed. There won’t need to be any lead-base paint test. 3) A third option actually is to do an FHA 203K loan so you can get certain repairs like this taken care of without spending money out-of-pocket. You’d actually buy the property and then specific predetermined repairs would be made after the close of escrow from money bundled in your loan. Not all loan officers and brokers handle 203K loans or are good at doing them, so make sure you work with someone who knows about 203Ks. I’m glad to refer someone trustworthy to you.