Syracuse landlord pays $310,000 to settle lead paint case with NY AG

State officials have reached a settlement with a Syracuse landlord to address lead-based paint hazards at his rental properties.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, on Friday, announced that William D’Angelo and his company, Marpat LLC, will pay $310,000 for failing to properly address hazards.

In July 2023, James, McMahon, and Walsh filed a lawsuit against D’Angelo and his company, alleging that he repeatedly and persistently violated lead safety laws at nearly two dozen rental properties in Syracuse.

Over the past eight years, there were at least 360 violations of lead safety laws at properties owned by D’Angelo. At least 16 children were poisoned by lead while living at these properties.

Over the last 30 years, D’Angelo has owned and managed at least 48 rental properties with at least 116 individual rental units in Syracuse. According to city and county records, all of D’Angelo’s rental properties were built prior to 1940, and therefore are all presumed to contain lead-based paint. Most of these properties are in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

D’Angelo currently owns 39 rental properties in and around Syracuse, 22 of which have had lead-related violations.

The settlement includes $80,000 for current and former tenants harmed by lead paint exposure at the properties he owned over the past eight years and $230,000 for the identification and resolution of lead hazards at the 22 currently owned properties with lead-related violations.

D’Angelo will be barred from selling any of these properties without the Attorney General’s approval until all lead hazards have been resolved.