On June 17, 1998, the Maine State Police Licensing Division sent me a form letter as follows: "In the wake of the Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest, the Main Attorney General's office and this office have received hundreds of telephone calls and letters from persons wanting to know, 1) whether it is legal in Maine to 'sell' real estate by way of a house essay contest, and, 2) how to run such a contest. Since it is impossible with the cutbacks in State government to respond to each request individually, we are providing you with this generic response to your inquiry about house essay contests in Maine. For more specific information, we recommend that you consult an attorney who can give you advice tailored to the needs of your individual situation."
"First, it is, at the present time, legal in Maine for private individuals, organizations, and corporations to run bona-fide contests of skill. A bona-fide essay contest, where essays are judged on the basis of the skill of the writer, are deemed to be legal contests of skill. We recommend that you consult with an attorney as to the legality of the specific contest of skill you seek to run."
"Second, we have enclosed for purposes of guidance only copies of the rules for the Center Lovell Inn Essay Contest and the Kennebunkport house essay contest. These rules, once again, are for guidance only and may or may not need to be amended to be suitable for the contest you seek to run. Please note that any reference to the Maine Attorney General's Office has been, or should have been, deleted from these two sets of rules. Given cutbacks in staff and resources, the Maine Attorney General's office is simply unable to review contest rules for legality or to place its stamp of approval on any particular set of rules or judges."
"Third, while house essay contests have been deemed to be legal, per se, any particular contest may still run afoul of the law through sloppy administration or deliberate fraud or theft. Moreover, the use of a raffle or other game of chance to dispose of real estate remains illegal. For these reasons, we recommend you consult with an attorney to insure that your contest complies with all legal requirements."
"Fourth, this informational material does not give approval of the Maine State Police to any set of contest rules and should be used as a guide only. Again, for legality of specific contest rules consultation with an attorney is recommended."
I'm not going to take the time now to type in the two sets of rules that they included here, since you can find quite a few examples by visiting some of the sites of contests listed on my main essay contest page.