Security deposits
Maine caps the residential security deposit at two months' rent. The statute is 14 M.R.S. §6032, and the language is direct: a lease or tenancy at will agreement for a dwelling intended for human habitation may not require a security deposit equivalent to more than the rent for two months.
Returning it has its own clock. For a tenancy at will the deposit comes back within 21 days; where a written lease provides for longer, the outside limit is 30 days. An itemized list of any deductions is due within 30 days of the tenancy ending and the tenant moving out.
The radon rule almost nobody knows
Under 14 M.R.S. §6030-D, a landlord must have rental units tested for radon, and retested every ten years when a tenant requests it, unless a mitigation system has been installed. Buildings that started operating after March 1, 2014 must be tested within twelve months of a tenant occupying them. Maine's Department of Health and Human Services publishes the standard disclosure form.
Here is the consequence that makes it matter: if a test comes back at 4.0 pCi/L or higher, either the landlord or the tenant may end the lease or tenancy at will with at least 30 days' notice. A radon result can legally empty your unit. Maine has some of the highest radon levels in the country, so this is not a theoretical risk here.
Notice periods
| Situation | Notice |
|---|---|
| Rent increase, statewide baseline | 45 days' written notice |
| Rent increase of 10% or more | 75 days' written notice |
| Rent increase inside Bangor city limits | 60 days, under Chapter 282 |
| Lease violation | 7 day notice to cure or quit |
| Terminating after an uncured violation | Separate 30 day notice to vacate before filing |
Notice rules are where self managing owners lose cases they should have won. The underlying reason for the eviction can be perfectly valid and the case still fails because the notice was short or served wrong.
Disclosures due at move in
Maine requires owners to disclose, in writing, on a list of specific subjects:
- Lead based paint, for any building built before 1978. Maine requires a state form on top of the federal one.
- Radon, on the state's standard form, with the test result.
- Energy efficiency information for the unit.
- Smoking policy for the building.
- Bedbug history and treatment status.
- Common area electricity, when the tenant's meter serves anything outside the unit.
- Where the security deposit is held.
Maine's Attorney General publishes a tenant rights guide that covers most of this from the other side of the relationship, and it is worth reading precisely because it is what your tenant will read.
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