Evicting a Tenant from a Residence for not Paying Rent

www.courts.maine.gov

Evicting a Tenant

from a Residence

for not Paying Rent

For more information about eviction visit

www.courts.maine.gov/help/eviction

to serve the tenant. For each tenant, give the

sheriff two copies of the complaint, summons,

information sheet and notice regarding electronic

service (keep one copy for yourself). It’s up to the

landlord to make sure the sheriff has unimpeded

access to the front door of the unit to be able to

serve the papers on the tenant.

If the sheriff tries 3 times on 3 separate days

and can’t serve the tenant, the sheriff can leave a

copy at the home. The papers will also have to be

mailed USPS first class. The sheriff will either mail

the papers or let you know you need to do so.

Either way you’ll need to file an affidavit (a sworn

statement) to show service was made this way.

Use form CV-204 to do this.

Remember you need have the sheriff serve,

each defendant with all four forms at least 14

days before the hearing date.

“Return of service” is how you tell the court that

the defendant was served.

Step 4. File with the Court

At least 3 business days before the hearing, file:

• The Notice to Quit and

• The original complaint and

• T he original summons for each defendant,

with the return of service (the paper signed

by the sheriff showing he gave the paper-

work to the tenant, or CV-204, with attach-

ment, to prove the tenant was served) and

• A copy of the lease if there is one and

• The filing fee of $100.

Step 5. Go to the Hearing

Go to the hearing even if your tenant doesn’t. You

will get more instructions from the judge at the

hearing. Mediation is available at the court on the

day of hearing at no additional cost.

If you win in court

If the judge decides in your favor, you will be enti-

tled to a judgment for possession of the premises

and a “writ of possession.” Unless the tenant

pays the back rent and any costs and fees owed,

the law allows the writ of possession to issue 7

days after judgment enters. If the tenant has not

moved out by that time, you need to purchase the

writ from the clerk and hire a sheriff to serve the

writ of possession on the tenants. After the writ

is served, the tenant will have 48 hours to move

out.

In court, many cases are decided by agreement

of the parties. A mediator is available to meet

with the landlord and tenant to talk about how

they might settle the case. Often tenants agree to

move out by a certain date, and landlords dismiss

the case or ask the court to continue the case to

a future date and leave open the option to seek

a judgment if the tenant has not moved out as

agreed. If the case settles, landlords often do not

need to get a writ and have it served, and might

not need to get a judgment against the tenant.

Other bases for eviction

Other reasons for eviction are in the Maine

Revised Statutes, Title 14, Chapter 709.

Back rent

Eviction is a process to get a tenant to leave the

rental unit. It is not a process to collect back

rent. To collect back rent you would need to file a

separate case. This is often done in Small Claims

Court.

How to evict a tenant from a

residence for not paying rent

In Maine eviction is called “Forcible Entry &

Detainer” or “FED” and not paying rent is “non-

payment.” There may be other grounds to evict

a tenant; this flyer only deals with nonpayment

of rent for residential tenants. If there is a lease

in effect you will need to follow the terms of the

lease as well as complete the following steps.

If you are a landlord (plaintiff), take these steps

to get a judgment to evict a tenant for not pay-

ing rent.

Step 1. Notice to Quit and Information

Sheet

The “Notice to Quit” tells the tenant that rent is

past due and they need to pay by a stated dead-

line or face eviction. If you have a lease, you need

to prepare and serve the Notice as required by the

lease.

7-Day Notice to Quit (14 M.R.S. § 6002(1)):

Unless the lease states otherwise, if a tenant is

at least 7 days late paying rent, a 7-day Notice

to quit gives them 7 days to pay, warning that if

they don’t pay what they owe, you will take them

to court to evict. Maine law provides, however,

that if the tenant does pay the amount due within

7 days, the Notice to Quit is void (no longer in

effect).

Contents of the 7-day Notice To Quit: Include the

following in the Notice:

• That rent is 7 days or more past due

• The amount of rent that’s 7 days or more past

due

• That the tenant has the right to contest the

eviction in court

• The statement: “If you pay the amount of

rent due as of the date of this notice before

this notice expires, then this notice as it

applies to rent arrearage is void. After this

notice expires, if you pay all rental arrears,

all rent due as of the date of payment and

any filing fees and service of process fees

actually paid by the landlord before the writ

of possession issues at the completion of the

eviction process, then your tenancy will be

reinstated.”

Information Sheet (form CV-256): The “Res-

idential Forcible Entry and Detainer (Eviction)

Information Sheet and Mediation Request” must

be served with each Notice to Quit in a residen-

tial tenancy. You can get this form from a district

court clerk or download it from

www.courts.maine.gov/forms. You do not need

to write any information on the form.

Service of the Notice to Quit and Information

Sheet: You or anyone acting on your behalf as

landlord can give the notice and information

sheet to the tenant. If three good faith efforts

have been made to serve the tenant by hand the

notice and information sheet can be served by

both mailing them to the tenant and leaving a

copy of them at the rental unit (neither of these,

alone, is enough).

Step 2. Starting a Court Case

Three more court forms are needed to bring an

eviction case in court. You can get them from a

district court clerk or download them from

www.courts.maine.gov/forms.

Complaint (form CV-007): The “Complaint for

Residential Forcible Entry and Detainer” is used

for a residential eviction. Important: Incude

names of all tenants on the lines for Defend-

ant(s)”. If there are more people in the home

other than the named tenants, put “and all other

occupants” on the form.

Summons (form CV-034): The “FED Summons”

tells the tenant(s) when to come to court (the

hearing date). You must get a separate summons

for each defendant from the clerk’s office for $5

each. The hearing date might be printed on the

summons, but if not, ask the clerk for the date

and write it on the summons when you fill it out.

Information Sheet (form CV-256): This is the

same form you gave the tenant(s) with the

Notice to Quit. You must include it again with the

other three forms listed above.

Notice Regarding Electronic Service (form CR-

CV-FM-255): The “Notice Regarding Electronic

Service” gives the other party the chance to

agree to send notices about the case by email.

Write your name as the “Plaintiff” and the name

of the tenant as the “Defendant.”

Important: Plan ahead! The hearing date on the

summons must be at least 14 days after the

date the tenant gets the complaint, summons,

information sheet, and notice regarding electron-

ic service (date of service). Be sure to plan when

the tenant will be served and ask for a hearing

date 14 days or more after that date.

Step 3. Service

“Service” of the four court forms listed above is

how you give notice to the tenant that the evic-

tion is proceeding to court. This service should

only take place after the notice to quit period

has ended. Please note that unlike service of the

notice to quit, to serve the summons, complaint

and additional court forms, a sheriff is needed.

Go to a sheriff for the county where the home