Sen. Bailey introduces bill to preserve affordable rental prices, protect renters and tenants from steep increases in rent

AUGUSTA — On Friday, April 25, Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, introduced a bill to help municipalities preserve affordable rental prices for renters and tenants in their communities. The Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee, which Sen. Bailey serves on, conducted a public hearing for LD 1534, “An Act Enabling Municipalities to Protect Tenants and Stabilize Rents.”

“This bill would honor Maine’s tradition of local control. It simply gives municipalities the option to implement a rent control ordinance that meets the housing needs of their communities. Each municipality is different, and rent control is not always the answer in each town,” said Sen. Bailey. “In our district, the Town of Old Orchard Beach passed an ordinance to control the rents for residents of mobile home parks. This bill, of course, is not just limited to mobile home parks, but I share this story to illustrate how a town could use this law.”

During the public hearing, Sen. Bailey highlighted the story of the residents of Atlantic Village and Old Orchard Beach Village who worked on passing a rent control ordinance after their mobile home parks went up for sale.

In 2024, residents of Atlantic Village and Old Orchard Village (where Sen. Bailey lived and raised her son while going to law school), tried to put together a bid to purchase their own park after it went up for sale. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. Despite this setback, they drafted a rent control measure as a referendum for approval by the voters in Old Orchard Beach.

That rent control measure caps annual lot rent increases at 5%, with some exceptions. It also includes a detailed process for residents to dispute proposed increases through an arbitrator. The residents had to overcome a negative campaign by the new owners of the mobile home parks, which spent more than $17,700 to oppose the measure.

As drafted, the bill has two major components. First, it would allow municipalities or residents to decide if they want to impose rent control or not. If they decide they do and they adopt an ordinance that meets the criteria set forth in the bill, then it would ensure a violation of that ordinance would be an Unfair Trade Practice.

Second, by establishing a violation of an Unfair Trade Practice, the municipality would be able to call upon the Maine Attorney General’s Office to help enforce the ordinance. This would help smaller municipalities that may have only one or two Code Enforcement staff with limited resources.

In the coming weeks, LD 1534 will face further action in the committee.

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