Maine HOA Governing Statute

1. Overview — How HOAs are governed in Maine

Maine governs its community associations through a hybrid framework, not a single comprehensive common-interest statute. The Maine Condominium Act, 33 M.R.S. §§ 1601-101 to 1604-118, controls condominiums created on or after January 1, 1983. The Legislature enacted that Act through PL 1981, c. 699, and drew it from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act.¹

Condominiums created before that date — the ones that never opted into the newer Act — remain under the older Unit Ownership Act, 33 M.R.S. §§ 560 to 589-C, which the Legislature passed in 1965.² Non-condominium planned communities have no dedicated statute at all. They operate under their recorded declarations of covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) and, where incorporated, under the Maine Nonprofit Corporation Act, 13-B M.R.S. §§ 101 et seq.³

Civil disputes move from the Superior or District Court directly to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court, because Maine has no intermediate appellate court.⁴ As of June 2026, Maine has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA), though the Legislature created a study commission on the question in 2026.⁵ The result is a system where statutory protection depends heavily on the form and the vintage of the community.

2. The statutory framework

The Maine Condominium Act

The Maine Condominium Act, 33 M.R.S. §§ 1601-101 to 1604-118, is the primary statute for condominiums, and it expressly follows the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act rather than UCIOA.⁶ Section 1601-116 sets the effective date as January 1, 1983, and §1601-102 applies the Act to condominiums created after that date and to older condominiums that amend their instruments to opt in.⁷

The Act organizes its provisions into four articles: Article 1, general provisions (§§ 1601-101 to 1601-116); Article 2, creation, alteration and termination (§§ 1602-101 to 1602-121); Article 3, management of the condominium (§§ 1603-101 to 1603-119); and Article 4, protection of condominium purchasers (§§ 1604-101 to 1604-118).⁸ Section 1601-103 defines the core terms, including "condominium," "unit," "common elements," "limited common elements," "declaration," "declarant" and "unit owner."⁹

Section 1601-110, the uniformity clause, directs that the Act "shall be applied and construed so as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this Act among states enacting it."¹⁰ The declaration and bylaws supplement the Act; §1601-104 lets the parties vary many provisions by agreement, except where the Act forbids variation.¹¹

The Unit Ownership Act and pre-1983 condominiums

Maine's first-generation condominium law, the Unit Ownership Act, occupies Title 33, Chapter 10, §§ 560 to 589-C. Section 560 provides that "This chapter shall be known as the 'Unit Ownership Act,'" and PL 1965, c. 357 enacted it.¹² It continues to govern condominiums created before the Condominium Act's January 1, 1983 effective date that have not amended their instruments to come under the newer Act.¹³

In testimony supporting LD 760, the bill's drafter — attorney Joseph Carleton of the Jensen Baird firm — stated that "About 20% of Maine condominiums are subject to a 1960's law called the Unit Ownership Act." That figure is an advocate's estimate, not an audited count.¹⁴

The older Act carries less detail than the Condominium Act. It addresses definitions (§561), common profits and expenses (§568), a lien for unpaid common expenses claimable 60 days after the due date, and books of receipts and expenditures available for examination (§577).¹⁵ In 2025, the Legislature amended Chapter 10 to add electric-vehicle charging provisions, importing defined terms such as "executive board" and "common interest community" into the older Act.¹⁶

Non-condo planned communities and the role of CC&Rs

Maine has no comprehensive statute governing non-condominium planned-community homeowners associations. There is no planned-community act and no statewide HOA regulator.¹⁷ For these communities, the recorded declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions is the governing instrument, supplemented by the association's articles and bylaws.

Where the association incorporates as a nonprofit — as most Maine associations do — the Maine Nonprofit Corporation Act, 13-B M.R.S. §§ 101 et seq., supplies the corporate-governance rules: director powers and duties, member voting, and books and records under 13-B M.R.S. §715.¹⁸ The practical consequence is that the obligations binding a non-condo HOA are primarily contractual, through the CC&Rs, or corporate, through Title 13-B — not statutory under any HOA-specific framework.

This gap drives the central argument of those who back a Maine Common Interest Ownership Act. Their LD 760 testimony noted that non-condo communities otherwise remain "subject to ancient case law doctrines" and to the Nonprofit Corporation Act, "which was designed for voluntary membership and modest dues, not appropriate for owner associations where membership is mandatory."¹⁹

3. Compliance obligations created by the statutory framework

Governance obligations

For condominiums under the Condominium Act (Chapter 31), §1603-108 governs meetings of unit owners, §1603-109 sets quorum requirements, and §1603-110 governs voting and proxies.²⁰ Section 1603-102 enumerates the powers of the unit owners' association, and §1603-103 governs the executive board — including a period of declarant control that, regardless of any longer period in the declaration, terminates no later than 60 days after a declarant conveys 75 percent of the units to other owners.²¹

Section 1603-118 establishes association records and unit-owner inspection rights, subject to enumerated exceptions.²² The declaration may vary many of these provisions under §1601-104, but the core governance structure remains mandatory. For pre-1983 condominiums under Chapter 10, records access runs through §577. For non-condo planned communities, the CC&Rs set the governance obligations and, for incorporated associations, Title 13-B does — including the books-and-records right at §715 — not the Condominium Act.²³

Financial obligations

Under the Condominium Act, §1603-115 governs assessments for common expenses, §1603-116 establishes the association's lien for unpaid assessments, and §1603-103(c) sets the budget adoption and ratification procedure under which a board-proposed budget takes effect unless the unit owners reject it.²⁴ Section 1603-114 addresses surplus funds, and §1603-113 requires property and liability insurance on the common elements.²⁵

The Act imposes no statutory reserve-funding mandate; the declaration and board budgeting govern reserve practice. For pre-1983 condominiums, the Unit Ownership Act allocates common expenses by undivided interest (§568) and provides a lien claimable 60 days after the assessment due date. For non-condo HOAs, assessment authority and lien rights exist only if the CC&Rs grant them; they are contractual, not statutory.²⁶

Disclosure obligations

The Condominium Act's Article 4 imposes disclosure duties on developers and sellers. Sections 1604-103 through 1604-106 require a public offering statement for developer sales, and §1604-108 requires a resale certificate when an owner resells an existing unit.²⁷

These provisions reach condominiums under Chapter 31. The Unit Ownership Act contains no equivalent modern public-offering-statement or resale-certificate regime. Non-condo planned communities carry no statutory disclosure mandate; any disclosure obligation arises from the CC&Rs or from general real-estate contract law.²⁸

Dispute resolution obligations

The Condominium Act conditions an association's fining power on due process. Section 1603-102(a)(11) authorizes the association, "after notice and an opportunity to be heard," to levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws and rules.²⁹

The Law Court reinforced procedural due process in the foreclosure context in 2026. It vacated a condominium foreclosure judgment where the trial court refused to let a unit owner present her counterclaim, citing the principle that "when significant rights are at stake, due process requires: notice of the issues, an opportunity to be heard, the right to introduce evidence and present witnesses."³⁰ For non-condo HOAs, the CC&Rs govern enforcement and any hearing rights; the statutory notice-and-hearing requirement of §1603-102(a)(11) does not reach them.

4. Maine's recent legislative and judicial activity

Recent bills

Maine lawmakers spent the session on targeted measures rather than a sweeping rewrite, taking up electric-vehicle charging and the question of a unified ownership statute.

Recent court rulings

The Law Court has focused on procedure, reminding associations that foreclosure and collection must respect each owner's right to notice and a fair hearing.

Active legislative debates

The central debate is whether Maine should adopt a comprehensive common-interest statute — a question lawmakers handed to a study commission rather than settling outright.

5. National positioning and related coverage

Maine sits in a hybrid posture. Its condominium coverage descends from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act, which places it among the Community Associations Institute's listed UCA-family states alongside Pennsylvania and Texas, rather than among the smaller group of UCIOA states such as Connecticut, Vermont and Washington. Its non-condo planned communities answer primarily to CC&Rs and corporate law, much like states that lack a comprehensive planned-community statute.

Three features set Maine apart: its condominium statute derives from the 1980 UCA, not UCIOA; a separate Unit Ownership Act still governs pre-1983 condominiums; and the appellate path runs directly to the Law Court with no intermediate court. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is clear — Maine compliance turns first on classifying each community by form and vintage, because the same conduct may be statutory in a Chapter 31 condo and purely contractual in a non-condo HOA.

6. Closing note

HOA Weekly updates its Maine Governing Statute coverage every quarter, as the Legislature and the Law Court act. Federal frameworks apply to every Maine association too, whatever state chapter governs it — including the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which operate alongside Maine law.

Footnotes

1. Maine Condominium Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1601-101 to 1604-118 (enacted by P.L. 1981, ch. 699; derived from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act). ↩
2. Unit Ownership Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 560 to 589-C (enacted by P.L. 1965, ch. 357). ↩
3. Maine Nonprofit Corporation Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 13-B, § 101 et seq. ↩
4. Maine Supreme Judicial Court (Law Court), Me. Jud. Branch. ↩
5. L.D. 760, 132d Leg. (Me. 2025) (Resolve 2025, ch. 167). ↩
6. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, ch. 31 (modeled on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act). ↩
7. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1601-102, 1601-116 (applicability; effective date Jan. 1, 1983). ↩
8. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, ch. 31 (table of contents, arts. 1–4). ↩
9. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1601-103 (definitions). ↩
10. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1601-110 (uniformity of application and construction). ↩
11. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1601-104 (variation by agreement). ↩
12. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 560 (short title) (enacted by P.L. 1965, ch. 357). ↩
13. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1601-102 (applicability to pre-1983 condominiums). ↩
14. Joseph Carleton, Testimony in Support of L.D. 760, Joint Standing Comm. on Hous. & Econ. Dev. (Me. 2025). ↩
15. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 561, 568, 577 (definitions; common profits and expenses; books of receipts and expenditures; lien provision). ↩
16. P.L. 2025, ch. 280, § 1, amending Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, ch. 10 (importing "executive board" and "common interest community"). ↩
17. Maine HOA Laws, RunHOA (no comprehensive planned-community statute and no statewide HOA regulator). ↩
18. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 13-B, §§ 101, 715 (short title; books and records). ↩
19. Testimony in Support of L.D. 760, Joint Standing Comm. on Hous. & Econ. Dev. (Me. 2025) (non-condominium communities and the Nonprofit Corporation Act). ↩
20. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1603-108, 1603-109, 1603-110 (meetings; quorums; voting and proxies). ↩
21. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1603-102, 1603-103 (association powers; executive board and declarant control). ↩
22. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1603-118 (association records). ↩
23. Maine HOA Laws, Homeowners Protection Bureau (records access under tit. 33, § 577 and tit. 13-B, § 715). ↩
24. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1603-103, 1603-115, 1603-116 (budget ratification; assessments for common expenses; lien for assessments). ↩
25. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1603-113, 1603-114 (insurance; surplus funds). ↩
26. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 568 (common expenses allocated by undivided interest; lien provision in ch. 10). ↩
27. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, §§ 1604-103 to 1604-106, 1604-108 (public offering statement; resale of units). ↩
28. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, ch. 31, art. 4 (purchaser protections apply to condominiums). ↩
29. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 1603-102(a)(11) (fines "after notice and an opportunity to be heard"). ↩
30. Tidewater Loft Condo. Ass'n v. Moskal-Kanz, 2026 ME 46 (May 21, 2026). ↩
31. P.L. 2025, ch. 280 (L.D. 1133, S.P. 457), enacting Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 576-A (Senate vote 21–13; right-to-charge provision eff. Jan. 1, 2026). ↩
32. L.D. 760 (S.P. 301), Resolve 2025, ch. 167 (finally passed and signed Apr. 16, 2026); see also Testimony on L.D. 760 (sponsor and drafting). ↩
33. Oak Hill Condos. v. Marchetti, 2026 ME 31 (Apr. 2, 2026). ↩
34. Tidewater Loft Condo. Ass'n v. Moskal-Kanz, 2026 ME 46 (May 21, 2026). ↩
35. L.D. 760, Resolve 2025, ch. 167 (study commission on a Maine Common Interest Ownership Act). ↩