An Act To Provide Protections for Mobile Home Park Residents
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1580
Committee: Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business
Sponsors: BALDACCI, CURRY, PERRY, RIELLY, ROEDER, SUPICA
Amends: 10 MRSA §9100-A, 10 MRSA §9100-B

Legislative Document
No. 1580
S.P. 483
In Senate, April 27, 2021
An Act To Provide Protections for Mobile Home Park Residents
Reference to the Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and 
Business suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BALDACCI of Penobscot.
Cosponsored by Senator: CURRY of Waldo, Representatives: PERRY of Bangor, RIELLY of 
Westbrook, ROEDER of Bangor, SUPICA of Bangor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA §9100-A is enacted to read:
§9100-A.  Duties of mobile home park owner or operator
1.  Duties.  A mobile home park owner or operator shall:
A.  Comply with codes, statutes, ordinances and administrative rules applicable to 
mobile home parks;
B.  Maintain all common areas of the mobile home park in a clean and safe condition 
and provide access to common areas, including improvements and buildings, at 
reasonable times for the benefit of the mobile home park residents and their guests;
C.  Maintain street lights, entry lights and common area lighting, if any, in good 
working order;
D.  Maintain in good working order all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, 
ventilation and air conditioning units and appliances and recreational facilities that the 
mobile home park furnishes;
E.  Provide reliable sewage disposal that is adequate to meet the needs of all the 
residents in the mobile home park;
F.  Maintain and protect all utilities provided to a mobile home and keep water and 
sewer lines in good working condition.  Maintenance responsibility extends to that 
point where the normal mobile home utility hook-ups connect to those provided by the 
mobile home park owner or operator or utility company;
G.  Maintain in a safe and secure location individual mailboxes for the residents;
H.  Maintain roads and, if present, sidewalks within the mobile home park in good and 
safe condition.  This maintenance includes snow removal and adequate drainage.  The 
mobile home park owner or operator is responsible for damage to any vehicle that is 
the direct result of any unrepaired or poorly maintained access road within the mobile 
home park;
I.  Take reasonable steps to exterminate insects, rodents, vermin or other pests 
dangerous to the health and safety of a resident whenever infestation exists on the 
common premises or in the interior of a mobile home as a result of infestation existing 
on the common premises;
J.  Maintain the premises and regrade them when necessary to prevent the accumulation 
of stagnant water and the detrimental effects of moving water;
K.  Take all necessary steps to maintain the integrity of the foundation of a resident's 
mobile home;
L.  Keep the common areas of the mobile home park free from any species of weed or 
plant growth that is noxious or detrimental to the health of the residents;
M.  Provide for the removal of garbage, rubbish and other waste incidental to the 
occupancy of a mobile home park;
N.  Cooperate with and assist residents in applying for property tax abatements, as 
applicable; and
O.  Comply with mobile home park rules and require other persons on the premises 
with the consent of the mobile home park owner or operator to comply with those rules 
and conduct themselves in a manner that does not unreasonably disturb the mobile 
home park residents or constitute a breach of the peace.
2.  Notice to residents prior to interruption in utility service.  The mobile home park 
owner or operator shall give individual written notice to residents no less than 72 hours 
prior to an interruption in utility service when the interruption is not due to an emergency 
or circumstances beyond the owner's or operator's control.
3.  Authorization for others to make repairs; emergency repairs.  The mobile home 
park owner or operator shall authorize a manager, assistant manager or other employee to 
make repairs that are the responsibility of the mobile home park owner or operator or enter 
into a contract with a 3rd party for such repairs.  The mobile home park owner or operator 
shall contract with a 3rd party to provide emergency repairs that are the responsibility of 
the mobile home park owner or operator on occasions when the manager, assistant manager 
or other designated employee is not physically present in the mobile home park and shall 
notify each resident in writing of the telephone number where the 3rd party may be reached 
directly.
4.  Self-help for defects.  If the mobile home park owner or operator fails to comply 
with subsection 1 or 3, a resident may recover damages for the breach and also may notify 
the mobile home park owner or operator of the resident's intention to correct the condition 
at the mobile home park owner's or operator's expense.  After being notified by the resident 
in writing, if the mobile home park owner or operator fails to comply within 15 days or 
more promptly as conditions reasonably require in case of emergency, the resident may 
cause the work to be done by a contractor and, after submitting to the mobile home park 
owner or operator an itemized statement, deduct from the resident's rent the actual and 
reasonable costs of the repair.
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA §9100-B is enacted to read:
§9100-B.  Mobile home park rules
1.  Mobile home park owner or operator may promulgate rules.  The community 
mobile home park owner or operator may promulgate rules governing the rental occupancy 
of a mobile home lot and the use of common areas and facilities, but a rule may not be 
unreasonable, unfair or unconscionable.
2.  Rules that do not apply uniformly.  A rule that does not apply uniformly to all 
mobile home residents of a similar class creates a rebuttable presumption that the rule is 
unfair.
3.  Rules must be enforced uniformly.  All rules must be enforced uniformly as to all 
residents to whom they apply.
4.  Common area facilities.  Each common area facility must be open or available to 
residents at all reasonable hours, and the hours of a common recreational facility must be 
posted at the facility.
5.  Guests and visitors.  The mobile home park owner or operator may not prohibit 
residents from having such guests and visitors as they choose.  The mobile home park 
owner or operator may forbid a guest or visitor who has violated a rule or engaged in 
disorderly conduct or a crime in the mobile home park.
6.  Rule change; approval by resident association.  If a bona fide resident association 
exists for a mobile home park, then a change in a rule may not be implemented without the 
approval of that association.  If such approval is withheld, the mobile home park owner or 
operator may initiate a procedure to determine if the change in the rules should be 
implemented by notifying the resident association of its intent to submit the dispute to 
arbitration.  The resident association may elect to resolve the dispute instead through a 
court proceeding or submission of the dispute to an appropriate municipal board designated 
by the municipal legislative body to conduct such an appeal hearing.  If the arbitrator, court 
or appropriate municipal board finds that the rule change is unreasonable, unfair or 
unconscionable, it may not be implemented.
7.  Rule change may not take effect until at least 60 days after notice to residents.  
Except in a bona fide emergency, a change in a rule may not take effect until at least 60 
days after the residents receive notice of the change.
8.  Maintenance.  A mobile home park owner's or operator's rules may require 
residents to maintain their mobile homes but may not require residents to replace or remove 
older mobile homes or to make upgrades or improvements to a mobile home that are not 
related to health or safety.
9.  Judicial review of rule.  Whenever a rule is enforced against a resident, the resident 
may seek judicial review of that rule.
10.  Prohibited rules.  Rules that do the following are prohibited:
A.  Restrict babysitting;
B.  Require the purchase of equipment from one particular vendor;
C.  Deny a resident the opportunity to take appurtenances when that resident leaves the 
mobile home park;
D.  Impose restrictions on the number of people living in a mobile home that are more 
stringent than those required by law;
E.  Impose construction standards that are more stringent than state or federal 
standards;
F.  Ban mobile homes from the mobile home park based on the age of those mobile 
homes; and
G.  Require the purchase of unreasonably expensive equipment for aesthetic purposes.
SUMMARY
This bill specifies duties of mobile home park owners or operators and sets standards 
for mobile home park rules.