Maine Housing Search

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is offering a new resource for renters to find healthy homes from landlords who work hard to maintain their units safely for lead-hazards. DEP has added the ability to search for lead free, safe and maintained property listings on Maine’s leading online housing registry at MaineHousingSearch.org, a free service for both renters and landlords.

Launched in 2009 with funding from the Maine State Housing Authority and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to provide a one-stop source to share and search for rental properties statewide, MaineHousingSearch.org added a smoke-free housing search option in 2011 with support from the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine.

The new lead-safety status search option was developed with support from the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, managed by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and makes it easier for Mainers to protect themselves and their families from the harms of lead-based paint, prevalent in properties built before 1978. 

More than 100 children are poisoned by lead each year in Maine, most commonly by the dust from lead-based paint that ends up on the surfaces of what children play on and with. Children under the age of 6 are most at risk for lead poisoning which can cause brain and hearing damage, lower intelligence, behavioral problems and learning disabilities because their brains are developing very quickly and because they are more likely to put hands and other objects in their mouths.

Looking for a rental unit?

Tenants can easily search for rental housing where landlords take real steps to prevent lead hazards. Narrow your search with more than 50 other search criteria.

Have a rental unit to list?

Select the appropriate lead status for your rental property to reach more than 6,000 visitors each month. You can edit and update your listing online at MaineHousingSearch.org 24 hours a day, or use the call center at 877-428-8844.

•  Lead Maintained:
  • Landlord or maintenance staff is trained in lead-safe work practices.
  • The lease agreement requires tenants to report deteriorating paint to landlord.
  • Units are screened for lead paint hazards at unit turnover and are maintained in a lead-safe way.

• Lead Safe:
  • Meets all of the lead maintained criteria.
  • Unit has been inspected by a lead professional. and the report is available and identifies the location of lead-based paint in the property.

• Lead-based Paint Free:
  • A lead inspection report from a lead professional is available and identifies no lead-based paint, or the property was built after 1977.

 

For more information:

Lead-based paint and rental housing

Lead-safe work practices, EPA

Lead poisoning prevention, Maine CDC