Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in Maine
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | 14 M.R.S. § 6030-H; applications to rent a dwelling unit, defined by § 6021(1) to include mobile homes, apartments, buildings, or other structures and common areas rented for human habitation |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | Application submission, review, and approval fees prohibited; landlord may charge actual cost of only one background check, credit check, or other screening process (§ 6030-H(2)-(3)) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | Actual cost of only one permitted check or screening process; no separate numeric, customary-cost, per-household, or indexed ceiling (§ 6030-H(3)) |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | Only one of: background check, credit check, or other screening process; applicant may not be charged more than one such fee in any 12-month period; statutory notice required before charging (§ 6030-H(3)) |
| Before-screening disclosures | Before charging, notify applicant that law requires landlord to provide a complete copy of information obtained; no unit-availability, fee-amount, detailed-criteria, report-source, dispute-right, or application-order disclosure (§ 6030-H(3)) |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | Landlord must provide complete copy of information obtained from the background, credit, or other screening process; no special receipt or unused/unconsidered-fee refund deadline (§ 6030-H(3)) |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No statewide duty to accept an applicant-supplied or reusable report; same landlord may not charge applicant more than one screening fee in 12 months (§ 6030-H(3)) |
| Application order and adverse action | No statewide first-in-order, first-qualified, single-application, or state denial-reason notice process for rental applications |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | Section 6030-H states no fee-specific damages, penalty, cure, or enforcement formula and no local-preemption or stronger-local-law clause |
Application fees are generally prohibited
Maine Revised Statutes title 14, § 6030-H(2) bars a landlord from requiring an applicant to pay either to submit a residential rental application or for the landlord to review or approve it. The rule covers a “dwelling unit,” which § 6021(1) defines to include mobile homes, apartments, buildings, other structures, and their common areas when rented for human habitation.
Actual cost of one screening process
Section 6030-H(3) creates the narrow exception. In connection with the rental application, the landlord may require payment of the actual cost of only one of these:
- a background check;
- a credit check; or
- another screening process.
“Only one” matters. The statute does not authorize stacking the actual cost of a background check, a credit check, and another screening service into three separate applicant charges. It also bars the landlord from charging that applicant more than one fee for a background check, credit check, or other screening process during any 12-month period.
The section states no separate numeric, customary-cost, per-household, or annually adjusted ceiling. The permitted maximum is the actual cost of the one selected process.
Notice before payment and a complete information copy
Before charging the fee, the landlord must notify the applicant that Maine law requires the landlord to provide a complete copy of the information obtained through the background check, credit check, or other screening process. The landlord must then provide that complete copy.
The statute does not make the copy conditional on a request. It states no separate fee-receipt requirement or unused-fee refund deadline. It also does not require advance disclosure of unit availability, the fee amount, detailed screening criteria, the report provider, dispute rights, or application order.
What trips people up
“Actual cost” does not revive a general application fee. The exception allows the actual cost of one listed screening process. It does not authorize a separate submission, review, approval, processing, or administrative fee.
The 12-month rule is a repeat-charge limit, not a reusable-report mandate. The same applicant cannot be charged more than one screening fee in that period, but the statute does not create a procedure requiring acceptance of a report the applicant obtained elsewhere.
The report-copy disclosure comes before the charge. A landlord cannot charge under the exception unless the applicant has first been notified of the legal right to a complete information copy.
Common questions
Can a landlord charge both a credit-check fee and a background-check fee? No. The statute permits the actual cost of only one listed check or screening process.
Must the landlord give me the screening information? Yes. The landlord must provide a complete copy of the information obtained through the chosen process.
Can the landlord charge me again for another unit next month? Not for a background check, credit check, or other screening process within 12 months.
Does Maine require applications to be processed in order? No first-in-order, first-qualified, or single-application process appears in § 6030-H.
Statutes and sources
- Maine Revised Statutes title 14, § 6030-H — general fee prohibition,
actual-cost exception, notice, complete information copy, and repeat-fee
limit.
Except as provided in this section, a landlord may not require an applicant to pay a fee to submit an application ... or ... to review or approve an application ... [A] landlord ... may require an applicant to pay the actual cost of only one of the following ...
Official source: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6030-H.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - Maine Revised Statutes title 14, § 6021(1) — dwelling-unit coverage.
“Dwelling unit” shall include mobile homes, apartments, buildings or other structures, including the common areas thereof, which are rented for human habitation.
Official source: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6021.html (accessed 2026-07-21) - Maine Revised Statutes title 14, chapter 710 — current Rental Property chapter index.
14 §6030-H. Fees charged to applicants for lease of residential dwelling unit
Official source: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch710sec0.html (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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