Maine Foreclosure Laws

Expected Timeline: Six to ten months
Security Instrument: Mortgage
Type of Process: Judicial
Protections for Servicemembers: Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. titl 37-B, § 387
Time to Respond: Twenty to thirty days to respond to foreclosure lawsuit. If judgment is awarded to bank, notice must be published within 90 days after redemption period expires. Notice must be published for three consecutive weeks, and sale will be held 30-45 days after first publication. Notice of sale must be mailed to owners at least 30 days before sale.
Reinstatement Period: Homeowners may receive two months to reinstate, with a two-month extension possible. Lender may allow owners to reinstate at any time before sale.
Protections for High-Cost Mortgages: None.
Redemption Period: Ninety days from date of judgment, unless homeowners appeal.
Eviction Process: No specific timeline for eviction. New owner will go to court to get eviction order, and eviction can take from two weeks to a month. Longer period will result if former owners respond to complaint.
Deficiency Judgments: Allowed.
Limits on Deficiency Judgments: Deficiencies are limited to an amount set on the date of the sale. If the bank that owns the mortgage is the high bidder at auction, any deficiency is also limited to the fair market value of the property.
Cash Exempted in Bankruptcy: $6,400 for single person, $12,800 for married couples.
State Statutes: Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 6101 to 6325

The Non-Judicial Foreclosure process is not available in Maine , and there is no power of sale clause present in the original mortgage documents. While the Judicial Foreclosure process is available, most foreclosures in Maine are done through the Strict Foreclosure process.

Maine foreclosure civil procedures doctrine considers the lender to retain ownership of the property until the borrower has paid the loan in full. Thus, if the borrower violates any condition of the mortgage contract, he loses all rights to the property. The lender can take possession of the property in this event.

Depending on when the mortgage was written, the redemption period differs. If the mortgage was written before 1975, there is a three month right of redemption. If it was written after 1975, the redemption period extends to twelve months.

If the lender decides to sell the property and wait until the redemption period has expired, they must file an initial lawsuit against the borrower to obtain an order of sale from the court. The sale is conducted based on instructions by the court.

The notice of sale must be published for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is located. The first publication must not be more than ninety (90) days after the borrower's redemption period has expired. Also, the sale must be held not less than thirty (30) days and not more than forty-five (45) days after the first publication of the notice of sale. The notice of sale must be sent to the borrower via regular mail.

The lender may sue for a deficiency judgment in Maine , but the amount of the judgment is limited to the difference between the sale price and the appraised value of the property.

State Website: www.maine.gov