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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1479
H.P. 971 House of Representatives, April 3, 2025
An Act to Protect Senior Homeowners in Home-sharing Agreements
by Providing for an Expedited Eviction Process
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SMITH of Palermo.
Cosponsored by Senator MARTIN of Oxford and
Representatives: EDER of Waterboro, GRIFFIN of Levant, JAVNER of Chester, TUELL of
East Machias.
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1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §6000, sub-§1-C is enacted to read:
31-C. Home-sharing agreement. "Home-sharing agreement" means an agreement
4 made between a landlord who is an individual 65 years of age or older who owns and
5 occupies a residence and a tenant who leases a room in that residence. A home-sharing
6 agreement is deemed a tenancy at will.
7Sec. 2. 14 MRSA §6002, sub-§1, ¶E, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 103, §3, is
8 amended to read:
9 E. The tenant or the tenant's guest or invitee is the perpetrator of violence, a threat of
10 violence or sexual assault against another tenant, a tenant's guest, the landlord or the
11 landlord's employee or agent, except that this paragraph does not apply to a tenant who
12 is a victim as defined in section 6000, subsection 4 and who has taken reasonable action
13 under the circumstances to comply with the landlord's request for protection of the
14 tenant, another tenant, a tenant's guest or invitee, the landlord or the landlord's
15 employee or agent or of the landlord's property; or
16Sec. 3. 14 MRSA §6002, sub-§1, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 103, §3, is
17 amended to read:
18 F. The person occupying the premises is not an authorized occupant of the premises. ;
19 or
20Sec. 4. 14 MRSA §6002, sub-§1, ¶G is enacted to read:
21 G. The tenant subject to a home-sharing agreement violates a provision of that home-
22 sharing agreement.
23Sec. 5. 14 MRSA §6004, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
244. Home-sharing agreements; expedited process. Notwithstanding any provision
25 of law to the contrary, a landlord participating in a home-sharing agreement is entitled to
26 an expedited process of forcible entry and detainer against a tenant as follows:
27 A. The landlord shall provide the tenant with written notice of eviction, and state the
28 violation of the home-sharing agreement for which the tenant is being evicted;
29 B. No later than 7 days following notice of eviction by the landlord pursuant to
30 paragraph A, the tenant must vacate the premises; and
31 C. A tenant who fails to vacate the premises within 7 days following the notice of
32 eviction pursuant to paragraph A is deemed a trespasser without right, and the tenant's
33 goods and property are considered to be abandoned and subject to section 6013. The
34 landlord may request the sheriff or other law enforcement officer having jurisdiction
35 over the area where the premises is located to assist the landlord in evicting the tenant.
36SUMMARY
37 This bill establishes an expedited eviction process for a landlord participating in a
38 home-sharing agreement. "Home-sharing agreement" is defined as an agreement made
39 between a landlord who is an individual 65 years of age or older who owns and occupies a
40 residence and a tenant who leases a room in that residence. A home-sharing agreement is
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41 deemed a tenancy at will. The bill provides for the landlord to require eviction within 7
42 days of written notice. Failure of the tenant to comply within 7 days results in the tenant
43 being declared a trespasser without right and allows the landlord to seek assistance from a
44 sheriff or law enforcement officer to evict the tenant.
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