Eviction Notice & Unlawful Detainer Complaint - Maine

MAINE EVICTION NOTICE AND FED COMPLAINT PACKAGE

1. PACKAGE OVERVIEW

This package contains:

1. A selection worksheet for the Maine termination-notice route;
2. Core notice language for rent arrearage, another seven-day ground, or a 30-day tenancy-at-will termination;
3. A notice service record;
4. A drafting worksheet for Judicial Branch Form CV-007; and
5. Filing and hearing checklists.

Do not combine incompatible routes. Do not serve until counsel identifies every lease, housing-program, federal, and local requirement.

2. PARTIES AND PREMISES

Landlord / owner: [LEGAL NAME]

Tenant or tenants: [LEGAL NAMES]

Premises:

[STREET ADDRESS / UNIT]
[CITY], Maine [ZIP]

Tenancy type:

☐ Tenancy at will.

☐ Written lease dated [__/__/____], ending [__/__/____].

☐ Other: [____________________].

Rent: $[__________] per [WEEK / MONTH], due [____________________].

Rent paid through: [__/__/____].

3. SELECT THE NOTICE ROUTE

Route A — Seven-Day Rent Arrearage

Use only if the tenant is seven days or more in arrears in payment of rent.

☐ Route A selected.

Rent seven days or more in arrears as of the notice date: $[__________].

The notice must state that amount and reproduce § 6002(2)(A)(2)'s full payment statement.

Route B — Other Seven-Day Ground

Use only with affirmative proof of a § 6002(1) ground:

☐ Substantial damage not repaired before notice — § 6002(1)(A).

☐ Nuisance, unfitness caused or permitted by the tenant or invitee, or tenancy-law violation — § 6002(1)(B).

☐ Tenant-perpetrator circumstance when the victim is also a tenant — § 6002(1)(D).

☐ Violence, threat, or sexual assault, subject to the victim exception — § 6002(1)(E).

☐ Unauthorized occupancy — § 6002(1)(F).

☐ Material breach routed through § 6001(1-B)(A) because the written residential lease lacks termination or written-notice language.

Section 6002 creates no general post-notice cure right for these non-rent grounds.

Route C — Thirty-Day Tenancy at Will

Use only for a tenancy at will and after overlay review.

☐ Route C selected.

The termination date must be at least 30 days after completed service and on or after the date through which rent was paid.

No-Notice Written-Term Route

Section 6001(1) may permit an FED at expiration or forfeiture of a written term without notice if the action is commenced within seven days. Do not use a notice form to imply that this route applies; have counsel document the exact lease provision, date, and timing separately.

4. TERMINATION NOTICE

Date of notice: [__/__/____]

Termination date: [__/__/____]

To: [TENANT NAMES]

The Landlord terminates the tenancy at the premises stated above based on the selected route and facts below.

Route A Language — Rent Arrearage

You are seven days or more in arrears in payment of rent. The amount of rent seven days or more in arrears as of the date of this notice is $[__________].

Required statutory statement — reproduce without alteration:

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.

Payment instructions: [____________________].

Route B Language — Other Seven-Day Ground

The specific statutory ground is: [____________________].

The specific facts, including dates, persons, conduct, damage, repair status, and supporting documents, are:

[____________________]

[____________________]

Optional voluntary resolution, if any, effective only upon signed Landlord confirmation: [____________________].

Route C Language — Thirty-Day Tenancy at Will

The Landlord terminates the tenancy at will under § 6002. You must vacate and deliver possession by the termination date.

Rent was paid through [__/__/____], and the termination date is on or after that date.

Additional lease, program, federal, or local requirement and compliance: [____________________].

5. RIGHT TO CONTEST

You have the right to contest this termination in court.

If the Landlord files a forcible entry and detainer action, you will receive a summons and complaint identifying the hearing. You must attend the hearing to present any applicable defense.

Section 6002 states that omission of this advisement alone is not grounds to dismiss an FED action, but the advisement is required and is included here.

6. FORM CV-256

Current Maine Judicial Branch Form CV-256 is attached and served with this residential termination notice.

☐ Form CV-256 attached.

Form revision shown: [____________________].

7. NOTICE SIGNATURE AND SERVICE

Dated: [__/__/____]

[________________________________]
[LANDLORD / AUTHORIZED SERVING AGENT]
[TITLE OR CAPACITY]
[ADDRESS / TELEPHONE / EMAIL]

Service:

☐ In hand to [TENANT NAME] on [__/__/____] at [____] [AM/PM] at [LOCATION].

☐ After the three good-faith in-hand attempts below, by both first-class mailing to the last known address and leaving copies at the last and usual abode.

Date of both mailing and abode delivery: [__/__/____].

[________________________________]
[SERVER NAME]

8. PRE-FILING SCREEN

Before filing an FED, counsel reviewed:

☐ Notice route, timing, content, service, and expiration.

☐ Current Form CV-256 service with the notice.

☐ Section 6001(3) and (4) retaliation.

☐ Section 6001(5) reasonable accommodation.

☐ Section 6001(6) victim protection.

☐ Section 6002(3) habitability defense in a rent-arrearage case.

☐ 5 M.R.S. §§ 4581 and 4581-A fair-housing and public-assistance protections.

☐ Lease, housing-program, federal, and municipal overlays, stated with exact citations here: [____________________].

☐ Any payment or reinstatement that prevents issuance of a writ.

☐ No self-help conduct has occurred or will occur.

9. FORM CV-007 DRAFTING WORKSHEET

Transfer this information to current Judicial Branch Form CV-007.

District Court location: [TOWN]

Plaintiff owner: [LEGAL NAME]

Defendant tenants: [LEGAL NAMES]

☐ And All Other Occupants.

Premises address: [____________________].

Basis for eviction:

☐ More than [____] months in arrears of rent.

☐ Breach of lease terms.

☐ Other conduct justifying eviction under applicable law.

☐ Other: [____________________].

Notice to Quit:

☐ Served on [__/__/____].

☐ Not served because this lawful no-notice basis applies: [____________________].

Attachments:

☐ Notice to Quit or termination notice.

☐ Lease agreement signed by the parties.

☐ Other: [____________________].

☐ Nothing attached, with attorney explanation: [____________________].

Additional allegations supporting possession:

[____________________]

[____________________]

Plaintiff requests judgment for possession, recoverable costs, and a writ of possession under § 6005. Rule 80D(h) bars joining another action with the FED; do not add rent, property-damage, holdover, or other affirmative monetary claims.

10. SUMMONS, SERVICE, AND FILING

☐ Obtain a separate original Form CV-034 summons from the clerk for each named tenant.

☐ Serve each named tenant with that tenant's summons, Form CV-007, and current Form CV-256.

☐ Complete service no fewer than 14 days before the return day.

☐ If using § 6004(1)'s fallback, document at least three good-faith efforts on three different days, both first-class mailing and abode delivery, and the required affidavit.

☐ File the signed Form CV-007, original summonses, returns or affidavits of service, termination notice, and written lease.

Rule 80D(d) requires filing no later than three days before the hearing. The current Judicial Branch packet directs filing at least three business days before the hearing. Use the earlier deadline.

11. COMPLAINT SIGNATURE

Dated: [__/__/____]

[________________________________]
[PLAINTIFF OWNER NAME], Plaintiff

[MAILING ADDRESS]
[TELEPHONE]
[EMAIL]

OR:

[________________________________]
[ATTORNEY NAME], Esq.
Maine Bar No. [____________________]
[FIRM / ADDRESS / TELEPHONE / EMAIL]

Attorney for Plaintiff

12. HEARING, WRIT, AND APPEAL

☐ Bring witnesses, notice and service proof, lease, rent records, photographs, communications, and other exhibits.

☐ Be prepared to address every defense identified in the pre-filing screen.

☐ Do not recover possession without judgment and a lawfully served writ.

Section 6005 generally directs issuance of the writ seven calendar days after judgment and gives 48 hours after service before the defendant is deemed a trespasser without right.

Section 6008 states that the appeal deadline expires when the writ issues or 30 days after judgment, whichever occurs first. Rule 80D supplies the jury-trial-de-novo demand, affidavit, and stay procedures.

13. OFFICIAL SOURCES

• 14 M.R.S. § 6001: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6001.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6002: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6002.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6003: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6003.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6004: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6004.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6005: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6005.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6008: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6008.html
• 14 M.R.S. § 6014: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec6014.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 4581: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec4581.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 4581-A: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec4581-A.html
• Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, effective June 1, 2026: https://www.courts.maine.gov/rules/text/mr_civ_p_only_2026-06-01.pdf
• Maine Judicial Branch eviction page, Form CV-256, and Form OTH-045 packet: https://www.courts.maine.gov/help/eviction/index.html