An Act To Amend the Civil Foreclosure Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §6323, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 291, §1, is further amended to read:
1. Procedures for all civil actions. Upon expiration of the period of redemption, if the mortgagor or the mortgagor's successors, heirs or assigns have not redeemed the mortgage, any remaining rights of the mortgagor to possession terminate, and the mortgagee shall cause notice of a public sale of the premises stating the time, place and terms of the sale to be published once in each of 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the premises are located, the first publication to be made not more than 90 days after the expiration of the period of redemption. The public sale must be held not less than 30 days nor more than 45 days after the first date of that publication and may be adjourned, for any time not exceeding 7 days and from time to time until a sale is made, by announcement to those present at each adjournment. The mortgagee, in its sole discretion, may allow the mortgagor to redeem or reinstate the loan after the expiration of the period of redemption but before the public sale. The mortgagee may convey the property to the mortgagor or execute a waiver of foreclosure, and all other rights of all other parties remain as if no foreclosure had been commenced. The mortgagee shall sell the premises to the highest bidder at the public sale and deliver a deed of that sale and the writ of possession, if a writ of possession was obtained during the foreclosure process, to the purchaser. The deed conveys the premises free and clear of all interests of the parties in interest joined in the action. The mortgagee or any other party in interest may bid at the public sale. If the mortgagee is the highest bidder at the public sale, there is no obligation to account for any surplus upon a subsequent sale by the mortgagee. Any rights of the mortgagee to a deficiency claim against the mortgagors are limited to the amount established as of the date of the public sale. The date of the public sale is the date on which bids are received to establish the sales price, no matter when the sale is completed by the delivery of the deed to the highest bidder. If the property is conveyed by deed pursuant to a public sale in accordance with this subsection, a copy of the judgment of foreclosure and evidence of compliance with the requirements of this subsection for the notice of public sale and the public sale itself must be attached to or included within the deed, or both, or otherwise be recorded in the registry of deeds.
Effective September 20, 2007