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Rights of Tenants in Maine:
Unsafe or Unfit Housing

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CONTENTS

Introduction: How to Use This Online Handbook

Tips To Know Before You Rent	Sale of Your Building
Types of Rental Agreements	Discrimination
Security Deposits	Electric Charges for Common Areas
Rent-	Cable TV/Dishes and Antennas
-General Assistance	Landlord Entering Your Home
-Rent Increases	Subsidized Housing
Unsafe or Unfit Housing	Mobile Home Parks-
Evictions-	-Park Rules
-Notice or Warning	-Mobile Home Park Evictions
-Court Hearing	-Unsafe or Unfit Conditions
-Defenses	-Sale of Your Mobile Home
Abandoned Property	-Sale of Mobile Home Park

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Unsafe or Unfit Housing

Does my landlord have to keep my home safe and in decent condition?

Click here to get a printer-friendly .pdf pamphlet version.  If you need help, click here.

Yes. Maine law gives tenants an "implied warranty of habitability." This means that your landlord must promise that your home is safe and fit to live in.

Examples of landlord violations:

• undrinkable water
• no heat or too little heat in the winter
• a combination of problems, such as leaking ceilings, unsafe heating system, broken windows, and roaches

The heating system should be able to heat your living space to at least 68°. Read more details.

What can I do if my home is not safe?

• Step One
  Ask your landlord to fix the problem. If he does nothing, you may want to follow up with a written demand. Keep a copy of your letter.



• Step Two
  Call your city hall or town office and ask about any housing codes that may apply to your building. If your town has a building code enforcement officer, you can ask him to look at your home and send the landlord a letter demanding that he fix any code violations. State law also requires each town to have a health officer, who can inspect and order that unhealthy conditions by remedies (or that the building be vacated). Also, each town must have a local pumbing inspector to enforce state and local plumbing-related rules.



• Step Three
  If you cannot get local help, you may be able to get some help, or other referrals, from these state agencies:

• Fire hazards:
  State Fire Marshall's Office
  Inspections Unit  
  626-3880    TTY:  287-3659
  
  
• Electrical wiring problems:
  Senior Electrical Inspector 
  624-8640    TTY:  1-888-557-6690
  
  
• Plumbing problems:
  Plumbing Inspector
  624-8639    TTY:  1-888-557-6690



• Other health-related issues:
  DHHS Division of Environmental Health
  TTY:  1-800-606-0215

Wastewater program: 287-5689
Drinking water: 287-2070
Mold, radon, indoor air quality: 287-5676

What if I think there is lead paint in my apartment?

You can be tested or have your children tested for lead. Ask your family doctor or clinic about lead tests. If your child's test shows a very high level of lead, the lab will tell the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in Augusta. They can inspect your home for free and order your landlord to remove the lead. This program gives other help and information, as well.

If you want to check the paint in your home for lead, ask your landlord for help or call the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory at 287-2727 and ask for the Environmental Lead Lab. They can also test for lead in soil where your child plays. Some Community Action Programs (CAPs) can also help you with dust testing.

For More Information Contact

• Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
  DHHS:  287-4311 TTY: 287-8066
  
• Lead Hazard Prevention Program, DEP:  1-800-452-1942
  
• Lead Hazard Control Program, MSHA:  1-800-452-4668

If you have a young child who has been harmed by a landlord's failure to tell you about known lead hazards, or failure to give you other required warnings, he may be fined or made to pay you damages. Get legal advice.

For all places built before 1978, a landlord must give you 30 days advance notice before doing any repairs or renovations that disturb lead-based paint. This notice includes postings on all exterior entry doors and a certified mail letter to all residential units in the building. Or the landlord can post the notices and get a signed written waiver from an adult in each unit. The waiver must contain specific warnings. Your landlord can be fined up to $500 for each violation of these notice rules. If you believe that you or your children have suffered harm because your landlord failed to notify you, you can report the violation to your local District Attorney or the Maine Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.

The purpose of this law is to make sure that you have opportunity to protect yourself and your children from lead dust while the work is being done. Also, your landlord must use lead-safe practices so as to minimize the danger.

My apartment house is infested with bed bugs. Help!

Bed bugs are becoming much more common in Maine. They are difficult to get rid of. As with other health and safety issues, the first step is to contact your landlord and ask him to have the building professionally treated. You and others in the building will also have to take steps to help combat the problem.

Tips:

• Make sure you have correctly identified the bug. You can send samples to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension's Insect Lab.
• Select an exterminator carefully. There are good ones and bad ones. Find someone with a proven record.
• Avoid picking up beds, mattresses and other old furniture off the street or from the dump.
• When moving to a new place from one with bed bugs, make sure that you are not bringing the bugs, or their eggs, with you in your belongings. (see linked articles below)

Here are a couple of good resources on bed bugs, how to identity them, and how to get rid of them:

Bed Bugs: Biology and Management Harvard School of Public Health
Bed Bugs University of Kentucky Entomology

What can I do about harmful molds?

If you think you have dangerous molds, ask your landlord to get rid of them. If this doesn't work, follow the above steps. Approach your landlord again with findings from your local health officer and your doctor, if you can get them.

The state's Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory is no longer doing mold testing. Some private labs will do testing, but it is expensive.

For More Information Contact:
DHHS Division of Environmental Health
287-5676     TTY: 1-800-606-0215

The federal EPA posts: A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home.

Does my landlord have to provide smoke alarms?

Yes.  All apartments must have smoke alarms in or near bedrooms.  This rule also applies to single family homes built or renovated after 1981.  In apartment buildings with more than three stories, all hallways must have alarms.  Landlords may be fined up to $500 for each violation.  If you are deaf or hard-of-hearing, you may request a non-audible alarm.  If your landlord refuses, you may put one in yourself and deduct the actual cost from your rent.  (See below.)

Can I fix the problem myself?

Sometimes if a repair is not too major, you can "repair and deduct." You can fix the problem and deduct the cost of the repair from your next month's rent. Here are the rules:

(1) Your problem must be one that makes your home unhealthy or unsafe. Examples:

• no heat or not enough heat in the winter
• unsafe drinking water
• falling ceiling
• unsafe wiring

(2) You must be able to fix the problem for less than $500 or half of your monthly rent, whichever is greater. For example:

• If your rent is $800 per month, you can spend up to $500 to do the repair.
• If your rent is $1,200, you can spend up to $600.

If the problem is lack of heat and you can fix the problem by buying heating fuel which the landlord had agreed to provide, then you can deduct the cost of the fuel. If the town pays your rent, the town can buy the fuel and deduct it from your next rent payment.

(3) You, your family, or your guests did not cause the problem.

(4) Before you fix the problem, you must write a letter to your landlord. Send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested. In the letter, ask your landlord to fix the dangerous condition within 14 days, or sooner if it is an emergency. Tell him that if he does not do the repair, you will have it fixed and deduct the cost from your rent. (We have a form letter you can use. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. If you need help downloading this free software click here.) If your landlord offers to fix the problem, then you must let him into your home to do the repair. See Landlord Entering Your Home.

(5) If you have the work done, both the work and the materials must be of good quality. If your problem is with the heating, plumbing, or electricity, you must get a licensed worker to do the repairs.

(6) After the work is done, send the landlord a copy of the bill. Keep the original bill. Then you can deduct the cost from your rent payment.

Here are a few more "repair and deduct" limitations:

• You cannot use "repair and deduct" if your landlord lives in your building and there are fewer than 5 apartments.
• If you do the repairs yourself, you can deduct for parts and materials but not for your labor.
• Members of your immediate family cannot charge for labor either.
• You cannot hold your landlord responsible if anyone gets hurt doing the repairs.

What if the repairs cost more than $500.00 or half my monthly rent?

You and your neighbors may be able to use "repair and deduct" together to fix a bigger problem. For example, your building might have a bad roof or furnace which costs a lot to fix. If you had 8 tenants who each pay $800 per month, you could pay for a repair costing as much as $4000 (8 x $500).

Caution: We do not know of anyone who has tried this before in Maine. If you want to try a group "repair and deduct," try to talk with a lawyer first.

Can I just refuse to pay my rent if my landlord won't fix things?

No. You will risk eviction and can still be charged for the rent while you are living there. Talk to a lawyer before you decide to stop paying rent.

Exception to the rule: If your apartment burns down or is so damaged that you can no longer live there (and it's not your fault), you do not have to pay rent from the day you are forced out.

I have tried all of the things you have suggested but my home still is not safe. What about suing my landlord in court?

Warning your landlord of court action may be enough to get him to fix the problem. If not, you may either want to move or to sue.

To win a lawsuit, you must meet these tests:

• Your problem must be serious--something that makes your home unsafe or unhealthy.
• You, your family or guests did not cause the problem.
• You must tell your landlord about the problem in writing within a reasonable time, and give her a reasonable time to get it fixed. (Telling the building manager or someone else who collects rent for the landlord may be good enough. But the best way to prove that your landlord knew about the problem is by giving her written notice and keeping a copy.)
• You should be fully up-to-date in your rent payments at the time you give the landlord written notice.

If your landlord does not fix the problem within a reasonable time after you give the written notice, talk to a lawyer about going to court or file a complaint in Small Claims Court yourself. (If you need quick action, going to Small Claims Court may take too long.)

At a court hearing the judge will decide whether your landlord has given you a safe and healthy place to live. The judge may order any of these remedies:

• that your landlord fix the apartment
• that your rent be less until the landlord does the repairs
• that your landlord pay you back some of the rent you have paid

Can my landlord make me agree to live in a home that is unsafe or unfit?

No. A landlord cannot force you to accept unsafe or unfit housing. You can agree voluntarily to live with certain unsafe or unfit conditions. The agreement does not stand unless:

• it is in writing
• it says exactly what unsafe conditions you have agreed to live with
• it says exactly how much the rent was lowered because of the unsafe conditions

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Notice © Pine Tree Legal  Assistance August 2007 Sometimes the laws change. We cannot promise that this information is always up-to-date and correct.  If the date above is not this year, call us to see if there is an update. We provide this information as a public service.  It is not legal advice.  By sending you this information, we are not acting as your lawyer.  Always consult a lawyer, if you can, before taking legal action. Please review our full terms-of-use agreement

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