How the Maine eviction process works
Maine calls an eviction a forcible entry and detainer, or FED. The rules sit in 14 M.R.S. chapter 709, and the District Court hears every case (14 M.R.S. 6003). Most Maine apartment tenants are tenants at will, meaning month-to-month with no fixed-term lease, and the notice rules in 14 M.R.S. 6002 are written for them.
Tenants under a written lease are different. An FED can be brought without notice when the lease term expires or is forfeited, if you file within 7 days (14 M.R.S. 6001(1)). If the lease has no termination or breach-notice language, you fall back on the tenant-at-will notices (14 M.R.S. 6001(1-B)). Our Maine landlord tenant law guide covers deposits, fees and rent increases, so this page stays on the eviction case.
Maine eviction notices
Every termination notice to a tenant at will must tell the tenant they have the right to contest the termination in court (14 M.R.S. 6002). Leaving that language out won’t get the case dismissed, but it’s grounds to set aside a default if the tenant skips the hearing.
- Unpaid rent: once the tenant is 7 days or more behind, a 7-day written notice. It must state the amount at least 7 days in arrears as of the notice date and include the statutory reinstatement paragraph word for word. Paying in full before it expires voids it (14 M.R.S. 6002(1)-(2)).
- Damage, nuisance, violence or an unauthorized occupant: a 7-day written notice stating the specific ground, which you must prove at the hearing. This covers substantial unrepaired damage, a nuisance or illegal activity at the unit, violence or threats against other tenants or staff, and a person who isn’t an authorized occupant (14 M.R.S. 6002(1)).
- No cause: at least 30 days’ written notice. If the tenant has paid rent through a later date, the notice must expire on or after that date (14 M.R.S. 6002).
- Combined notice: a 30-day notice and a 7-day notice can be combined in one document, which protects you if the 7-day ground is later disputed.
Delivering a Maine notice and the CV-256 sheet
Hand delivery is the default. If you or your agent make at least 3 good-faith attempts to serve the tenant in hand, you can instead mail the notice first class and leave a copy at the unit. You need both, not one or the other (14 M.R.S. 6002).
The Judicial Branch also tells landlords to serve its Information Sheet and Mediation Request, form CV-256, with every notice to quit. Once a 30-day notice is served, taking money doesn’t undo the termination until a writ issues, unless the tenant pays rent that accrued after the termination date. A 7-day rent notice is different: full payment before it expires voids it.
The Maine FED case, step by step
These steps follow the Judicial Branch’s nonpayment guide.
- Prepare the papers. After the notice expires, complete the complaint (CV-007) naming every adult tenant plus “all other occupants” so the judgment reaches everyone in the unit (14 M.R.S. 6001(1)). Get a summons (CV-034) from the clerk for each defendant at $5 each, and include CV-256 and the electronic service notice.
- Sheriff service. Have the sheriff serve each defendant at least 14 days before the hearing. If the sheriff tries on 3 different days and fails, the papers can be left at the unit and mailed, backed by an affidavit (14 M.R.S. 6004(1)). The summons must carry the court’s plain-language form notice for tenants (14 M.R.S. 6004(2)).
- File. File the notice, complaint, summons with proof of service and the lease at least 3 business days before the hearing, with the $100 filing fee.
- Hearing. The court holds the hearing no later than 10 days after the return day, unless it grants a continuance for good cause (14 M.R.S. 6003). Free mediation is offered at the courthouse that day, and many cases end with an agreed move-out date.
- Judgment and writ. If the tenant defaults or doesn’t show sufficient cause, the court enters judgment for possession. Seven calendar days later the court issues the writ of possession, which you buy from the clerk and give to a sheriff or constable to serve (14 M.R.S. 6005).
- Move-out. A tenant who stays more than 48 hours after the writ is served is a trespasser, and belongings left behind are handled under 14 M.R.S. 6013.
Reinstatement, appeals and the retaliation presumption
Maine gives a tenant at will a late chance to stay. If the tenant pays all rent arrears, all rent due as of the payment date and the filing and service fees you actually paid, before the writ issues, the tenancy is reinstated and no writ may issue (14 M.R.S. 6002(1) and 6005). Payment or a written assurance from municipal general assistance counts the same as cash.
Either side can appeal to the Superior Court, but the time to appeal runs out when the writ issues or 30 days after judgment, whichever comes first. A tenant who appeals must pay you the unpaid part of the current month’s rent or the arrearage, whichever is less, and file an affidavit saying so. The Superior Court can stay the writ on condition that rent keeps getting paid (14 M.R.S. 6008).
If the tenant took certain protected steps in the 6 months before you filed, such as a code complaint or a written repair request, the court presumes the case is retaliatory and no writ can issue until you rebut it. The presumption doesn’t apply to cases on the 7-day grounds or for lease violations, with a narrow exception (14 M.R.S. 6001(3)).
Self-help is an illegal eviction in Maine
Any eviction done outside chapter 709 is illegal. That includes cutting off utilities, locking a tenant out and holding a tenant’s belongings. A court that finds an illegal eviction awards actual damages or $250, whichever is greater, plus the tenant’s costs and attorney’s fees (14 M.R.S. 6014).
Federal rules that can change the Maine timeline
If the building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, the CARES Act notice rule may apply. Section 4024(c), codified at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars a landlord of a covered property from requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium ended in 2020, but the 30-day text is still in the statute and courts have split on whether it still applies. At a covered building, a combined 30-day and 7-day notice sidesteps the question.
Before asking for a default, file the military status affidavit the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires in every default case (50 U.S.C. 3931).
Maine eviction timeline at a glance
This table follows a nonpayment case for a tenant at will from the first late day to move-out.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Earliest rent notice | Rent 7 or more days in arrears | 14 M.R.S. 6002(1) |
| Notice period | 7 days, void if paid in full | 14 M.R.S. 6002(1) |
| Serve summons and complaint | At least 14 days before hearing | Judicial Branch guide; 14 M.R.S. 6004 |
| File with court | At least 3 business days before hearing, $100 fee | Judicial Branch guide |
| Hearing | No later than 10 days after return day | 14 M.R.S. 6003 |
| Writ of possession | 7 calendar days after judgment | 14 M.R.S. 6005 |
| Tenant must leave | 48 hours after writ is served | 14 M.R.S. 6005 |
| Appeal deadline | Writ issuance or 30 days, whichever first | 14 M.R.S. 6008 |
Worked example: one nonpaying unit in a Portland building
Assume a unit in a 12-unit Portland building rents for $1,400 a month, or $46.03 a day, to a tenant at will. Rent is due on the 1st (day 0) and isn’t paid. Assume an attorney charges $750 for an uncontested case, on top of the $100 filing fee and one $5 summons. Sheriff fees aren’t included.
The tenant is 7 days in arrears on day 7, so that’s the earliest you can serve the 7-day notice. It expires on day 14. The sheriff serves the summons on day 15, and the hearing can be no sooner than 14 days later, on day 29. The tenant doesn’t appear and judgment enters. The writ issues 7 days later on day 36, the sheriff serves it that day, and the 48 hours run out on day 38.
That minimum path costs $1,749 in lost rent plus $855 in court and attorney costs, or $2,604. If the tenant pays everything owed plus your filing and service fees before day 36, the tenancy is reinstated and the case ends.
| Item | Days or amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Daily rent at $1,400 a month | $46.03 a day | |
| Lost rent, due date to move-out | 38 days | $1,749 |
| Filing fee and one summons | $100 + $5 | $105 |
| Assumed attorney fee | $750 | |
| Total, statutory minimum path | $2,604 |
Alternatives to a Maine eviction
Because a Maine tenant can reinstate right up to the writ, a payment plan agreed early often gets you the same money with less delay. Write it down, and say what happens on a missed payment.
When the tenant can’t pay, the hearing-day mediation is a natural place to settle a move-out date, and a cash for keys offer can make that date sooner. Paying a few hundred dollars for keys back within a week can beat the 38-day minimum path above.
Selling a Maine apartment building with a pending eviction
You can sell during a pending FED. Tenancies stay with the building. A new owner can’t evict a tenant at will unless the tenant got a termination notice under 14 M.R.S. 6002 from either the old or the new owner (14 M.R.S. 6001(2)), so share copies of every notice served. Disclose the case and any mediated agreement, hand over ledgers and collect tenant estoppel certificates.
Selling your Maine apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Maine and nationwide with tenants in place, including buildings with nonpaying tenants, notices served or FED cases pending. You don’t need to finish an eviction first.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
