An Act To Protect Homeowners Subject to Foreclosure by Requiring the Foreclosing Entity To Provide the Court with Original Documents
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0145
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: BEAVERS, BEAUDOIN, BENNETT, BERRY, CLARK, CRAFTS, BRANNIGAN, MASON
Amends: 14 MRSA §6321

Legislative Document 
No. 145 
H.P. 128 
House of Representatives, January 25, 2011 
An Act To Protect Homeowners Subject to Foreclosure by 
Requiring the Foreclosing Entity To Provide the Court with 
Original Documents 
Reference to the Committee on Insurance and Financial Services suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative BEAVERS of South Berwick. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: BEAUDOIN of Biddeford, BENNETT of Kennebunk, 
BERRY of Bowdoinham, CLARK of Millinocket, CRAFTS of Lisbon, Senators: 
BRANNIGAN of Cumberland, MASON of Androscoggin. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §6321, 3rd ¶, as amended by PL 2009, c. 476, Pt. B, §5 and 
affected by §9, is further amended to read: 
The foreclosure must be commenced in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil 
Procedure, and the mortgagee shall within 60 days of commencing the foreclosure 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 
mortgagee shall further certify and provide evidence that all steps mandated by law to 
provide notice to the mortgagor pursuant to section 6111 were strictly performed.  The 
mortgagee shall certify proof of ownership of the mortgage note and produce evidence of 
the original mortgage note signed by the mortgagor, and evidence of the mortgage and all 
assignments and endorsements of the mortgage note and mortgage.  The complaint must 
allege with specificity the plaintiff's claim by mortgage on such real estate, describe the 
mortgaged premises intelligibly, including the street address of the mortgaged premises, 
if any, which must be prominently stated on the first page of the complaint, state the book 
and page number of the mortgage, if any, 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.  If a clerk's certificate of the filing of the complaint is presented for recording 
pursuant to this section, the clerk’s certificate must bear the title "Clerk's Certificate of 
Foreclosure" and prominently state, immediately after the title, the street address of the 
mortgaged premises, if any, and the book and page number of the mortgage, if any.  
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 
intervene in the action for the purpose of being added as a party in interest at any time 
prior to the entry of judgment.  Within 10 days of submitting the complaint for filing with 
the court, the mortgagee shall provide a copy of the complaint or of the clerk's certificate 
as submitted to the court that prominently states, immediately after the title, the street 
address of the mortgaged premises, if any, and the book and page number of the 
mortgage, if any, to the municipal tax assessor of the municipality in which the property 
is located and, if the mortgaged premises is manufactured housing as defined in Title 10, 
section 9002, subsection 7, to the owner of any land leased by the mortgagor.  The failure 
to provide the notice required by this section does not affect the validity of the 
foreclosure sale. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires a mortgagee bringing a civil foreclosure action on real property to 
produce the original mortgage note, signed by the mortgagor, as part of the complaint.