An Act To Provide Relief to Survivors of Economic Abuse
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0748
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: FAY, CARPENTER, BAILEY, HANINGTON, MASTRACCIO, MOONEN, RECKITT, TALBOT ROSS, TEPLER, HERBIG
Amends: 10 MRSA §1310-H, 19-A MRSA §4002, 19-A MRSA §4007, 32 MRSA §11014

Legislative Document
No. 748
H.P. 553
House of Representatives, February 11, 2019
An Act To Provide Relief to Survivors of Economic Abuse
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FAY of Raymond.
Cosponsored by Senator CARPENTER of Aroostook and
Representatives: BAILEY of Saco, HANINGTON of Lincoln, MASTRACCIO of Sanford, 
MOONEN of Portland, RECKITT of South Portland, TALBOT ROSS of Portland, TEPLER 
of Topsham, Senator: HERBIG of Waldo.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA §1310-H, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Economic abuse.  Notwithstanding any provision of federal law, if a consumer 
provides documentation to the consumer reporting agency as set forth in Title 14, section 
6001, subsection 6, paragraph H that the debt or any portion of the debt is the result of 
economic abuse as defined in Title 19-A, section 4002, subsection 3-B, the consumer 
reporting agency shall remove any reference to the debt or any portion of the debt 
determined to be the result of economic abuse from the consumer's credit report.
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA §1310-H, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 228, §1, is 
amended to read:
3.  Nonliability.  A person may not be held liable for any violation of this section if 
the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the alleged 
violation the person maintained reasonable procedures to ensure compliance with the 
provisions of subsections 1 and, 2 and 2-A.
Sec. 3.  19-A MRSA §4002, sub-§3-B is enacted to read:
3-B.  Economic abuse.  "Economic abuse" means causing or attempting to cause an 
individual to be financially dependent by maintaining control over the individual's 
financial resources, including, but not limited to, unauthorized use of credit or property, 
withholding access to money or credit cards, forbidding attendance at school or 
employment, stealing from or defrauding of money or assets, exploiting the individual's 
resources for personal gain of the defendant or withholding physical resources such as 
food, clothing, necessary medications or shelter.
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §4007, sub-§1, ¶K-1 is enacted to read:
K-1.  Ordering payment of monetary compensation to the abused person for losses 
resulting from economic abuse.  Upon motion of either party, for sufficient cause, the 
court may set a later hearing on the issue of the amount of compensation, if any, to be 
awarded;
Sec. 5.  32 MRSA §11014, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Economic abuse.  If the consumer provides documentation to the debt collector 
as set forth in Title 14, section 6001, subsection 6, paragraph H that the debt or any 
portion of the debt is the result of economic abuse as defined in Title 19-A, section 4002, 
subsection 3-B, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt or any disputed 
portion of the debt owed by the consumer subjected to economic abuse.
SUMMARY
This bill defines economic abuse in the context of protection from abuse and provides 
for the court to order compensation for losses resulting from the economic abuse.  The 
bill also provides for an economic abuse survivor to be protected from debt collection and 
for the economic abuse survivor's credit to be repaired.