An Act To Amend the Circuitbreaker Program To Include Claimants Occupying Property Pursuant to a Trust and To Require Proof of Payment of Rent
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1680
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: PLOWMAN, KNIGHT, HASTINGS, SHERMAN, THIBODEAU, WHITTEMORE, CUSHING, MORISSETTE
Amends: 36 MRSA §6201, 36 MRSA §6204-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1680 
S.P. 579 
In Senate, December 21, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Circuitbreaker Program To Include 
Claimants Occupying Property Pursuant to a Trust and To Require 
Proof of Payment of Rent 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 19, 2011.  Referred to the Committee 
on Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator PLOWMAN of Penobscot. 
Cosponsored by Representative KNIGHT of Livermore Falls and 
Senators: HASTINGS of Oxford, SHERMAN of Aroostook, THIBODEAU of Waldo, 
WHITTEMORE of Somerset, Representatives: CUSHING of Hampden, MORISSETTE of 
Winslow. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §6201, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1995, c. 368, Pt. CCC, §7 
and affected by §11, is further amended to read: 
5.  Homestead.  "Homestead" means the dwelling owned or rented by the claimant or 
held in a revocable living trust for the benefit of the claimant and occupied by the 
claimant and the claimant's dependents as a home, and may consist of a part of a 
multidwelling or multipurpose building and a part of the land, up to 10 acres, upon which 
it is built. "Owned" includes a vendee in possession under a land contract and of one or 
more joint tenants or tenants in common.  For purposes of this subsection, "trust" means  
a legally binding agreement, including, but not limited to, a revocable living trust, that 
allows the owner of the dwelling to transfer the property but continue to occupy the 
dwelling as a homestead until some future event stated in the agreement. 
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §6204-A is enacted to read: 
§6204-A.  Proof of payment of rent 
For applications filed on or after August 1, 2012, a claimant who rents a homestead 
and whose benefit base is calculated based on rent constituting property taxes accrued 
shall submit with the claim for a benefit under this chapter proof of payment of rent by 
the claimant.  An application that does not include proof of payment of rent is considered 
an incomplete application and the claim must be disallowed until such time as the proof 
of payment of rent is received by the assessor.  For purposes of this section, "proof of 
payment of rent" means either a notarized statement signed by the claimant stating that 
the rent for the year for which relief is requested has been paid in full or a signed letter 
from the claimant's landlord stating that the rent for the year for which relief is requested 
has been paid in full. 
Sec. 3.  Application.  That section of this Act that amends the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 36, section 6201, subsection 5 applies to applications for the Circuitbreaker 
Program filed on or after August 1, 2012. 
SUMMARY 
Currently, under the Circuitbreaker Program, a person occupying a homestead that is 
held in a revocable living trust is eligible for benefits under the program, as long as all 
other requirements of the program are met.  This bill increases the eligibility in the 
Circuitbreaker Program by allowing a person to apply for benefits if that person is  
occupying a homestead under a legally binding agreement that allows the person to 
transfer the property but continue to reside in it as a homestead until some specified 
future event. 
Under the Circuitbreaker Program, a renter may claim that portion of the rent that 
constitutes the property taxes paid on the renter's homestead.  This bill requires the renter 
to provide with the application for benefits under the Circuitbreaker Program either a 
notarized statement signed by the claimant or a letter signed by the claimant's landlord 
stating that the rent for the year that the Circuitbreaker Program benefit is claimed has 
been paid in full.