Eviction filings in Maine were down more than 20% last year as compared to the year before, according to state court records.
About 4,596 eviction cases were filed last year, compared with 5,794 in 2023.
Attorneys who represent Maine clients during eviction proceedings said the data are somewhat surprising.
"We're still busy," said Maddie Thomson Crossman, a staff attorney with Pine Tree Legal Assistance. "There are still people being evicted, being evicted into homeless and in really desperate situations, in housing that is not affordable."
Eviction filings for the first four months of this year are also down, about 8% as compared to the same period last year. In total, eviction proceedings have declined over a 14-month period between January 2024 and March 2025. They ticked up slightly in April of this year, according to the data.
Eviction rates may also be settling after a particularly busy 2023, when pandemic-era rental assistance programs came to an end.
"For example, towns in Maine stopped allowing hotels to be used as shelter," said Oriana Farnham, a senior attorney with Maine Equal Justice. "There were a few mass eviction events where there were hotels in the greater Portland area that filed evictions against dozens and dozens of families who were living in those hotels."
Maine's Eviction Prevention Pilot Program, which went into effect last fall and quickly reached capacity, may have also played a role, Farnham said. The program has helped some of her clients stay in their homes and catch up on back rent.
State lawmakers recently approved a two-year, $20 million extension of the eviction prevention program, but it has yet to be funded.
