Idaho

Realtors, couple settle lead disclosure case
Parties agree to keep terms confidential in case that prompted change in disclosure procedures
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Karen Dorn Steele
Staff writer

Coeur d'Alene _ On the first day of a federal jury trial, lawyers for three North Idaho real estate firms reached a last-minute settlement with an Oregon couple suing over lead disclosure.

Settlement talks started Monday and the parties reached agreement Tuesday morning as U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge prepared to start the trial in Coeur d'Alene.

The confidential settlement brings to an end a case that triggered a federal investigation and prompted Realtors to tighten their lead disclosure procedures in the Silver Valley.

In 1997, Harve and Tina Paddock paid $104,000 in cash for a 1915 Craftsman house in Wallace. After discovering a half year later that it was contaminated, they moved their family back to McMinnville, Ore. Their Wallace house has sat empty and unsold since.

In 1999, the Paddocks sued agent Marty M. Sleezer and his former firm, Total Realtors Inc.; Anne Anderson and Acuff Northwest Inc. and Acuff Realty Inc., alleging that they failed to disclose serious lead contamination in the home.

The federal Lead Paint Hazard Reduction Act mandates disclosure by owners and real estate agents of any lead hazards in properties built before 1978. It sets fines up to $11,000 per violation.

Paul Huning and Sara Beth Dul-Huning, the couple who sold the Paddocks the house, settled for $20,000 last year, removing them as defendants in the lawsuit.

The parties agreed Tuesday to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. The Paddocks said they're happy with the outcome.

While it won't offset all the costs of the three-year case, the settlement helped resolve the issue "without the risk of going to trial," Tina Paddock said.

"We feel the issue of lead disclosure is so important -- this case helped make that point," she said.

Lodge asked Sleezer and Anderson if the case was resolved to their satisfaction, and they said yes. Sleezer, the seller's agent for the Paddock sale, declined further comment afterward.

Judge Lodge said the case would be dismissed with prejudice -- preventing it from being refiled later.

"It's always better when the parties resolve these issues themselves," Lodge said.

The Paddock controversy triggered a 1998 investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that found several lead disclosure violations at real estate firms in Wallace and Coeur d'Alene.

It also prompted Realtors to make new disclosures to prospective buyers about the area's mining past.

For a year, Silver Valley agents have been requiring clients to sign a disclaimer that they've been informed of lead in the area.

Sources of lead include paint in pre-1978 houses and apartments and contamination from old smelter emissions and mine tailings.

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