A Rhode Island Department of Health crackdown has sidelined a licensed home lead inspector, Michael Landi, after the state found he failed to turn in required inspection reports and certificates on time for rental properties across Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, Barrington and Woonsocket. Under a consent order finalized August 14, Landi must pay $600 in administrative penalties and cannot take on any new lead inspection work until RIDOH confirms in writing that his outstanding paperwork is complete.
Complaints Piled Up Over Six Months
As reported by The Valley Breeze, RIDOH notified Landi of its investigation in letters sent April 6, April 30 and May 27, and he failed to respond by the deadlines set in those letters. Complaints about Landi's missing reports were documented from November 2025 through May 2026, and according to GoLocalProv, RIDOH said it received “numerous complaints” from property owners during that stretch. One Central Falls property owner filed a complaint with the state after hiring Landi for an inspection around August 14, the Breeze reported.
The addresses tied to Landi's alleged untimely inspections span five communities: 41 Tiffany Street, Unit 2, and 67/69 Hendrick Street, Units 1 and 3, both in Central Falls; 314 Division Street in Pawtucket; and 117/119 Broad Street in Woonsocket, along with properties in Providence and Barrington, per the Breeze's reporting. GoLocalProv's review of the consent order places the alleged inspections between August 2025 and April 2026. State regulations require RIDOH-licensed lead inspectors to submit their reports to the agency's CLPPP electronic reporting system within seven days of receiving lab results, or of completing an inspection where no samples were collected, the outlet notes.
What the Consent Order Requires
Under the agreement, Landi must complete all outstanding required inspection reporting for the properties listed in the order, submit completed and signed reports to RIDOH's CLPPP database, and deliver signed inspection reports along with RIDOH-generated lead certificates — with delivery confirmation — to owners, tenants or occupants, and inspection initiators as applicable. He must also notify RIDOH in writing once that work is finished and provide the applicable property case numbers. GoLocalProv's account of the order states that Landi failed to provide lead inspection reports or lead certificates to several Central Falls and Pawtucket property owners after conducting their inspections. RIDOH issued Landi's license in the first place, which is what gives the agency authority to act in his case — a distinction that matters because RIDOH does not license landlords themselves, only the professionals who inspect their properties.
The Breeze's reporting also notes that RIDOH has reported no instances, by its own estimation, of unlicensed people deliberately posing as lead inspectors. Rhode Island residents can look up a licensee's name or number on the agency's website if they want to verify someone's credentials before hiring them.
Central Falls Presses Its Own Enforcement Case
The Landi matter lands as Central Falls pursues its own aggressive lead-safety enforcement, including a case the city prosecuted against a contractor at 100 Garfield Street. RIDOH referred that matter to the city on June 10, 2026, and Central Falls attorney Nana Amma Ankrah told the Breeze the referral came after the state's failed attempts to reach the property owner dating back to summer 2025. Lead-safe practices were not followed during a 2025 window replacement at the property, according to Ankrah, and the city spent the following two months investigating before a housing court session on August 12.
At that hearing, a judge held the contractor and property owner jointly and severally liable for the violation. By the August 12 court date, all six units at the Garfield Street property had been brought into compliance, and the Breeze reported that the children living there had seen their blood lead levels improve. Ankrah said Central Falls is following the reported RIDOH investigation into Landi closely and that lead poisoning prevention remains a top priority for Mayor Rivera and the city's law department, noting the city has brought thousands of units into compliance over the years.
A Statewide Registry Still Finding Its Footing
The Landi case surfaces alongside a broader statewide effort to track lead hazards in rental housing. Rhode Island requires landlords of residential properties built before 1978 to register their units and obtain lead conformance certificates, according to NBC 10's I-Team. As of January 8, the station found Rhode Island had not issued a single fine for noncompliance with that registry, even though participation had climbed roughly 180% since it launched. Of about 71,000 registered rental units statewide, roughly 53,000 predate 1978, and around 2,000 of those still lacked valid lead certification, the station reported. RIDOH told the I-Team it hopes to begin issuing fines for noncompliance in the near future, and the Breeze noted separately that RIDOH has contacted approximately 3,000 landlords whose registered properties lack a required, publicly available lead-safe certificate.
The registry itself traces back to the Breeze's 2024 reporting on the lifting of a loophole in the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act that had exempted resident landlords from anti-lead certification filing; the state launched its online rental registry database about a year after that loophole closed. The registry now lets rental property owners and renters search for a property's lead-safe certificate directly.
Central Falls Tightens Its Own Inspections
Central Falls has moved in parallel to enforce the state housing code's requirement that rental units carry lead-safe certificates of conformance, according to The Public's Radio. The city's health department identified 964 properties that should have a lead certificate but don't, the outlet reported, while policy experts at HousingWorks RI estimated fewer than 10 percent of homes built before 1980 statewide carry the required certificate. Using a federal grant, Central Falls hired a full-time housing inspector and created a new position within its law department dedicated to lead issues, per the same outlet.
The push mirrors an earlier shift in Providence, where the city began checking for lead certificates while enforcing other housing-code violations back in 2011. The following year, Providence's lead-poisoning cases fell by almost a quarter, The Public's Radio reported. Central Falls residents with lead poisoning concerns or questions can call 401-616-2408 or 401-871-1742.
