Maine Eviction Prevention Program (EPP) Evaluation

Here are a few ways you can confirm that the email, letter, or call you received about a survey is actually from NLIHC. 

Please note that NLIHC will NEVER ask for your social security number, bank or credit card information, or passwords for research. If someone is asking you for this information, they are NOT from NLIHC. 

1. Look carefully at the sender’s information.
   1. Emails will come from an email address with a domain of “@nlihc.org”. Invitations may include a reference to SurveyMonkey, the platform we are using for the survey (ex. [email protected] via SurveyMonkey). We encourage you to check our Staff List to make sure that the person contacting you is employed at NLIHC and that the sending email address matches with what is for the staff member listed online.
   2. Phone calls will come from a “202” or “771” area code. If you have caller ID, it will likely show something like “NLIHC” or “National Low Income Housing Coalition”. In general, NLIHC will not contact you by phone unless you have called us first, or requested that we call you. Again, we encourage you to check our Staff List to make sure that the person contacting you is employed at NLIHC.
   3. Mailed letters will come from NLIHC’s address in Washington, DC and will show a 20005 zip code. The letters will come in a plain envelope, and the content within will include NLIHC’s logo.
2. Look carefully at any links included in the invitation.
   1. Before you click on any links in a email, we encourage you to “hover over” them with your mouse to make sure they go to the website you are expecting. If a link seems suspicious, please don’t click it. Instead, email us at [email protected] to confirm whether the email you received is a legitimate NLIHC email about the Maine EPP Survey.
3. You can always contact us if you have concerns about the validity of an email, phone call, or letter.
   1. When in doubt, you can always reach out to us by email at [email protected] or by phone at 771-209-4677 or 202-662-1530 ext. 256 to confirm if the contact you received is real and legitimate.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is conducting the Maine Eviction Prevention Program (EPP) Survey. The purpose of this survey is to understand whether the rental assistance given through the Maine EPP helps Maine renters stay in their homes, lowers their stress levels, and live healthier lives. NLIHC will report on the findings will be used to make sure current and future housing policies – as well as the advocacy efforts of NLIHC and its federal, state, and local partners – are aligned with renters’ needs. Below are more details on the type of information collected through the National Renter Survey, the ways NLIHC plans to use it, and how NLIHC plans to protect it.  

DATA PRIVACY AND PLANNED USE 

NLIHC will never share or publish any information that can be used to identify or contact someone who applied for rental assistance through Maine EPP or participated in the Maine EPP Survey. NLIHC plans to share aggregated analyses and reports on the data collected through the Maine EPP Survey with Quality Housing Coalition, MaineHousing, stakeholders in Maine, and possibly the public on what we learn about whether and how rental assistance from Maine EPP helps support Maine renters in need. “Aggregated” means that any information we publish will look at renters as a group, and never at individual people who participated in the survey. 

While conducting the Maine EPP Survey, NLIHC will have access to contact information for people who consented to share their information with a third-party researcher on their Maine EPP application. Contact information may include, but is not limited to, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. NLIHC will never use this information, nor any other contact information gathered through the Maine EPP Survey, to contact individuals for reasons other than the Maine EPP Survey. 

DATA PROTECTION AND STORAGE 

Data related to the Maine EPP Survey can only be accessed by authorized NLIHC Research Team staff who are working on the survey. The data is stored on secure, password-protected platforms. Under no circumstances will this data be shared, printed, published, or otherwise made accessible outside of these secure platforms. except in the form of aggregate analyses and reports as described in the previous section. 

YOUR RIGHTS AS A MAINE EPP SURVEY PARTICIPANT 

If you are a participant in the Maine EPP Survey, you have the right to: 

• Choose not to take the survey, or to stop the survey at any time 
• Skip any questions on the survey that you do not feel comfortable answering 
• Ask questions before you decide to participate in the survey or after you have submitted a response 
• Request a copy of your responses to the Maine EPP Survey, or request that some or all of the information you shared in the survey be deleted

If you have questions or concerns about the Maine EPP Survey, please email [email protected] or call 771-209-4677 or 202-662-1530 ext. 256. For information about your Eviction Prevention Program application, please contact [email protected] or call (207) 274-1240. 

UPDATES TO THIS STATEMENT 

Any changes to NLIHC’s Maine Eviction Prevention Program Survey Data Privacy Statement will be published here and the “last updated” timestamp will be updated accordingly 

Last updated on July 8, 2025.

If you have other questions that are not answered here, you can: 

• Email us at [email protected]
• Leave us a voice message by calling 771-209-4677 or 202-662-1530 ext. 256, and a member of our team will call you back