An Act To Protect the Rights of Leaseholders and Ensure Their Continued Access to Land
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0760
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CLARK, STANLEY, CARR, DUPREY, GOODWIN, JACKSON, SHERMAN

Legislative Document 
No. 760 
H.P.565 
House of Representatives, February 18,2003 
An Act To Protect the Rights of Leaseholders and Ensure Their 
Continued Access to Land 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative CLARK of Millinocket. 
Cosponsored by Senator STANLEY of Penobscot and 
7l/~/h.~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CARR of Lincoln, DUPREY of Medway, GOODWIN of Pembroke, 
JACKSON of Fort Kent, SHERMAN of Hodgdon. 
Printed 00 recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 14 MRSA c. 710-D. as enacted by PL 2001, c. 612, §1 
and c. 
653, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its 
place: 
CH.A.P'TER 110-D 
BUILDINGS ON LEASED LOTS 
§6047. 
Application 
1. 
Parties to agreement; 
purposes of agreement. 
This 
chapter applies to agreements between: 
A. 
A person, referred to in this chapter as "the lessor, " 
who owns land in territory under jurisdiction of the Maine 
Land Use Regulation Commission; and 
B. 
A person, referred to in this chapter as "the lessee, " 
who 
intends 
to 
construct 
or 
to 
occupy 
a 
building 
or 
buildings owned by that person on leased land in territory 
under 
jurisdiction 
of 
the 
Maine 
Land 
Use 
Regulation 
Commission for recreational or residential purposes on 
a 
seasonal 
or 
year-round basis 
or 
to 
operate 
a 
business 
consisting of 
a 
commercial 
s.!?orting 
cam.!?, 
cam.!?ground 
or 
retail store. 
2. 
Application. 
Unless otherwise specified, sections 6048 
and 6049 apply to agreements entered into or renewed on or after 
July 25, 2002. 
§6048. 
Written lease and description required 
An agreement described in section 6047 must be made in the 
form of a written lease and must include at least a general 
description of the boundaries of the land to be leased. 
§6049. 
Regyired notice 
1. 
Reqyired notice of change in terms. 
A lessor must give 
a lessee at least 30 days' notice of a change in the terms of a 
lease. 
2. 
Regyired notice of termination. 
Unless the lease is 
terminated for cause, a lessor must give notice to a lessee of 
the intent to terminate the lease at least one year prior to the 
effective date of the termination. 
All terms of the lease remain 
in effect following the notice, except that: 
A. 
Termination provisions 
of 
the 
lease 
to 
the 
extent 
inconsistent with this section are void, beginning on the 
date the notice is provided; 
B. 
The lessee may terminate the lease earlier than the 
effective date provided in the notice; and 
c. 
If the lessee violates the lease during the period 
between the giving of the notice and the termination date 
provided in the notice, this section no longer applies and 
the lessee has only the rights provided in the lease. 
For purposes of this subsection, "cause" means violation by a 
lessee of a term of a lease. 
§60S0. 
Right of first refusal 
A lessee of premises on which a structure owned by the 
lessee exists has the right of first refusal with regard to the 
leased premises if the lessor intends to sell or to offer to sell 
the leased premises as a separate parcel. 
Each lease subject to 
this chapter must make provision for a method of determining the 
sale price of the leased premises upon exercise of the right 
provided in this section. 
The lessor must give the lessee at 
least 90 days to accept the offer to purchase the lot. 
If title to the land 011 which a lease exists is transferred 
to a different owner after September 30, 2003, the lessee at the 
time of transfer has the right of first refusal with regard to 
subsequent leases of the land. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows a lessee the right of first refusal to 
continue leasing a parcel of land when the land is transferred to 
a different owner and the new owner intends to continue leasing 
the land. 
This bill also corrects a conflict created by Public Law 
2001, chapter 612 and chapter 653, which enacted substantively 
similar provisions using the same section numbers.