Maine Foreclosure Laws

Maine Foreclosure Laws

According to Maine foreclosure laws, the foreclosures rules of Civil Procedure govern all procedures related to foreclosure of real estate in Maine. The prescribed rules for Civil Procedure provide for a judicial foreclosure process and a strict foreclosure process. In actual practice judicial foreclosures are initiated only under special circumstances.

The Foreclosure Procedures in Maine

The commonly adopted method to resolve foreclosure issues is the strict foreclosure procedure. The courts allow for the filing of deficiency judgments but limit the amount based on the market value of the distressed property and the amount in default. The Maine Foreclosures Rules of Civil Procedure consider the lender to be the rightful owner of a property until the last mortgage payment is paid to him. As per the rules, if the borrower falls short of any of the rules stipulated in the mortgage agreement he loses his right over the property. Under such conditions the court empowers the lender to take repossession of the property and/or arrange for its sale. The lender is required to file a complaint regarding the failure of the borrower to keep up the terms of the mortgage. This complaint signals the commencement of the foreclosure process. The complaint should be duly filed and should contain relevant details like the amount involved, the conditions of mortgage that have been breached and should specifically demand a foreclosure of the property.

What is Next?

The court then evaluates the case and based on the furnished evidence, orders either a foreclosure or a chance to the borrower to redeem the property by paying a specific sum of money. The period of redemption varies for mortgages executed before and after October 1, 1975.

If the borrower fails to redeem the distressed property within the specified period of redemption, he loses all rights over the distressed property. The lender is then empowered to proceed with the sale of the repossessed property after completing the due legal formalities. The lender is required to advertise the sale of the foreclosure property with all relevant details in local newspapers. The detailed advertisement should appear three weeks before the date of the foreclosure sale. The date of the public foreclosure sale should be after thirty days and before forty five days of the publication of the notice of sale.