What a Landlord Cannot Do in Maine
The main limits Maine law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a Maine landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Self-help eviction is illegal: a landlord may not willfully interrupt utilities (water, heat, electricity, gas, etc.), lock the tenant out, or seize the tenant's property except by judicial process. Remedy: actual damages or $250, whichever is greater, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Temporary interruptions for actual repairs or emergencies are exempt. The AG advises tenants to call local law enforcement and notify the AG's office. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6014 |
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| Landlord entry notice | Reasonable notice at reasonable times; 24 hours' notice is presumed reasonable. No notice needed in an emergency or where impracticable. Tenant may not unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, improvements, or showings. Remedy for unlawful entry or repeated harassing demands for entry: actual damages or $250, whichever is greater, plus injunction; attorney's fees after a contested hearing. Tenant who changes locks must give landlord a key within 48 hours (72 hours for a victim). Amended PL 2023, c. 336 and PL 2025, c. 767. If a tenant changes the lock and refuses to give the landlord a key, the landlord may end the tenancy on 7 days' notice, and in an emergency may enter by any reasonable means (§ 6025(3)). An emergency involving an animal's welfare (§ 6025-A) permits entry without 24 hours' notice. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6025 |
| Landlord retaliation | Rebuttable presumption of retaliation if the landlord files an eviction within 6 months after the tenant: asserted rights under §§ 6015, 6016, 6021, 6030-D, 6030-I or 6030-J; made a good-faith code complaint (or a code agency filed one); made a good-faith written complaint or repair request; filed a fair-housing complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission or HUD; notified the landlord of domestic violence/sexual assault/stalking victim status; or reported sexual harassment by the landlord. No writ of possession may issue unless the presumption is rebutted. The presumption does not apply to evictions based on § 6002(1) for-cause grounds or a lease violation (unless the tenant asserted § 6026 rights). Subsection 3 amended by PL 2023, c. 594. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6001(3) |
| Security deposit limit | 2 months' rent Separately, 14 M.R.S. § 6022-A (enacted PL 2023, c. 594) caps the total initial amount a landlord may require at move-in to first full month's rent + security deposit (as limited by § 6032) + any properly disclosed mandatory recurring fee (https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6022-A.html). Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6032 |
| Penalty for withholding | Twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. Tenant must give the landlord at least 7 days' notice of intent to sue; if the deposit is not returned within those 7 days, wrongful retention is presumed. Landlord bears the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6034 |
| Late fees | Cap of 4% of one month's rent. Rent is not 'late' until 15 days after it is due. Landlord must give written notice of the possible late fee at the start of the rental agreement or no fee may be charged. Official section history shows no amendments after 1987. Source: 14 M.R.S. § 6028 |
| Rent control / increase limits | No statewide cap on rent amounts. State law regulates increases by notice: at least 45 days' written notice of any rent or mandatory recurring fee increase, and 75 days' notice if the increase (or several increases within 12 months) totals 10% or more. Rent may not be increased while the unit violates the warranty of habitability. State law does not preempt local rent control, and Portland has a local rent control ordinance. § 6015 was repealed and replaced by PL 2023, c. 388 and amended by PL 2023, c. 594; the 75-day rule has exceptions for income-restricted/subsidized housing. Waivers are void. § 6016 habitability bar: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6016.html. Preemption: Maine municipalities have home-rule power to adopt any ordinance not denied to them expressly or by clear implication, and implied preemption applies only if the ordinance would frustrate the purpose of a state law (30-A M.R.S. § 3001: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/30-A/title30-Asec3001.html); no state statute bars municipal rent control. Portland (City Code ch. 6, Rent Control Ordinance, Secs. 6-231 to 6-239): covered units may get one increase per 12 months, limited to the Allowable Increase Percentage published each September 1 for the next calendar year (2.2% for 2026 and 2.6% for 2027, per the City's Rent Control FAQ: https://www.portlandmaine.gov/rent-control-frequently-asked-questions), plus 5% of base rent on a new tenancy after a voluntary move-out, banked rent, or a Rent Board-approved fair-return increase, and never more than 10% at once; 90 days' written notice of an increase. Exempt: units in owner-occupied 2–4 unit buildings, publicly subsidized units, ADUs, housing authority units, and certain institutional housing. City FAQ (version 2025.10.24): https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/014c1dbc-bccc-47b6-b323-490ffd8e2b5e Source: 14 M.R.S. §§ 6015, 6016 |
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | Yes. The Maine Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent to, or impose different tenancy terms on, someone who receives federal, state or local public assistance, including housing subsidies such as vouchers, primarily because they receive it. The statute says 'primarily because of the individual's status as recipient.' It covers public assistance only, not every lawful source of income. Source: 5 M.R.S. § 4581-A(4) |
| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. Under the general privacy crime, it is a Class D crime to install or use a device to observe, photograph or record in a 'private place' (such as a bathroom or bedroom) without the consent of those entitled to privacy there. Using a device outside a private place to capture images or sounds from inside that would not normally be visible or audible is also a crime. Intercepting oral or wire communications is a Class C crime unless the person recording is the sender or receiver of the communication. Cameras in common areas aren't specifically regulated. § 710: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/15/title15sec710.html. § 709 definition of 'intercept': https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/15/title15sec709.html. Landlord entry rules (24 hours' notice) are in 14 M.R.S. § 6025. |
| Other rental fees | Move-in cap: at the start of a tenancy the landlord, agent or broker may not require more than (1) the first full month's rent, (2) a security deposit within the § 6032 limit, and (3) any properly disclosed mandatory recurring fee. Before signing, the landlord must give a signed, plain-language written disclosure of total rent, mandatory recurring fees, optional recurring fees, utility costs and any other cost the tenant will pay. This is not required if the tenant pays no recurring fees. Optional recurring fees (for non-essential services or features) are allowed only with prior written notice that the tenant may opt in and stop paying at any time without penalty; a landlord may not deny or end a tenancy because the tenant opts out. Notice rules for raising rent or a mandatory recurring fee are in § 6015. § 6022-A: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6022-A.html; § 6030-I: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6030-I.html. A tenant who asserts rights under §§ 6030-I or 6030-J is covered by the retaliation presumption in § 6001(3). |
Can I sue my landlord in Maine? · All Maine tenant rights
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.