| Cancellation
of consumer contracts |
You
have a three-day period in which to cancel any door-to-door or telemarketing
sales contract. This cancellation period does not apply to all contracts. Read
more about this in the Attorney
General's Consumer Law Guide, Chapter 13, section 4.
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| Child
support guidelines
|
The
child support guidelines are referenced in the Maine Revised Statutes at Title
19-A, section 2006. They are
delineated in more detail in the Department of Human Services’ Child Support
Enforcement Manual, regulations Chapter
351 . Within the manual the
guidelines are found in chapter 6, starting on page 27. Pine Tree Legal also has a webpage on child support.
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| Coastal/great
ponds Access |
Public
access to both the seashore and great ponds is provided for in the statutes.
Coastal access is governed by Title
12, sections 571-573. Access
to great ponds is governed by Title
17, section 3860. Access to the seashore has a long history and is based on
colonial and English common law.
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| Common
law marriage |
There
is no statutory language concerning this issue but according to the
Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest, volume 1, page ME-27, common law marriage is
“not recognized”. It cites a Maine Supreme Judicial Court case
which states that
“common law marriages are not recognized as valid under the laws of the
state” (Pierce v. Secretary of U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and
Welfare, 254 A.2d 46 (1969).
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 Community
property |
Black’s
Law Dictionary does not list Maine as one of the nine community property
states in this country. Maine follows
marital property or equitable distribution for the division of property in
divorce cases. The statutory
reference for this is Title
19-A, section 953.
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| Condominiums |
The Maine Condominium Act is in the statutes at Title 33, Chapter 31.
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| Distracted drivers |
In the 124th Legislature, 1st Regular session (2009), the Legislature introduced LD 6 "An act to establish a distracted driver law". The bill was amended by S-126 and enacted as PL 2009, c. 446. The law went into effect on September 12, 2009. It is codified at Title 29-A, M.R.S.A., section 2118.
Here are links to editorials in the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News.
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| Dogs,
Loose or dangerous |
According
to Title
7, section. 3911 it is “unlawful for any dog… to be at large, except
when used for hunting.” “At
large” is
defined at Title
7, section 3907, sub-section 6. It does not specify that a dog has to be
on a leash. Municipalities can enact local ordinances requiring dogs to be on
leashes.
Dangerous dogs are defined at Title
7, section. 3907. Chapter
727 of the same title speaks to the issue of keeping a dangerous dog and
the consequences of doing so.
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| Emancipation
of teenagers |
Emancipation
is a legal process conducted through the District Court which declares a minor
over the age of 16 to be
independent of his or her parents or guardians. The qualifications and
procedures for doing this are found in Title
15, section. 3506-A. The Maine Judicial Branch site has a PDF version of
the petition
form and the Pine
Tree Legal website has a good discussion of emancipation.
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| Exchange
or return of merchandise |
There
are no Maine statutes regarding merchandise returns. It’s strictly a matter
of store policy, which should be posted
in the store.
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| Felonies
and misdemeanors |
Maine
classifies crimes by categories of seriousness A through E, with A being the
most serious and E the least. The
terms felony and misdemeanor are not used in Maine statutes. Black’s Law Dictionary defines a felony as a
“serious crime usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by
death.” Misdemeanor is defined
as a crime that is “less serious than a felony and is usually punishable by
a fine, penalty, forfeiture or confinement (usually for a brief term) in a
place other than prison.” Comparing
these definitions and
Title 17-A, section 1252, it would appear that Maine’s classes A, B, and
C could be considered felonies and classes D and E misdemeanors.
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| Gift
certificates |
We
are often asked about's cardholder's rights, especially about how long one has to redeem a gift certificate that has no
explicit expiration date. This is
covered by Title
33, section 1953, sub-section 1, paragraph G of the Maine Revised
Statutes. Also see sections 1952 and 1956. Nonredeemed cards of $50 value or more must be reported as unclaimed property to the State Treasurer. For additional information see "Maine" in NCSL's 50-state table and section 29.31 of the Maine Attorney General's Consumer Law Guide.
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| Grandparents'
visitation rights |
The
Maine Legislature originally passed the grandparents' visitation bill in 1991.
The current law provides a mechanism for grandparents to petition for
visitations with their grandchildren, if certain criteria are met.
This act is in Title
19-A, sections 1801-1805. Pine Tree Legal also has a nice webpage
about grandparents' visitation.
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| Hate
crimes |
Statutes
concerning hate crimes are found in several places in the statutes.
They are primarily anti-discrimination statutes.
The relevant statutory titles and sections are: Title 5, sections 4651-4660-A,
and 4681;
and Title
17, sections. 2931-2932.
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| Holidays/Sunday
sales |
The
statutory reference for legal holidays in Maine can be found in Title
4, section 1051. The language allowing Sunday sales in large retail
establishments is found in Title
17, section 3204. The
language in this section is particularly dense and rather confusing.
There are only three days on which these stores must be closed,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. According
to section 3203,
motor vehicle dealerships are not allowed to be open on Sundays and holidays.
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| Home
Construction/ repair
Contracts |
Both
the Maine Revised Statutes and the Attorney General’s Consumer Law
Guide have information about home construction/repair contracts in some
detail, including such things as change orders, warranty clauses, and written
contracts. This information can be found in the statutes in Title
10, sections 1486-1490 and in the AG’s
Consumer Law Guide in chapters 17
and 18.
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| Homestead
exemption |
In
Maine the homestead exemption is a property tax exemption that allows for an
exemption on up to $7000 of the value of the qualified homeowner’s property.
See Title
36, sections 681-689.
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| Implied
Warranties |
Implied
warranties apply to consumer goods, both new and used (except used cars).
This warranty is explained in detail in the Attorney
General’s Consumer Law Guide, Chapter 4.
Implied warranties are also covered in the statutes in Title
11, section 2-314.
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| Intestate
succession |
When
someone dies without a valid will, they are said to have died intestate.
The division of an intestate person’s estate is governed by several
sections of the Maine Revised Statutes in the probate code.
These sections may be found in Title
18-A, sections 2-201 – 2-405.
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| Landlord-tenant
issues |
Landlord-tenant
issues are covered in the Maine Revised Statutes in Title
14, sections 6001-6038 and in the Attorney
General’s Consumer Law Guide, chapters 14 and 16. Both of these sources cover such topics as leases, evictions,
habitability and security deposits.
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| Lemon
law |
Maine
has a law in Title10,
sections 1161-1169 that is designed to help consumers who have purchased
defective new cars. There is
additional information in the Attorney
General’s Consumer Law Guide in chapters 6
and 7.
The Attorney General also has regulations on this subject in Chapter
106 of the department’s rules. Chapter
9 in the Consumer Law Guide contains helpful information for those
contemplating purchasing a used vehicle.
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| Living
wills
|
Living
wills are officially known as Advanced Health Care Directives.
They are used to give directions about the type of health care you
desire if you are incapacitated. The
statutes outlining the provisions for these directives can be found in Title
18-A, sections 5-801 – 5-817. Section
5-804 gives an outline of the current form that can be followed to write your
own directive. If you would
prefer a form that can be filled in directly, the Bureau of Elder and Adult
Services in the Department of Human Services has a form online that can be
downloaded from http://www.maine.gov/dhs/beas/resource/adf.pdf
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| Medical
records, Confidentiality & access |
Statutes
concerning the confidentiality of medical records can be found in Title
22, section 1711-C of the Maine Revised Statutes.
The Attorney General also has a helpful webpage on confidentiality.
Access
to one’s medical records is addressed in Title
22, section 1711 of the Maine Revised Statutes.
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| Motor
vehicle modifications |
Personal modifications made to motor vehicles must fall within the requirements for passing inspection so you need to look at the Bureau of State
Police Motor
Vehicle Inspection Manual.
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| People’s
veto |
The people’s veto
is a constitutional provision (Art.
4, pt.3, sec. 17) that allows the citizens of Maine, through the
initiative and referendum process to repeal a piece of legislation passed by
the legislature. The people’s veto came into being as part of the initiative
and referendum process enacted in 1909. To
repeal a particular piece of legislation, a petition must be presented within
90 days of legislative adjournment and meet the signature requirements of any
initiative proposal. If the
petition is certified, the law is set aside until the issue can be voted on at
the next election. There have
been 24 successful petitions since 1909; 12 of those were successful (they
overturned or repealed the law passed by the legislature).
The people’s veto has only be used 5 times in the last 50 years.
(June
2002)
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| Prescription
drug pricing |
There are three
prescription drug plans referenced in the statutes.
In Title
22, sections 254-255, there is the Elderly Low Cost Drug Program.
In Title
22, sections 1511, there is the Fund for Healthy Maine (tobacco settlement
funds). And in Title
22, sections 2681-2694, there is the Prescription Drug Access Act. This last one is the controversial program that the
pharmaceutical industry has been opposing and which was affirmed by the
circuit court in the 2001 PHARMA
decision and the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The National
Council of State Legislatures has a very useful page on the Maine
prescription drug laws.
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| Returnable
containers |
The so-called
“Bottle Bill” was part of a larger solid waste management bill in 1975. There are both statutes and regulations that govern
returnable beverage containers. The statutes can be found in Title
32, sections 1861-1873. The
regulations can be found as Chapter 360 of the Department
of Agriculture’s rules.
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| "Right
to Know" |
Maine’s
“Right to know” law is referenced in the statutes as “Freedom of
access”. This law concerns
access to public meetings and public records.
It is in the Maine Revised Statutes at Title
1, sections 401-410 . Additional information and links
are available at www.maine.gov/foaa/
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| Road associations |
The statutes
governing private road associations can be found in Title
23, sections 3101-3105. These
statutes detail the formation of a private road association and such an
association's powers and duties. A
Guide to Forming Road Associations is available online, as is the Camp
Road Maintenance Manual.
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| Sex
Offender Registration
|
This
is often referred to as "Meghan's law." The statutes can be
found in Title
34-A, sections 11201-11256. Some
of these sections have various effective dates and notes of conflicts with
other laws in them, thus making the sections somewhat confusing to read.
The regulations can be found in Chapter 14 of the Bureau
of State Police rules.
The Sex Offender Registry
is searchable and available online.
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| Smoking
prohibitions |
The
law concerning work place smoking and smoking in public places can be found in
Title
22, sections 1541-1545. There
are also DHS regulations for smoking in public
places as well as in the workplace.
Until
the enactment of P.L.
2003, Chapter 493, effective Jan. 1, 2004, bars and taverns were exempted
from the prohibition against smoking in public places. Chapter 493
simply deleted the exemption. Private clubs, such as the Elks and American
Legion, are only open to members and their invited guests so they are not
considered "public places" and smoking is allowed there if the club
so chooses.
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| Studded
snow tires |
The
regulations governing the use of studded tires on Maine roads are in the
"Motor Vehicle Inspection Manual" issued by the Department of Public
Safety. The manual is Chapter
1 of the Department’s rules and the section relevant to studded tires is
unit 2, sections 8.1.9 and 8.1.10. There
is also a statute on studded tires at Title
29-A, section 1919.
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| Tobacco
and minors |
According
to Title
22, section 1555-B, it is illegal to buy or possess tobacco products if
one is under 18 years of age.
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| Unit
pricing |
There
are no statutes concerning unit pricing in Maine. One does see unit pricing in some grocery stores, but it is a
strictly voluntary practice.
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| Vacation
(casual) rental tax |
A
seven percent tax on temporary or casual rentals of homes, condos, camps, etc.
went into effect July 1, 2005. Here is a document
of explanation from the Bureau of Revenue Services, as well as an instructional
bulletin on rental of living quarters.
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