Can a Maine foreclosure move faster when the house has been abandoned?
Yes. When more than half of the property is used as housing, the lender in a foreclosure case can ask the court to find that it has been abandoned. With an order of abandonment, the owner's time to redeem shrinks to 45 days.
Ordinarily the owner has 90 days from the foreclosure judgment to redeem.
It's only for uncontested cases: among other conditions, the owner hasn't appeared to fight the foreclosure and for at least 90 days hasn't signaled any plan to keep living there.
Evidence can include doors and windows that stay boarded up or broken, or are never locked, and trash or debris piling up. A code enforcement officer's finding that the house is abandoned or unfit to live in also counts.
The court needs clear and convincing evidence before it issues an order of abandonment. If the owner or a lawful occupant shows up and objects, the court can't grant it.
The case can also be moved up on the court's calendar ahead of others. The lender then has to tell the town and record the order at the registry of deeds within 30 days.
The owner's side of a Maine foreclosure, for an empty house with a past-due mortgage, is laid out in this plain guide.
Who can secure and look after a vacant house in foreclosure in Maine?
The mortgage loan servicer can, once a foreclosure has started, by filing an affidavit with the court laying out the signs that the house is abandoned. After that filing, the servicer may enter the property to abate a nuisance, preserve it, prevent waste and secure it.
That can mean boarding up or replacing broken windows and winterizing, such as draining the pipes.
A house is presumed abandoned for this purpose if a code enforcement officer or other public official has decided it is.
Before every entry, a notice goes on the front door saying the owner keeps the right to possession until the foreclosure and sale are complete. The servicer can't take personal belongings out unless they're hazardous or perishable.
If it turns out someone lives there, the servicer has to leave right away and notify the town or county.
How can a Maine town deal with a dangerous or abandoned building?
After notice and a hearing, a town's municipal officers can declare a building a nuisance or dangerous and record an order saying what must be done with it.
To do that, they must find it structurally unsafe, unstable or unsanitary, a fire hazard, a hazard because of poor upkeep, dilapidation or abandonment, or otherwise dangerous to life or property.
The order can hold off on disposal if the owner shows it is able and willing to rehabilitate the building properly.
The owner has to repay the town's costs within 30 days of a demand, or the town can put a special tax on the land. The town can also sue the owner for those costs.
A town can also secure a building that seriously threatens public health and safety and recover what it spends. If the threat calls for prompt action, notice can come after the building is secured.
For an immediate and serious threat, a town or county can get a demolition order from Superior Court through a fast summary process, with a hearing set no later than 10 days after filing.
What happens when property taxes go unpaid on a vacant house in Maine?
The town's tax lien forecloses automatically: if the taxes, interest and costs aren't paid within 18 months after the lien certificate is recorded, the right to redeem ends.
Recording the tax lien certificate gives the town a tax lien mortgage that outranks every other mortgage and lien on the property. The town treasurer must warn the owner named on the lien, and any mortgage holder, 30 to 45 days before the foreclosure date.
If the town then sells the property to someone other than the former owner, it has to follow a set sale process: list it with a licensed real estate broker or agent at the highest reasonable expected price, and pay the former owner the sale proceeds above amounts that include the taxes owed, the taxes for the time the town held it and accrued interest.
The former owner gets written notice at least 90 days before the listing.
Once a town takes title to a home for unpaid taxes, its code enforcement officer can certify the home as abandoned. Six months after that certification, no one can bring a lawsuit challenging the tax taking.
Who do you call about a vacant, run-down house in Maine?
Local officials: when a dangerous building calls for emergency demolition, Maine law has the town act through its building official, code enforcement officer, fire chief or municipal officers. In Bangor, the Code Enforcement office is at 73 Harlow Street and can be reached at 207-992-4230.
The city says it gets hundreds of calls a year from residents about property maintenance. Its Code Enforcement office works to bring properties into line with the city's health and safety codes.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.