An Act to Create a Residential Rental Unit Registry
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1905
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: ROEDER, DAUGHTRY, MASTRACCIO, SKOLD, TIPPING
Amends: 14 MRSA §6001, 14 MRSA §6004, 14 MRSA §6030-H

Legislative Document
No. 1905
H.P. 1220
House of Representatives, May 9, 2023
An Act to Create a Residential Rental Unit Registry
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ROEDER of Bangor.
Cosponsored by Senator DAUGHTRY of Cumberland and
Representatives: MASTRACCIO of Sanford, SKOLD of Portland, Senator: TIPPING of 
Penobscot.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §6001, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Failure to register.  A person required to register under section 6030-H may not 
serve a notice to terminate under this section to a tenant for the nonpayment of rent if the 
person has not registered the tenant's residential rental unit under section 6030-H. A person 
may not serve a notice under this section for the nonpayment of rent sooner than 120 days 
after the person has registered the unit of the tenant being served under section 6030-H. A 
person who serves notice to a tenant in violation of this section commits a civil violation 
for which a fine in the amount of 3 times the monthly rent of the tenant's residential rental 
unit must be adjudged. 
Sec. 2.  14 MRSA §6004, sub-§2, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 316, §1, is 
amended to read:
F.  A statement that either party may request, or the court may at any time refer the 
parties to, mediation on any issue; and
Sec. 3.  14 MRSA §6004, sub-§2, ¶G, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 316, §1, is 
amended to read:
G.  A court-approved form to request mediation.; and
Sec. 4.  14 MRSA §6004, sub-§2, ¶H is enacted to read:
H.  If the tenant's residential rental unit is not subsidized under Title 30-A, chapter 201, 
a statement that a person may not serve notice to terminate for nonpayment of rent if 
the person has not registered the unit of the tenant with the state rental unit registry or 
municipal rental unit registry and that a person who violates this provision commits a 
civil violation for which a fine in the amount of 3 times the monthly rent of the tenant's 
residential rental unit must be adjudged.
Sec. 5.  14 MRSA §6030-H is enacted to read:
§6030-H.  Residential rental unit registry
1. Residential rental unit registry. The Department of Economic and Community 
Development, referred to in this section as "the department," shall maintain a publicly 
accessible residential rental unit registry in which an owner of a residential rental unit in 
the State shall register annually with the department. For purposes of this section, 
"residential rental unit" means a unit of housing rented for residential purposes for a period 
of more than 30 days.
2. Information required.  An owner of a residential rental unit in the State shall upon 
registration under subsection 1 provide to the department the following information 
existing at the time of registration:
A. The name and contact information of the owner of the residential rental unit;
B. The name and contact information of the manager or management company for the 
residential rental unit or registered agent of the owner if the owner is not directly 
involved with the administration or management of the residential rental unit;
C. The name and contact information of any entity registered with the Secretary of 
State or with another jurisdiction that has a parental or subsidiary relationship with the 
owner of the residential rental unit;
D.  Emergency contact information if different than paragraph A or B;
E. The physical address of the residential rental unit for enhanced 9-1-1 services as 
defined in Title 25, section 2921, subsection 6 for purposes of Title 25, chapter 352;
F. The mailing address of the residential rental unit if different than the physical address 
under paragraph D;
G. The total number of residential rental units on each property, including the number 
of occupied units and vacant units; 
H. The number of residential rental units on each property not available for occupancy, 
whether under construction or under renovation; and 
I. The monthly rent collected for the residential rental unit.
3.  Registration fee.  For an owner of 50 or more residential rental units in the State, 
including residential rental units owned by an entity that has a parental or subsidiary 
relationship with the owner, if a residential rental unit is not determined to be affordable 
under the fair market rent for the area as established by the United States Department of 
Housing and Urban Development pursuant to 24 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 
888.115, the initial registration fee is $50 per unit and the annual renewal registration fee 
is $25 per unit.
4. Department responsibilities.  The department shall:
A. Provide a publicly accessible online portal or form for an owner of a residential 
rental unit to submit the registration information under subsections 1 and 2;
B. Provide a publicly accessible online calculator for an owner of a residential rental 
unit to assess whether a residential rental unit's rent is a fair market rent under 
subsection 3;
C. Provide a publicly accessible searchable online database of residential rental units;
D. Develop a process by which a municipality that maintains a residential rental 
property registry provides registry data to the department;
E. Develop a process by which a municipality can receive residential rental unit registry 
data pertaining to that municipality from the department; and
F. In any pamphlet, publication or publicly accessible website of the department listing 
or explaining tenants' rights, provide an explanation of the rights of a tenant regarding 
the registry under section 6001, subsection 2 and section 6002, subsection 5.
5. Municipality responsibilities.  A municipality that maintains a residential rental 
property registry shall provide registry data to the department in a form or manner as 
determined by the department.
6. Housing authority responsibilities. A housing authority under Title 30-A, chapter 
shall provide residential rental unit and tenant data on housing provided or subsidized 
by the authority to the department in a form and manner as determined by the department.
7. Exemptions.  An owner of a residential rental unit is not required to register the unit 
under this section if:
A. The owner provides the residential rental unit as subsidized housing under Title 
30-A, chapter 201; or
B. The owner has registered the residential rental unit under a municipal residential 
rental property registry. 
8. Rules. The department shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section.  
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules under Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill creates a residential rental unit registry administered by the Department of 
Economic and Community Development in which all residential property owners must 
register all residential rental units except for units provided as subsidized housing or 
registered on a municipal registry.  A municipality may receive data from the registry 
regarding residential rental units in that municipality and, if the municipality maintains a 
residential rental property registry, is required to provide registry data to the department. A 
residential landlord may not serve notice to terminate a tenant for nonpayment of rent if the 
tenant's residential rental unit is not registered as required and may not serve the tenant 
with a notice to terminate for nonpayment of rent less than 120 days after registering; in 
either case the owner commits a civil violation for which a fine in the amount of 3 times 
the monthly rent of the unit must be adjudged. A housing authority is required to provide 
residential rental unit and tenant data on housing provided or subsidized by the authority 
to the department. The department is also required to list the rights of tenants regarding the 
registry in any pamphlet, publication or publicly accessible website of the department 
listing or explaining tenants' rights.