HELENA — A Helena real estate agent has been fined $150,000 and sentenced to three years of felony probation after failing to provide lead-based paint disclosures to residents of veteran housing at Fort Harrison. A child in one of the units had to be treated for lead poisoning.
Melanie Ann Carlin, 54, of Clancy, pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of knowing endangerment.
Carlin owns 406 Properties in Helena. In 2018, she agreed to provide property management services for rental units known as Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison.
The property, built between 1895 and 1905, included multiple homes for military veterans to use as affordable housing. Federal regulations require the disclosure of known information on lead-based paint before the sale or lease of a housing unit built before 1978.
In court documents, prosecutors allege that Carlin knew lead-based paint was in the units but did not disclose it to families applying to reside there.
In September 2021, an 18-month-old child in the veteran’s home was found eating paint chips inside the unit. Medical testing found the child had “very high” lead levels in their blood and needed treatment for lead poisoning. Lead poisoning in children can have serious, lasting health problems, including damage to the brain and nervous system.
“The defendant placed our military veterans and their children in danger by callously disregarding reporting and disclosure requirements for lead-based paint in rental properties. Lead poisoning can have catastrophic effects on young children and pregnant women,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Catherine Holston for EPA’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Today’s sentence sends a message that the agency will hold accountable anyone who places our military veterans and their children in harm’s way by violating our environmental laws.”
Mold Wranglers, Inc., a Kalispell-based company that provides hazardous material mitigation services was also sentenced to two years of probation, a $50,000 fine, and $348,000 in restitution to be paid to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for filing false reports for payment to a federal agency, claiming an abatement of lead paint was done at Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison when it was not. The company pleaded guilty to one count of False Claims Act Conspiracy in November 2024.
