Eminent Domain in Maine: The Property Owner’s Guide

In Maine a taking happens when a document is recorded at the registry of deeds, which means the property can change hands before you have spoken to anyone, and the clock on your compensation claim starts the same day.

The law that governs takings in Maine

Maine’s state highway condemnation procedure is codified at 23 M.R.S. section 154. When the Department of Transportation determines that public exigency requires the taking of property, or when it cannot purchase at what it considers a reasonable valuation, or where title is defective, it files a notice of condemnation in the registry of deeds. Title 23 section 3023 addresses eminent domain in other highway contexts, and Title 30-A governs municipal takings, including section 3510 on eminent domain and appeal and section 5108 on urban renewal.

Maine enacted Legislative Document 1870 in 2006 in response to Kelo. It declares that it is not a public use to condemn property for the purposes of private retail, office, commercial, industrial, or residential development, and provides that eminent domain may not be used primarily for the enhancement of tax revenue or to transfer property to a person, nongovernmental entity, public-private partnership, corporation, or other business entity. Property rights groups have noted that the qualifier primarily and the exceptions for blighted properties under Maine’s urban renewal laws limit how far the reform reaches.

Who can take property in Maine

The Maine Department of Transportation, counties, municipalities, school administrative units, sewer and water districts, transit districts, and utilities hold condemnation authority. Under Title 30-A a district may acquire real property for its public purposes by purchase or eminent domain, including the property and franchise of a person operating a local mass transportation service within a municipality comprising the district.

The condemnation process in Maine, step by step

For a state highway taking, the Department files a notice of condemnation in the registry of deeds, which effects the taking, and makes an offer of just compensation. If the offer is not acceptable and the State cannot negotiate an agreement on just compensation within 60 days from the date of taking, the owner may apply to the Department and have the matter referred to the State Claims Commission for assessment of the damage.

In county and municipal contexts, county commissioners awarding damages for property taken by eminent domain may prescribe terms and conditions for the use of the property taken that will best accommodate the owner and the taker. Appeals from a commissioners’ report are filed with the court of the county where the property is situated, generally within 30 days from the date the report is made.

Possession and deposits

Because a Maine taking is accomplished by recording, the transfer of title does not wait for a valuation dispute to be resolved. The Department’s offer and any payment made are not an adjudication of value, and pursuing the claim to the State Claims Commission preserves your ability to establish a higher figure.

That structure puts the burden of momentum on the property owner. Nothing in the process forces the condemnor to justify its number to a neutral body unless you take the step of referring the matter, so a passive owner ends up accepting the offer by default.

What just compensation includes in Maine

Maine compensates the fair market value of the property taken plus damages to the remainder in a partial taking, measured by the difference in the remainder’s value before and after the taking.

On Maine’s rural and coastal properties, remainder damage often involves things a standard appraisal misses: a driveway that no longer meets sight distance requirements after a road is regraded, a septic system or its reserve area encroached upon by a new right of way line, shore frontage or view affected by a corridor, and woodlot access cut off by a taking that looks small on paper. Each of these shows up in the after value.

Maine does not provide a broad statutory right to recover lost business profits as a separate item of condemnation damages. Business impacts are generally established through their effect on real property value, so an operating business should make sure its appraiser understands the site before a report is finalized.

Relocation assistance and moving costs

Federally assisted projects, including most Maine Department of Transportation work, trigger the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act. Relocation benefits pay moving costs, business reestablishment expenses, and replacement housing supplements, and they are administered separately from the compensation owed for the property. Accepting relocation assistance does not settle or waive your compensation claim.

Deadlines that protect your rights in Maine

Sixty days from the date of taking is the negotiation period in a state highway case. If no agreement on just compensation is reached in that time, the owner may apply to the Department to have the matter referred to the State Claims Commission. Because the date of taking is the date the notice of condemnation is recorded, the clock may be running before you have fully understood what was taken.

In county and municipal proceedings, appeals from a commissioners’ report are generally due within 30 days from the date the report is made, filed with the court of the county where the property is situated. Confirm the applicable period for your specific taking, because Maine’s procedures vary by the type of condemnor and the chapter under which it is acting.

How to fight a taking in Maine

Maine’s 2006 law is the substantive tool. It declares that condemning property for private retail, office, commercial, industrial, or residential development is not a public use, and bars using eminent domain primarily for the enhancement of tax revenue or to transfer property to a nongovernmental entity, public-private partnership, corporation, or other business entity.

The practical limits of that reform are worth knowing. The word primarily invites a condemnor to assert some other principal purpose, and Maine’s urban renewal laws retain exceptions for blighted properties. That makes the factual record behind a blight designation, and the actual rather than stated purpose of a project, the place where a Maine right-to-take challenge is usually won or lost. Scope and the terms attached to a taking are also negotiable, and county commissioners are expressly authorized to prescribe terms and conditions that best accommodate the owner.

Before you sign anything

The Department’s offer rests on an appraisal it commissioned, using its assumptions about access, septic capacity, frontage, and highest and best use. Read the appraisal itself and check those assumptions against what you know about the property. Once you sign a release or accept an offer as final, you have given up every claim in the case, including remainder damages that will not become obvious until the road is rebuilt.

Frequently asked questions

How does a taking actually happen in Maine?

By recording. When the Department of Transportation determines that public exigency requires the taking, or it cannot purchase at what it considers a reasonable valuation, or the title is defective, it files a notice of condemnation in the registry of deeds. The taking is effected by that filing rather than by a court judgment.

What is the State Claims Commission and when do I go there?

It is the body that assesses damages when negotiation fails. If the State’s offer is not acceptable and no agreement on just compensation is reached within 60 days from the date of taking, the owner may apply to the Department and have the matter referred to the State Claims Commission for assessment of the damage.

How long do I have to appeal a commissioners’ award in Maine?

In county and municipal proceedings, appeals are generally filed with the court of the county where the property is situated within 30 days from the date the commissioners’ report is made. Because Maine’s procedures vary by the type of condemnor, confirm the period that applies to your specific taking.

Can Maine take my property for a private developer?

Maine’s 2006 law declares that it is not a public use to condemn property for private retail, office, commercial, industrial, or residential development, and bars using eminent domain primarily for enhancement of tax revenue or to transfer property to a nongovernmental entity, public-private partnership, corporation, or other business entity. Exceptions remain for blighted properties under Maine’s urban renewal laws.

Can conditions be attached to a taking in Maine?

Yes, in the county context. County commissioners awarding damages for property taken by eminent domain may prescribe terms and conditions for the use of the property taken that will best accommodate the owner and the taker.