Sep 5
2025
Buffalo landlord hit with hefty penalty for lead contamination
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Farhad Raiszadeh, left, in Buffalo Housing Court in 2024. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.
A Buffalo landlord whose lead-contaminated homes poisoned more than dozen children will pay a $515,000 settlement, the state attorney general announced Friday.
“For years, Farhad Raiszadeh and the Raiszadeh Group failed to protect tenant families despite receiving repeated warnings and violations. Today, we are ensuring that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be invested directly into making these homes safe,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the settlement.
The attorney general in March 2023 sued Raisazdeh, his wife Shohre Zahedi and four of their companies for failing to remediate lead in 47 of their 78 properties. Fourteen children were diagnosed with lead poisoning while living in houses owned or managed by Raiszadeh and Zahedi.
Sixty-two of those properties were in the 14215 ZIP code, which includes the Kensington-Bailey neighborhood. That ZIP code had the tenth highest rate of child lead poisoning cases in New York State and fifth highest in Erie County, according to the most recent publicly available New York State Department of Health data from 2020.
“For far too long, Farhad Raiszadeh evaded local regulations to maintain safe and habitable rental units, with dire consequences for families,” Anna Falicov of the Buffalo and Erie County Lead Safe Task Force said in a statement.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomAttorney Parker MacKay, who represents Raiszadeh, called the settlement an “appropriate resolution” and said that the landlord is working to mitigate the issues with his properties.
“He’s not cutting and running. He is looking to rehabilitate the properties. There is oversight to make sure the property work gets done. It shows a substantial investment from his own funds here,” MacKay said.
Raiszadeh will pay $445,000 for lead hazard remediation and $70,000 to create a tenant relief fund. These are the latest financial penalties for the San Diego-based landlord, who was ordered last March by then Judge Patrick Carney to pay $65,000 to the City of Buffalo and $6,000 to Erie County for 125 housing violations at 11 properties. Those fines have been paid, according to court officials.
According to the attorney general’s findings, three-quarters of the 78 properties owned by the Raiszadeh group have been cited for chipping and peeling paint and were primarily rented to low-income families of color.
Investigative Post found that Raiszadeh purchased 49 of his properties from Angel Elliot Dalfin, against whom James in November 2022 obtained a $5.1 million settlement for lead-related charges. Children tested positive for lead poisoning in a dozen of those properties while Raiszadeh or one of his companies owned them, according to court papers.
The settlement is the latest that James has reached with Buffalo landlords accused of renting out properties that have caused children to be poisoned with lead. In addition to Raiszadeh and Dalfin, the attorney general also filed lawsuits against a group of eight individuals and 47 LLCs in February 2024 and Purityson Properties LLC in 2021.
“We hope Buffalo rental property owners take heed, comply with local notices and remediate lead hazards to protect children from the irreversible effects of lead,” said Falicov of the lead task force.
Raiszadeh still owns a number of properties in the city, according to his attorney. Three of those properties have a combined 33 active code violations, according to city records.
