ME Real Estate cheat sheet

Maine license categories are sales agent, associate broker, broker, and designated broker; a sales agent may be affiliated with only one licensed brokerage at a time and may not broker independently.

The designated broker is the licensee responsible for supervising an office and its affiliated licensees; every brokerage office, including a branch office, must have a designated broker accountable for it.

The Maine Real Estate Commission sits within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation); it adopts rules (Chapter 400 series), issues licenses, and imposes discipline.

Commission discipline includes reprimand, probation, suspension, revocation, civil penalties, and consent agreements; contested cases follow the Maine Administrative Procedure Act hearing process.

Advertising rule: every advertisement must identify the licensed brokerage name; a sales agent may not advertise in a manner implying the agent is an independent brokerage.

Unlicensed persons may perform clerical or administrative tasks only; they may not negotiate, show property as a representative, or receive compensation for brokerage activity.

Compensation for brokerage services may not be paid to an unlicensed person, so referral or finder fees to unlicensed parties violate Maine licensing law.

Licensees must notify the Commission of a change of name, address, or brokerage affiliation; practicing on an expired or inactive license is a licensing violation.

Maine's brokerage relationships law (32 M.R.S. ch. 114) requires a written brokerage relationships disclosure at the first substantive contact, before confidential information is solicited.

Recognized relationship types: seller/landlord agency, buyer/tenant agency, disclosed dual agency with the informed written consent of all parties, and designated brokerage within one firm.

Fiduciary duties owed to a client are loyalty, obedience to lawful instructions, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care and diligence.

Dual agency limits the firm to neutrality: it may not advocate for either party or reveal one party's confidential information to the other, and consent must be in writing.

Designated brokerage assigns separate affiliated licensees within the same firm to the buyer and the seller; the firm's other licensees are restricted from sharing the assigned clients' confidential information.

A customer is not a client and receives honesty and fair dealing only, not fiduciary duties; compensation paid by a party does not by itself create an agency relationship.

Agency and listing agreements must be in writing, state duration, scope, and compensation, and be signed by the party to be bound; the confidentiality duty survives termination.

Termination occurs by performance, expiration, mutual agreement, or revocation; a licensee may serve a customer without forming an agency relationship if the required disclosures are made.

Maine is not a community property state; co-ownership forms are severalty, tenancy in common, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy by the entirety for married spouses.

Maine does not recognize dower or curtesy; a surviving spouse's protection comes from the elective-share provisions of Maine probate law rather than an automatic life estate in realty.

Adverse possession in Maine requires possession that is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous for 20 years; prescriptive easements likewise rest on 20 years of use.

Common deed forms are the quitclaim deed (no title covenants) and the statutory warranty deed containing statutory covenants of title; both must be recorded at the county Registry of Deeds.

Maine's recording statute voids an unrecorded conveyance as against a later purchaser for value who takes without notice, making Maine a notice jurisdiction and title search essential.

An easement appurtenant benefits a dominant parcel and runs with the land; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity; a license is revocable and creates no interest in land.

The State of Maine holds title to intertidal land below the high-water mark in trust for the public, and Great Ponds of 10 acres or more are similarly held in trust, limiting exclusive private control.

Interests in land include fee simple absolute, life estate, remainder, leasehold, lien, encroachment, and encumbrance; each affects marketability and must be disclosed.

Maine's Statute of Frauds requires a writing signed by the party to be bound for land sale contracts, leases longer than one year, and listing or agency agreements exceeding one year.

Essential contract elements: competent parties, mutual assent (offer and acceptance), lawful objective, consideration, and a description of the property sufficient to identify it.

Earnest money is buyer money held in a designated brokerage trust account or by a closing agent; it may never be commingled with the licensee's funds and is credited at closing.

Each contingency (financing, inspection, appraisal, sale of the buyer's property, title review) should state a deadline plus the consequence of failure so the parties' remedies are clear.

An 'as-is' sale shifts the risk of unknown defects but does not waive fraud, misrepresentation, or the specific disclosures required by law.

Maine does not require attorney representation at closing, but title examination, deed preparation, and settlement services are customarily performed by Maine attorneys or title companies.

Amendments, extensions, and assignments must be in writing and signed by all parties; assignment transfers rights, while novation substitutes a new party and discharges the old one.

Liquidated damages provisions, such as forfeiture of earnest money on buyer default, must be a reasonable forecast of loss to be enforced as an alternative to actual damages.

Loan-to-value equals the loan amount divided by the lesser of the sale price or appraised value; higher LTV increases lender risk and typically requires mortgage insurance.

PITI is the monthly housing payment of principal, interest, property taxes, and hazard insurance; underwriting compares it to gross income (front-end ratio) and total debt to income (back-end ratio).

TRID requires the Loan Estimate within three business days of application and the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before consummation, with a corrected disclosure required if certain costs change.

RESPA Section 8 prohibits kickbacks, fee splits, and unearned referral fees for settlement services; affiliated business arrangements require written disclosure of the affiliation.

Maine mortgage loan originators are licensed through the NMLS by the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, separate from the real estate license issued by the Commission.

Maine mortgage foreclosures are judicial: after judgment the court establishes a redemption period, and owner-occupied residential foreclosures are subject to Maine's mediation process.

Maine's real estate transfer tax is $2.20 per $1,000 of consideration, customarily divided equally between buyer and seller, and reported on the Maine transfer tax declaration filed with the deed.

Private mortgage insurance must be terminated at the borrower's request at 80 percent LTV and automatically at 78 percent LTV based on the original value under the Homeowners Protection Act.

In the sales comparison approach, the comparable is adjusted toward the subject: subtract when the comparable is superior, add when it is inferior.

A comparative market analysis is a licensee's pricing opinion built from comparable sales and active listings; it is not an appraisal and may not be labeled or performed as one.

Only appraisers credentialed by the Maine Board of Real Estate Appraisers may perform appraisals for federally related transactions; licensees must stay within brokerage-opinion limits.

Gross rent multiplier = sale price ÷ gross rent; capitalization rate = net operating income ÷ sale price, and value = net operating income ÷ cap rate.

Cost approach value = replacement or reproduction cost − accrued depreciation + land value; it is most reliable for special-purpose and new construction properties.

Estimated market value from assessment = assessed value ÷ the municipality's certified equalization ratio, because Maine assessments are set at a percentage of just value.

Absorption: months of inventory = active listings ÷ average monthly sales; roughly six months suggests a balanced market, fewer favors sellers, more favors buyers.

Price per square foot and gross living area are screening tools only; adjustments for location, condition, age, lot, and concessions drive the final supported value range.

Federal protected classes are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability; the Maine Human Rights Act adds sexual orientation (including gender identity) and receipt of public assistance.

Advertising must state the brokerage name, avoid any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on a protected class, and may not use words implying that a property is suited only to a particular group.

Blockbusting (inducing panic selling), steering (directing buyers away from or toward areas by protected class), and redlining (denying services by neighborhood composition) are prohibited.

The Mrs. Murphy exemption for owner-occupied buildings of four or fewer units does not permit discriminatory advertising, and it never shields a licensed broker or agent.

Reasonable accommodation (rules, policies, services) and reasonable modification (physical changes at the tenant's cost, sometimes subsidized) are required for disability; assistance animals are not pets and no pet fee may be charged.

Fair housing complaints may be filed with HUD within one year of the discriminatory act or with the Maine Human Rights Commission within six months.

Internet and print advertising must comply with MLS rules and the brokerage's own listing authority; a licensee may not advertise another broker's listing without permission.

Solicitation and marketing are subject to the National Do Not Call Registry and CAN-SPAM rules, and marketed property information must not misstate facts or omit material conditions.

Maine does not mandate a standard residential seller's property disclosure form; liability instead arises from fraud, misrepresentation of known material defects, and specific statutory disclosures required by law.

Recurring Maine disclosure items include lead-based paint (pre-1978 federally), radon, arsenic in private well water (landlords must test and disclose), smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and subsurface wastewater disposal systems.

The Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act (38 M.R.S. § 435) establishes a 250-foot shoreland zone around great ponds, rivers, and coastal waters, a 75-foot zone along streams, a 100-foot setback from the normal high-water line, and a statewide minimum shoreland lot size of 40,000 square feet.

Within the shoreland zone, no more than 40 percent of a lot may be cleared of vegetation and a well-distributed buffer must be maintained near the water, so clearing restrictions can limit building or expansion.

The Natural Resources Protection Act requires a permit for activity in or adjacent to protected natural resources such as wetlands, water bodies, sand dunes, and significant vernal pools.

The Site Location and Development Act applies to projects exceeding 20 acres of development area, 30,000 square feet of impervious surface, or 100,000 square feet of gross floor area.

Maine's current-use tax programs - Tree Growth, Farmland, and Open Space - tax land at its use value rather than market value and impose a recapture penalty when the land is withdrawn.

Floodplain considerations: federal flood insurance is required for federally related loans on structures in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and Maine shoreland rules further restrict construction near water.

Trust funds must be deposited promptly into a clearly designated trust account and disbursed only as authorized; commingling with personal or business funds and conversion of trust money are prohibited.

REALTORS® also follow the Code of Ethics: Article 1 (fiduciary duty), Article 2 (avoid misrepresentation and disclose material facts), Article 10 (equal housing), and Article 16 (respect exclusive agency).

Antitrust: competitors may never discuss, agree on, or fix commission rates or splits; each brokerage negotiates its fee independently with its client.

A licensee buying, selling, or leasing property for their own account (or for a relative or firm) must disclose that interest in writing to all parties.

Risk management practices include written agreements, dated documentation of every disclosure, confirmation of agency status, and errors and omissions insurance.

Licensees must stay inside the license scope: advise clients to consult attorneys for legal questions, tax professionals for tax matters, and licensed appraisers for appraisals.

Multiple-offer handling: follow the seller's written instructions, present all offers promptly and objectively, and never reveal one buyer's price or terms to another buyer.

Retain transaction records, agency agreements, and disclosure documents as required by Commission rule, and respond fully and truthfully to Commission inquiries.