Free Maine State Eviction Notice Forms

It’s necessary to provide the correct type of Maine eviction notice to the tenant you’re removing from your property. If you don’t, the eviction could be overturned or take significantly longer to complete.

You must give your tenant the precise legal document for the situation, detailing a valid legal reason for the eviction under ME statutes. This will also affect how long you must give the resident as notice before they have to leave the property. 

As seen below, there are a few different options in Maine when completing an eviction.

7-Day Notice to Quit (Non-Payment)

If the tenant doesn’t pay rent on time or within the state-mandated 7 day grace period, you can serve them with a Maine 7-Day eviction notice. This requires the tenant to either pay the rent owed or to quit the property within 1 week.

Assuming the tenant pays the rent within this time given, the notice will be null and void. However, if payment isn’t made, and they still refuse to leave, the landlord can sue the tenant in court. 

7-Day Notice to Quit (Non-Compliance)

If a tenant fails to comply with the terms of the lease, aside from not paying rent, Maine landlords may issue them with a 7-Day Notice to Quit. This gives them 1 week to correct the issue or leave the property unless the lease contract specifies a longer time period.

Assuming the tenant corrects the violation, the notice will be rendered invalid. A new eviction warning will need to be issued if other breaches of the contract occur. 

However, it’s also possible to issue an unconditional 7-Day Notice that doesn’t give the tenant a chance to correct the violation. This only normally happens when more severe transgressions take place.

30-Day Notice to Quit (Month-to-Month)

ME Landlords with tenants on flexible monthly rental agreements may end the tenancy without cause, as long as they provide a 30-Day Eviction letter. 

If this is used, the tenant must leave the property within 30 days of this notice being delivered.

Be aware, however, if you continue to accept rental payments during this period, the notice will be considered null and void. This also does not include any payments of owed back rent.

An eviction notice in Maine is only legally valid if it provides the correct amount of notice based on the purpose for the lease termination. The reason you evict the resident must also comply with ME law.

In Maine, you may evict someone for the following reasons:

Evicting a tenant in Maine follows a strict legal process. When issuing an eviction notice, you must make sure that you correctly:

• Detail the reason the lease is being terminated.
• Provide sufficient time for the tenant to respond.
• Serve the notice in a legally appropriate manner.

In most cases, that is enough to make a tenant vacate on their own. However, as eviction is a lawsuit procedure, it may be necessary to take additional steps if the resident refuses to leave. 

To complete an eviction process in Maine you will need to:

1. Serve an eviction notice with the correct notice period and a legal reason to evict.
2. File for Forcible Entry and Detainer eviction in a local Maine District court if the tenant doesn’t obey the notice.
3. Attend the court hearing in person to make your case to the judge.
4. Request a Writ of Possession from the clerk of the court if the judge rules in your favor. This can be obtained 7 days after the judgment is handed down.
5. Deliver the Writ to local Maine law enforcement.

If the tenant refuses to leave within 48 hours after the Writ has been served, the authorities may carry out a forced eviction.

Before starting your own Maine eviction notice, it can help to see what a real sample of this legal document looks like. Find out how an eviction notice should appear on paper with our template example below.

There are several other legal documents that can be useful for landlords or when managing real estate. If you are currently renting out a property, or plan to do so in the future, use the following documents below to ensure your property is properly looked after: 

• Maine Rental Application
• Maine Residential Lease Agreement