14 §6001. Availability of remedy
Title 14: COURT PROCEDURE -- CIVIL
Part 7: PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS
Chapter 709: ENTRY AND DETAINER HEADING: PL 1999, C. 192, §1 (RPR)
Subchapter 1: RESIDENTIAL LANDLORDS AND TENANTS HEADING: PL 1999, C. 192, §1 (NEW)
§6001. Availability of remedy
1. Persons against whom process may be maintained. Process of forcible entry and detainer may be maintained against a disseisor who has not acquired any claim by possession and improvement; against a tenant holding under a written lease or contract or person holding under such a tenant; against a tenant where the occupancy of the premises is incidental to the employment of a tenant; at the expiration or forfeiture of the term, without notice, if commenced within 7 days from the expiration or forfeiture of the term; against a tenant at will, whose tenancy has been terminated as provided in section 6002; and against mobile home owners and tenants pursuant to Title 10, chapter 951, subchapter VI. When there are multiple occupants of an apartment or residence, the process of forcible entry and detainer is effective against all occupants if the plaintiff names as parties "all other occupants" together with all adult individuals whose names appear on the lease or rental agreement for the premises or whose tenancy the plaintiff has acknowledged by acceptance of rent or otherwise.
[ 1995, c. 372, §1 (AMD) .]
1-A. Foreclosure. A bona fide tenancy in a building for which a foreclosure action brought pursuant to either section 6203‐A or 6321 is pending or for which a foreclosure judgment has been entered may be terminated only pursuant to the provisions of the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, Public Law 111-22, Sections 701 to 704.
[ 2009, c. 566, §1 (NEW) .]
2. Persons who may not maintain process. The process of forcible entry and detainer may not be maintained against a tenant by a 3rd party lessee, grantee, assignee or donee of the tenant's premises, unless a tenant at will has received notice of termination in accordance with section 6002 by either the grantor or the grantee of the conveyance.
[ 1985, c. 638, §4 (AMD) .]
3. Presumption of retaliation. In any action of forcible entry and detainer there is a rebuttable presumption that the action was commenced in retaliation against the tenant if, within 6 months prior to the commencement of the action, the tenant has:
A. Asserted the tenant's rights pursuant to section 6021; [2009, c. 566, §2 (AMD).]
B. Complained as an individual, or if a complaint has been made in that individual's behalf, in good faith, of conditions affecting that individual's dwelling unit that may constitute a violation of a building, housing, sanitary or other code, ordinance, regulation or statute, presently or hereafter adopted, to a body charged with enforcement of that code, ordinance, regulation or statute, or such a body has filed a notice or complaint of such a violation; [2009, c. 566, §2 (AMD).]
C. Complained in writing or made a written request, in good faith, to the landlord or the landlord's agent to make repairs on the premises as required by any applicable building, housing or sanitary code, or by section 6021, or as required by the rental agreement between the parties; or [1989, c. 484, §1 (AMD).]
D. [1989, c. 484, §2 (NEW); MRSA T. 14, §6001, sub-§3, ¶D (RP).]
E. Filed, in good faith, a fair housing complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission or filed, in good faith, a fair housing complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development concerning acts affecting that individual's tenancy. [2009, c. 566, §2 (NEW).]
No writ of possession may issue in the absence of rebuttal of the presumption of retaliation.
[ 2009, c. 566, §2 (AMD) .]
4. Membership in tenants' organization. No writ of possession may issue when the tenant proves that the action of forcible entry and detainer was commenced in retaliation for the tenant's membership in an organization concerned with landlord-tenant relationships.
[ 1981, c. 428, §1 (NEW) .]
5. Affirmative defense. A tenant may raise the affirmative defense of failure of the landlord to provide the tenant with a reasonable accommodation pursuant to Title 5, chapter 337 or the federal Fair Housing Act, 42 United States Code, Section 3601, et seq. If the court determines that the landlord has a duty to offer a reasonable accommodation and has failed to do so, the court shall deny the forcible entry and detainer and not grant possession to the landlord. If the court determines that the landlord is otherwise entitled to possession and either has no duty to offer a reasonable accommodation or has, in fact, offered a reasonable accommodation, the court shall grant the forcible entry and detainer.
[ 2009, c. 566, §3 (NEW) .]
SECTION HISTORY
1971, c. 322, §1 (AMD). 1977, c. 401, §2 (AMD). 1981, c. 428, §1 (RPR). 1985, c. 638, §4 (AMD). 1989, c. 484, §§1,2 (AMD). 1995, c. 60, §2 (AMD). 1995, c. 372, §1 (AMD). 2009, c. 566, §1-3 (AMD). MRSA T. 14, §6001, sub-3, ¶D (AMD).