An Act To Clarify the Filing of Municipal Personal Property Tax Liens
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1311
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: NORBERT, PENDLETON, BLANCHETTE, LERMAN, MAKAS, SAMPSON
Amends: 36 MRSA §612

Legislative Document 
No. 1311 
H.P.965 
House of Representati ves, March 11, 2003 
An Act To Clarify the Filing of Municipal Personal Property Tax 
Liens 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative NORBERT of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator PENDLETON of Cumberland and 
'77/~ 1J7.-mu~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BLANCHETTE of Bangor, LERMAN of Augusta, MAKAS of Lewiston, 
SAMPSON of Auburn. 
Print~d on recycl~d paper 
I 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§I, as amended by PL 1999, c. 699, 
Pt. D, §28 and affected by §30, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Lien. ~seFe-~6~-~~-~1&~-~e-6e€~£e-~~~-&~-all 
~aHes--~l-l-y-
~ssessed--eR The legal assessment of taxes upon 
personal 
property 
as 
defined 
in section 
aRa 
against 
a 
particular taxpayer creates and constitutes a lien upon all of 
the property assessed to secure payment of the resulting taxes, 
provided iR that the inventory and valuation upon which the 
assessment is madeT-~-lMH"-e--ffiU;S-t,--Be contains a description of the 
personal property taxed wsies that meets the requirements of 
Ti tle 11, section 9-1504. Except as otherwise provided in this 
section, 
the 
lienT-~-pe£~e€£eaT takes precedence over all 
other claims on the personal property and continues in force 
until 
the 
taxes 
are 
paid 
or 
until 
the 
lien is 
otherwise 
terminated by law. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§§3 and 4, as 
699, 
Pt. 
D, 
§28 
and affected by §30, 
following enacted in their place: 
amended by PL 1999, c. 
are 
repealed and the 
3. 
Perfection of lien. The lien established by subsection 1 
attaches on the date of assessment and must be perfected as 
against all lien creditors, 
as defined in Title 11, 
section 
9-1102, subsection (52), without the necessity of further action 
by 
the municipality or 
any 
other party. 
The 
lien becomes 
perfected as against parties other than lien creditors at the 
time when a notice of the lien is communicated, pursuant to the 
provisions of Title 11, section 9-1516, to the office identified 
in Title 11, section 9-1501, subsection (1), paragraph (b). 
Any 
filing is ineffective to perfect a lien as against parties that 
are not lien creditors to the extent that the filing covers taxes 
upon property whose status for those taxes was fixed pursuant to 
section 502 or 611 more than 2 years j?J..ior to the filing date. 
The lien does not have priority against any interest as to which 
it is unperfected during the period in which it is not 
so 
perfected. 
If the lien is perfected as to some interests in the 
property subject to the tax, but not as to other interests, and 
the interests as 
to which it is perfected are superior 
in 
priority to the interests against which the lien is unperfected, 
then the lien has priority over the interests against which it 
has not been perfected to the extent of the superior interests 
against which it has been perfected. 
4. 
Notice of lien. Each notice of lien, which may be in the 
form of a financing statement or other authenticated record, must: 
A. 
Name the owner of the property upon which the lien is 
claimed. if the owner is not the taxpayer and is known to 
the municipality: 
B. 
Provide the residence or business address of the owner. 
if known to the municipalitYi 
C. 
Provide the taxpayer's name and the taxpayer's residence 
or business address. if known to the municipality. and if 
not otherwise known. the address where the property that is 
being taxed was located on the date the status of such 
taxable property was fixed pursuant to section 502 or 611; 
D. 
Describe the property claimed to be subject to the lien 
in a manner that meets the requirements of Title II. section 
9-1504: 
E. 
State the amount of tax, accrued interest and costs. as 
of the date on which the municipality sends the notice for 
filing, claimed due the municipality and secured by the lien: 
F. 
State the tax year or years for which the lien is 
claimed: and 
G. 
Name the municipality claiming the lien. 
The notice of lien need not contain the information required by 
Title 
11, 
section 
9-1516, 
subsection 
(2), 
paragraph 
(e), 
subparagraph (iii) and must be accepted for filing without that 
information notwithstanding the provisions of Title 11, section 
9-1520, subsection (1). 
A copy of the notice of lien must be 
given by certified maiL return receipt requested, at the last 
known address, to the taxpayer, to the owner, if the owner is not 
the taxpayer, and to any party who has asserted that it holds an 
interest in any of the property that is subject to the lien in an 
authenticated notification received by the municipality within 5 
years prior to the date on which the municipality sends the 
notice of lien for filing, or who has filed a financing statement 
with 
the 
office 
identified 
in 
Title 
11, 
section 
9-1501, 
subsection (1), paragraph (b) that remains effective as of the 
date on which the municipality sends the notice of lien for 
filing. Failure to give notice to any secured party who has a 
perfected 
security 
interest 
prevents 
the 
lien 
from 
taking 
priority over that security interest, but does not otherwise 
affect the validity of the lien. 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1999, c. 699, 
Pt. D, §28 and affected by §30, is further amended to read: 
5. 
Effective 
period of 
Perfection of any lien by the 
lien; 
filing 
limitation period. 
~ae 
of a notice of lien is 
effective for a period of 5 years from the date of filing, unless 
discharged as provided in this section or unless a -continuation 
statement is filed prior to the lapse. A continuation statement 
6i~BeQ-~y-~~-~~--eelleeteF may 
be filed on behalf of the 
municipality within 6 
months prior to the expiration of the 
5-year period provided in this section in the same manner and to 
the same effect as provided in Title 11, section 9-1515. 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1999, c . 699, 
Pt. D, §28 and affected by §30, is repealed and the following 
enacted in its place: 
6. 
Rights and remedies of municipality and taJq)ayer. 
A 
municipality that has filed a notice of tax lien has the rights 
and remedies of a secured party, the taxpayer and the owner of 
the property against whom the lien has been filed have the rights 
and remedies of a debtor, all parties to whom the municipality is 
reguired to provide 
a 
copy of 
the lien notice pursuant to 
subsection 4 have the rights and remedies of a junior secured 
party and all lien creditors have the rights of lien creditors, 
as provided for in Title 11, Article 9-A, Part 6, except that: 
A. 
The municipality does not have the rights provided to a 
secured party in Title 11, 
sections 
9-1620, 
9-1621 
and 
9-1622; 
B. 
The municipality has no obligations to lien creditors or 
to secured parties referenced in Title lL sections 9-1605, 
9-1615 and 9-1628 except to the extent that it has received 
notice from such secured parties as set forth in subsection 
or they have effective financing statements on file as 
provided in subsection 4; 
C. 
The municipality has 
no obligations under Title 11, 
section 9-1616; and 
D. 
The municipality is not subject to Title lL section 
9-1625. subsection ( 3) , paragraph (b) 
and section 9-1625, 
subsections (5) to (7). 
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§7, 1(C, as amended by PL 1999, c. 
699, Pt. D, §28 and affected by §30, is further amended to read: 
C. 
A final judgment is rendered in favor of the taxpayer or 
others claiming an interest in the liened personal property 
which determines either that the tax is not owed or that the 
lien is not valid. If the judgment determines that the tax 
is partially owed, then the officer who filed the notice of 
lien or that officer's successor shall, wi thin 10 days of 
the rendition of the final judgment, file an aFAeBae4--t;aH 
amendment to the notice of lien €e!' reducing the amount 
claimed to the actual amount of tax found to be due, which 
amended lien is effective as to the revised amount of the 
lien as of the date of the filing of the original notice of 
tax 
lienT--and--t;ae--o-f-t-i-oe-r-,--eF--t-ha-t.--e~~j,eeF..'..s-~--at; 
t;ae-~~~~-&&e-~i1iR~-~-~~-affieBaea-~aK-~-i~--&ha~~-a±se 
€i±e-a-aiseaaF~e-e€-t;ae-eFi~iBa±-t;aH-±ieB. 
Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §612, sub-§9, 
Pt. D, 
§28 and affected by §30, 
enacted in its place: 
as amended by PL 1999, c. 699, 
is repealed and the following 
9. 
Liens 
subordinate 
to 
security interests. 
The 
lien 
authorized by subsection 1 is subordinated to security interests 
that were perfected before September 
23, 
1983 
and that have 
remained perfected thereafter, except to the extent that such 
perfected security interests would be subordinate to the rights 
of the municipality if the municipality were considered, whether 
or not such is actually the case, to be a lien creditor under 
Title 11, section 9-1323 by virtue of its rights pursuant to the 
lien authorized by subsection 1. 
Sec. 7. Retroactivity. 
This Act applies retroactively to liens 
authorized in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 612 
that are perfected by a filing made on or after July 1, 2001, or 
for which a continuation statement is filed on or after July 1, 
2001. 
All tax lien notices filed on or after July 1, 2001 with 
the office identified in Title 11, section 9-1501, 
subsection 
(1), paragraph (b) may not, by reason of filing in that office, 
be deemed invalid or otherwise ineffectual. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends 
the provisions of 
law that govern the 
creation, perfection and effect of tax liens on personal property.