An Act To Improve the Process for Recovering Personal Property and for Filing Actions Involving Consumer Credit
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1184
Committee Amendment CA_A_S175 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 432, L.O. 1184, Bill, "An Act To 
Improve the Process for Recovering Personal Property and for Filing Actions Involving 
Consumer Credit" 
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of subsection 2 (page 1, lines 3 to 13 in 
L.O.) and inserting the following: 
'2. 
Forcible entry and detainer; trustee process; attachment. An action for 
forcible entry and detainer or replevin shall must be brought in the division in which the 
property involved is located. Any Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3-A, an 
action to recover personal property pursuant to Title 14, section 7071, or for replevin, 
may be brought either in the division where a plaintiff or defendant resides, where the 
underlying transaction involving the personal property was made or where any of the 
personal property is located, or to which the court orders the personal property to be 
brought or kept pursuant to Title 14, section 7071, subsection 5. An action commenced 
by trustee process sfla.I.l must be brought in accordance with Title 14, chapter 501. Any 
An action involving attachment sfla.I.l may be brought in the division where the plaintiff 
resides or where the defendant resides or where the property involved is located.' 
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 3-A in the 2nd line (page 1, line 16 in L.O.) 
by inserting after the following: "transaction" the following: 'or a rental-purchase 
agreement' 
Amend the bill in section 3 in §509 in the first paragraph in the 2nd line (page 1, line 
'23 in 1.0.) by inserting after the following: "transaction" the following: 'or a rental-
purchase agreement' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in §51 0 in the first paragraph in the 2nd line (page 1, line 
in L.O.) by inserting after the following: "resides" the following: " where the 
underlying transaction involving the personal property was made' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 6 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 6. 14 MRSA c. 726 is enacted to read: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 432, L.D. 1184 
CHAPTER 726 
ALTERNATIVE ACTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 
§7071. Actions to recover personal property 
1. Action to resolve dispute. If 2 or more persons claim a right in, title to or 
possession of personal property, a claimant may bring a civil action in District Court to 
resolve a dispute among the claimants. The plaintiff may bring the action by way of 
summary proceeding under subsection 2 or plenary proceeding under subsection 9. 
2. Summary proceeding. If an action in subsection 1 is brought as a summary 
proceeding, the summons must state the day when the action is returnable, which may not 
be less than 7 days from the date of service of the summons, and must notify the 
II 
defendant that in case of the defendant's failure to appear and state a defense on the return 
day, judgment by default will be rendered against the defendant. The defendant may 
appear and defend against the action without filing a responsive pleading. The action 
may not be joined with any other action or claim and a defendant may not file a 
IS 
counterclaim. The action may not be removed to Superior Court. At the hearing on the 
action, the plaintiff must support its claim of an interest in or other right to possession of 
the personal property at issue by a preponderance of the evidence. 
3. Discovery. In a summary proceeding, the court may for cause shown allow 
discovery, which may be on an expedited schedule. 
4. Venue. An action under this section may be brought in accordance with Title 4, 
section ISS. 
Relocation of the personal property may not be a basis for a change of 
venue. 
5. Court authority. The court has equitable power to make an appropriate order in 
relation to the personal property and the parties to the action and to compel obedience to 
its judgment and orders. 
A court order under this subsection' may include an order 
regarding the location to which the personal property must be brought or kept or a 
turnover order under section 313 I, subsection 1. 
6. Judgment; issuance of writ of possession. When the defendant defaults or the 
plaintiff is otherwise entitled to judgment, the court shall render judgment concerning the 
possession of the personal property in favor of the plaintiff. The judgment must order the 
turnover of the personal property to the plaintiff on such terms as the court directs. The 
court may also grant preliminary, interim or other equitable relief upon a sufficient 
showing that the preliminary, interim or other equitable relief is justified. 
Seven calendar days after the judgment is entered, the court shall upon request of the 
plaintiff issue a writ of possession requiring the sheriff or constable to put the plaintiff 
into possession of the plaintiffs personal property. This subsection does not preclude the 
court from granting preliminary, interim or other equitable relief. 
7. Service and return of writ of possession; contempt. A writ of possession is 
returnable within 3 years from the date of issuance. The writ may be served by a sheriff 
or a constable. 
When a writ of possession has been served on the defendant by a 
constable or sheriff, the defendant must put the sheriff or constable into possession of the 
property within 2 days of the date on which the writ is served upon that defendant or the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 432, L.D. 1184 
plaintiff may file a motion to have the defendant held in contempt. A proceeding upon a 
motion for contempt under this subsection is subject to the Maine Rules of Civil 
Procedure, Rule 66(d) and for the purposes of this proceeding the entry of the judgment 
against the defendant creates a rebuttable presumption that the defendant has the ability to 
put the sheriff or constable into possession of the property. This presumption shifts the 
burden of production of evidence to the defendent, but the burden of persuasion remains 
upon the plaintiff in any contempt proceeding. 
8. Appeal. An appeal of a judgment or order under this section is governed by Title 
4, section 57 and the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, except that any issue triable by 
right by a jury may be appealed to a trial de novo in Superior Court. A request to District 
Court for a stay pending appeal is governed by the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 
62(d). 
9. Plenary proceeding. If an action under this section is brought as a plenary 
proceeding, the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure apply, except that the action may not be 
joined with any other action or claim and a defendant may not file a counterclaim and the 
action may not be removed to Superior Court. 
10. Equitable Remedy. The remedy provided in this section is a remedy in equity 
and is in addition to and not in lieu of another remedy.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment amends the bill to clarify that, for venue purposes, consumer 
transactions include rental-purchase agreements in 
addition to consumer credit 
transactions. 
The amendment retains, with a few changes, the text for the new cause of action to 
resolve disputes over rights in, title to or possession of personal property and to eliminate 
the personal property forcible entry and detainer action, but establishes a new separate 
chapter for the new cause of action. 
This amendment provides that the court may issue a writ of possession 7 days after 
the judgement is entered, which is consistent with current law. The bill allows a writ to be 
issued 6 days after the entry of the judgment. 
The bill provides that, in a contempt proceeding that may be brought against a 
defendant who does not comply with the writ of possession within 2 days of service, the 
judgment creates a rebuttable presumption that the defendant has the ability to put the 
sheriff or constable into possession of the property. This amendment clarifies that the 
presumption shifts the burden of production of evidence to the defendant, but that the 
burden of persuasion remains upon the plaintiff in the contempt proceed ing. 
The bill as amended is not intended to create any new right to a jury trial, or to 
expand any right to a jury trial that may now exist under the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 14, section 6012. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT