Read the full stored bill text
Printed on recycled paper
132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1344
S.P. 560 In Senate, April 1, 2025
An Act to Improve the Response Time to Tenant Mold Complaints
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on March 28, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator LIBBY of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative WOODSOME of Waterboro.
Page 1 - 132LR1686(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §6021, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
33-A. Complaint for nonsurface mold. It is a breach of the implied warranty and
4 covenant of habitability to have an unhealthy level of nonsurface mold in a dwelling unit.
5 A local health officer shall investigate a complaint from a tenant about nonsurface mold
6 and issue a written report to the tenant and landlord within 90 days of receiving the
7 complaint from the tenant. If the report indicates that the local health officer found an
8 unhealthy level of nonsurface mold, the landlord is responsible for remediation and shall
9 initiate the process by showing the tenant a plan for remediation within 5 business days of
10 receiving the report. Once the nonsurface mold is removed, the local health officer shall
11 inspect the dwelling unit to verify that all surface mold has been remediated. If the landlord
12 does not successfully remediate the nonsurface mold within 60 days of the report, the tenant
13 may initiate a complaint under subsection 3. For the purposes of this subsection, a local
14 health officer is a person appointed pursuant to Title 22, section 451.
15SUMMARY
16 This bill requires that a complaint for nonsurface mold in a tenant-occupied dwelling
17 unit be investigated within 90 days of the complaint. The bill requires that if the
18 investigation finds an unhealthy level of nonsurface mold, remediation efforts must be
19 initiated by the landlord within 5 business days of the investigation. The bill requires a local
20 health officer to investigate a dwelling unit to determine if all surface mold has been
21 remediated. Finally, the bill provides that a tenant may file a complaint under the implied
22 warranty and covenant of habitability laws if the landlord fails to remediate the nonsurface
23 mold within 60 days of the report.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23