Belongings Left Behind

A landlord stores property a tenant leaves behind in a safe, dry, secured place, and mails the tenant a notice of intent to dispose of it, with an itemized list, saying that without a response within 7 days the landlord may dispose of it. For a tenant still in the unit, the time to claim may not be shorter than 7 days after mailing or 48 hours after the writ is served, whichever is longer.

• A tenant who claims the property within 7 days gets it back without paying any fee or back rent first, if the tenant arranges to collect it by the 14th day after the notice.
• Property not claimed, or claimed but not collected by the 14th day, may be held until the tenant pays arrears, damages and storage, sold at a fair price with the surplus sent to the Treasurer of State, or thrown away if it has no fair market value.

• 14 M.R.S. § 6013StatuteProperty unclaimed by tenantOpens legislature.maine.gov ↗

A tenant who does not leave within 48 hours after a sheriff or constable serves the writ of possession is treated as a trespasser, and what remains is treated as abandoned.

• 14 M.R.S. § 6005StatuteWrit of possession; serviceOpens legislature.maine.gov ↗