An Act To Help Municipalities Dispose of Certain Abandoned Property
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §9097, sub-§13 is enacted to read:
13. Deserted mobile homes or manufactured housing. A mobile home or manufactured housing and all of its contents that has not been subject to an eviction process in accordance with this section and has been deserted or unclaimed by a tenant may be disposed of by a mobile home park owner, operator or municipality without any notice to the tenant, except for the posting on the mobile home or manufactured housing of a written notice of the intended disposition of the property at least 30 days prior to its removal. For purposes of this subsection, a mobile home park owner, operator or municipality shall consider the mobile home or manufactured housing as deserted when there is evidence that demonstrates that the housing is vacant and the tenant has no intent to return, as well as other reasonable indicia of abandonment described in Title 14, section 6326, subsection 2. A municipality may not be held liable under this chapter for its disposition of property in accordance with this subsection.
summary
This bill simplifies the process for a mobile home park owner, operator or municipality to dispose of a deserted, vacant mobile home or manufactured housing that has been unclaimed by a tenant without any notice to the tenant. The bill provides protection from liability for a municipality that disposes of such deserted property.