An Act To Ensure That Defendants Receive Proper Notification in Foreclosure Proceedings
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0111
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: DAUGHTRY, MILLETT, DeCHANT, EVANGELOS, JORGENSEN, KRUGER, MOONEN, TUCKER
Amends: 14 MRSA §6111, 14 MRSA §6321

Legislative Document 
No. 111 
H.P. 83 
House of Representatives, January 22, 2015 
An Act To Ensure That Defendants Receive Proper Notification in 
Foreclosure Proceedings 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DAUGHTRY of Brunswick. 
Cosponsored by Senator MILLETT of Cumberland and 
Representatives: DeCHANT of Bath, EVANGELOS of Friendship, JORGENSEN of Portland, 
KRUGER of Thomaston, MOONEN of Portland, TUCKER of Brunswick. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §6111, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1997, c. 579, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
3.  Notice procedure.  A mortgagee shall provide notice to a mortgagor and any 
cosigner under this section to the last known addresses of the mortgagor and cosigner by: 
A.  Certified mail, return receipt requested.  For the purposes of this paragraph, the 
time when the notice is given to the mortgagor or cosigner is the date the mortgagor 
or cosigner signs the receipt or, if the notice is undeliverable, the date the post office 
last attempts to deliver it; or. 
B.  Ordinary first class mail, postage prepaid.  For the purposes of this paragraph, the 
time when the notice is given to the mortgagor or cosigner is the date when the 
mortgagor or cosigner receives that notice.  A post office department certificate of 
mailing to the mortgagor or cosigner is conclusive proof of receipt on the 3rd 
calendar day after mailing. 
Sec. 2.  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.  All 
notices and correspondence sent by the mortgagee to the mortgagor must be by certified 
mail.  The mortgagee shall certify proof of ownership of the mortgage note and produce 
evidence of the mortgage note, 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 that the notice of right to cure and all other notices and 
correspondence sent by a mortgagee to the mortgagor in a foreclosure action must be sent 
by certified mail.