An Act To Provide Notice of Foreclosures to Tenants
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0148
Committee: JUdiciary
Sponsors: PRIEST, BOWMAN, BEAUDOIN, FOSSEL, GOODE, RICHARDSON, TREAT
Amends: 14 MRSA §6321

Legislative Document 
No. 148 
H.P.127 
House of Representatives, January 15,2009 
An Act To Provide Notice of Foreclosures to Tenants 
Reference to the Committee on JUdiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative PRIEST of Brunswick. 
Cosponsored by Senator BOWMAN of York and 
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/J1.17!tU:1d~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BEAUDOIN of Biddeford, FOSSEL of Alna, GOODE of Bangor, 
RICHARDSON of Warren, TREAT of Hallowell. 
Pl'inted llll h~L:yd .... d pap.:r 
Be it enacted by the People ofthe StateofMainc as follows: 
Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §6321, as amended by PL 2007, c. 391, §9, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§6321. Commencement offoreclosure by civifaction 
1. Commencement of foreclosure proceeding. After breach of condition in a 
mortgage offrrst priority, the mortgagee or anypersorr claiming under the mortgagee may 
proceed for the purp6se of foreclosUre by a civil action against all parties in interest in 
either the Superior Court or the District Court in the division in which the mortgaged 
premises or any part of the mortgaged premises is located, regardless of the amount of the 
mortgage claim. 
After breach of condition of any mortgage other than one of the first priority, the 
mortgagee or any person claiming under the mortgagee may proceed for the purpose of 
foreclosure by a civil action against all parties in interest, except for parties in interest 
having a superior priority to the foreclosing mortgagee, in either the Superior Court or the 
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District Court in· the division in which the mortgaged premises or any part of the 
mortgaged premises is located. Parties in interest having a superior priority may not be 
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joined nor will their interests be affected by the proceedings, but the resulting sale under 
section 6323 is of the defendant's or mortgagor's equity of redemption only. The plaintiff 
shall notify the priority parties in interest of the action by sending a copy of the complaint 
to the parties in interest by certified mail. 
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The foreclosure must be commenced in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil 
Procedure, and the mortgagee shall also record a copy of the complaint or a clerk's 
certificate of the filing of the complaint in each registry of deeds in which the mortgage 
deed is or by law ought to be recorded and SUch a recording thereafter constitutes record 
notice of commencement of foreclosure. The complaint must allege with specificity the 
plaintiffs claim by mortgage on such real estate, describe the mortgaged premises 
intelligibly, state the existence of public utility easements, if any, that were recorded 
subsequent to the mortgage and prior to the commencement of the foreclosure proceeding 
and without mortgagee consent, state the amount due on the mortgage, state the condition 
broken and by reason of such breach demand a foreclosure and sale. Service of process 
on all parties in interest and all proceedings must be in accordance with the Maine Rules 
of Civil Procedure. "Parties in interest" includes mortgagors, holders of fee interest, 
mortgagees, lessees pursuant to recorded leases or memoranda thereof, lienors and 
attaching creditors all as reflected by the indices in the registry of deeds and the. 
documents referred to therein affecting the. mortgaged premises, through the time of the 
recording of the complaint or the clerk's certificate. Failure to join any party in interest 
does not invalidate the action nor any subsequent proceedings as to those joined .. Failure 
of the mortgagee to join, as a party in interest, the holder of any public utility easement 
recorded subsequent to the mortgage and prior to commencement of foreclosure 
proceedings is deemed consent by the mortgagee to that easement. Any other party 
having a claim to the real estate whose claim is not recorded in the registry of deeds as of 
the time of recording of the copy of the complaint or the clerk's certificate need not be 
joined in the foreclosure action, and any such party has no claim against the real estate 
after completion of the foreclosure sale, except that any such party may move to 
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intervene in the action for the purpose of being added as a party in interest at any time 
prior to the entry of judgment. 
For purposes of this section, "public utility easements" means any easements held by 
public utilities, as defined in Title 35-A, section 102; sewer districts, as defined in Title 
J8,section J251;or sanitary districts, as formed underTitle38, chapter 11 . 
The acceptance, before the expiration of the right of redemption and after the 
commencement of foreclosure proceedings of any mortgage of real property, of anything 
of value to be applied on or to the mortgage indebtedness by the mortgagee or any person 
holding under the mortgagee constitutes a waiver of the foreclosure unless an agreement 
to the contrary in writing is signed by the person from whom the payment is accepted or 
unless the bank returns the payment to the mortgagor within 10 days of receipt. The 
receipt of income from the mortgaged premises by the mortgagee or the mortgagee's 
assigns while in possession of the premises does not constitute a waiver of the foreclosure 
proceedings of the mortgage on the premises. 
The mortgagee and the mortgagor may enter into an agreement to allow the mortgagor to 
bring the mortgage payments up to date with the foreclosure process being stayed as long 
as the mortgagor makes payments according to the agreement. If the mortgagor does not 
make payments according to the agreement, the mortgagee may, after notice to the 
mortgagor, resume the foreclosure process at the point at which it was stayed. 
2. 
Additional notice of foreclosure to occupants of mortgaged premises. In 
foreclosures by civil action commenced on or after January 1, 2010, the mortgagee shall 
provide notice of the commencement of the foreclosure proceeding to all occupants of the 
mortgaged premises by sending by ordinary first class mail a copy of the complaint 
against the mortgagor to the physical location of the mortgaged premises subject to the 
foreclosure proceeding. The notice must be mailed no less than 14 calendar days after the 
foreclosure proceeding is commenced in either Superior Court or District Court. Failure 
to provide notice of the proceeding under this subsection does not affect the validity of 
the civil action commenced pursuant to subsection 1. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires mortgagees to provide notice of foreclosure proceedings to all 
occupants of mortgaged premises subject to the foreclosure action by mailing a copy of 
the complaint to the physical address of the mortgaged premises. The notice must be 
mailed no less than 14 calendar days after the foreclosure proceeding is commenced.