Senate passes Sen. Carney bill to clarify protections against foreclosure
AUGUSTA – Yesterday, the Maine Senate voted unanimously to pass a bill from Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, to clarify protections against foreclosure in light of a decision by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in 2024. LD 1444, “An Act to Clarify the Application of Finch v. U.S. Bank, N.A.,” would prohibit a lender that lost a foreclosure case before 2024 due to their failure to comply with notice requirements from bringing a new foreclosure claim against the same homeowner.
Under Maine law, lenders are required to send notice to homeowners in default at least 35 days before filing a foreclosure, including an itemized list of the amount to be paid to cure the default. Notice of default requirements are one of the few protections from foreclosure available to Maine homeowners and have historically been strictly enforced. To deter repeated unlawful foreclosures, a ruling by the Maine SJC in 2017 reaffirmed the precedent that prohibits a lender from bringing future foreclosure claims against a homeowner after failing to comply with notice requirements.
In 2024, however, the Maine SJC reversed course in Finch v. U.S. Bank, N.A., decoupling enforcement of notice compliance from banks’ right to bring foreclosure claims against a homeowner. This decision put prior cases, resolved under a different legal framework, in doubt, threatening to upend settled property rights.
“In the face of unexpected financial hardship, the bottom-line goal is to keep Mainers in their homes,” said Sen. Carney. “The Finch decision reversed a protection against repeated unjust foreclosure claims. LD 1444 would ensure this new legal landscape is not applied retroactively to threaten settled property rights, guaranteeing that Maine homeowners receive the protections they were promised when their foreclosure cases were resolved years ago.”
As amended, LD 1444 seeks to ensure that homeowners whose cases were settled before the 2024 decision continue to have the protections provided by the law in effect at the time of the foreclosure action. The bill aims to keep Mainers in their homes by ensuring homeowner rights are honored.
LD 1444 now heads to the Governor’s desk for her signature. She has 10 days following Senate passage to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature.
Sen. Carney is serving her third term in the Maine Senate, representing South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and part of Scarborough. She serves as Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee and the Joint Rules Committee and as a member of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.
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