BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — An ex-landlord in Buffalo got his punishment for lying about lead paint hazards in nearly two dozen properties he owned across the city of Buffalo, the U.S. Attorney announced Monday.

It was found that 58-year-old Angel Elliot Dalfin falsely claimed that he did not know of the lead-based paint hazards at 23 properties he owned in the city. He also said that he had no records pertaining to the paint hazards at the properties, all of which were built prior to 1978. This occurred while Dalfin was selling the properties using the entity “Vin7 LLC.”

The false statements were in material to Dalfin complying with the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. Authorities said that on average, it would have cost the buyer of each of the properties $5,000 to stabilize the hazards present.

In 2022, Dalfin was ordered to pay nearly $5.1 million in a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James after his properties led to more than two dozen childhood lead poisoning cases. Dalfin and his rental housing operation owned more than 150 single- and two-family homes across the area, primarily in low-income communities of color.

That $5.1 million is going towards funding childhood lead poisoning prevention programs administered by the city of Buffalo and Erie County, as well as eliminating lead hazards in homes.

Dalfin was convicted of making a false document. He was sentenced to eight months of home confinement with electronic monitoring and will serve five years of probation, and was also ordered to perform 600 hours of community service at Habitat for Humanity within the first three years of probation.