Maine
Maine Condo Resale Certificate: Fees, Deadlines, and How to Order
A resale certificate is the document a title company asks for before a Maine closing. Maine associations must deliver it within 10 days. Maine puts no dollar cap on the fee.
Free for the resale platform. No contract to sign.
Maine Resale Certificate
Example Harbor Condominium Association
Regular assessment
$225.00 monthly
Buyer's review period
5 days by statute
Master insurance
Certificate on file
Due to the requester
Within 10 days
Maine at a glance
- What Maine calls it
- Resale Certificate
- Fee cap
- No fixed dollar cap
- Delivery deadline
- 10 days
- Buyer's right to cancel
- 5 days after receiving it
Also called: HOA resale certificate, condo resale certificate. If you were told to get a Maine resale certificate, or an ME resale certificate as closing agents write it, for a home in an HOA or a condominium, this is that document. It has nothing to do with the sales tax resale certificate a retailer files with the state.
What Maine law sets
One set of rules covers Maine. Havn applies it to every order in the state.
33 M.R.S. 1604-108
Condominium Act. Applies to condominiums.
- Required by statute
- Yes
- Fee
- No fixed dollar cap
- Deadline
- 10 days from the request
- Buyer may cancel within
- 5 days
Maine condo laws on resale documents, in plain words
Each entry links to the official text. Read the statute itself before relying on a summary.
33 M.R.S. 1601 (Condominium Act)
The Maine Condominium Act (Title 33, Chapter 31) governs condominiums created in the state on or after its effective date in 1983, and pre-existing condominiums whose owners amend their governing documents to come under it; older condominiums that do not opt in remain under Maine's prior Unit Ownership Act. It covers formation of the condominium through the declaration, bylaws and plats, association organization, governance and powers, common expense assessments and liens, association records, and the disclosures an owner and the association must give on resale of a unit. Applies to condominium unit owners' associations; Maine has no separate planned community or common interest ownership act, so non-condominium homeowners associations and housing cooperatives are governed instead by their recorded declarations and the state's nonprofit corporation law.
33 M.R.S. 1604-108 (Resales of Units)
Unless a public offering statement is required or the sale is exempt under 1604-101(b), a unit owner furnishes the purchaser, before any contract for sale or otherwise before conveyance, the declaration (without plats and plans), the bylaws, the rules, and a reasonably current certificate with twelve items: restraints on alienation; the monthly common expense assessment and any unpaid common or special assessment due from the seller; other fees; capital expenditures anticipated by the association; reserves and their designated portions; the most recent balance sheet and income and expense statement; the current operating budget; unsatisfied judgments and pending suits in which the association is a defendant; insurance for the benefit of unit owners; whether the executive board knows of alterations violating the declaration; whether it knows of health or building code violations; and any leasehold term. The association furnishes the certificate within 10 days after the unit owner's request and payment of any reasonable fee the association has established. The purchaser is not liable beyond the amounts set forth; the seller is not liable for the association's errors or delay, but the contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate is provided and for 5 days after, or until conveyance. Exempt: gratuitous, court-ordered, governmental, foreclosure, dealer, and freely cancellable dispositions. Applies to condominiums created before the 1983 Act as well, for later events (1601-102(a)). Maine has no planned-community or cooperative act.
33 M.R.S. 1603-116 (Lien for Assessments)
Gives the association a lien on a unit for unpaid assessments with the Uniform Act's priority and enforcement rules. On a unit owner's written request the association must furnish a recordable statement of the unpaid assessments currently levied against the unit within 10 business days after receipt of the request, binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner; no fee is stated. Applies to condominiums created before the 1983 Act as well, for later events (1601-102(a)).
The notice Havn prints on every Maine resale certificate
Every Maine document Havn prepares carries a notice that tells the reader where the document comes from and what Maine law says about it. This is the wording, act by act.
33 M.R.S. 1604-108Condominiums
This certificate is furnished by the association under 33 M.R.S. section 1604-108 within 10 days after the unit owner's request and the owner's payment of any reasonable fee the association has established. The unit owner furnishes it to the purchaser before execution of any contract for sale of the unit, or otherwise before conveyance, together with the declaration other than the plats and plans, the bylaws, and the rules or regulations of the association. The certificate must be reasonably current. A purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in this certificate. A unit owner is not liable to the purchaser for erroneous information provided by the association and included in this certificate, nor for the failure or delay of the association to provide it in a timely manner, but the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for 5 days thereafter, or until conveyance, whichever first occurs. Under 33 M.R.S. section 1604-108, subsection (a), no resale certificate is required where delivery of a public offering statement is required, and under 33 M.R.S. section 1604-101, subsection (b), neither a public offering statement nor a resale certificate need be prepared or delivered for a gratuitous disposition, a disposition pursuant to court order, a disposition by a government or governmental agency, a disposition by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, a disposition to a person in the business of selling real estate who intends to offer those units to purchasers, or a disposition which may be cancelled at any time and for any reason by the purchaser without penalty. The information in this certificate is stated as of its issue date, and the certificate must be reasonably current when furnished to the purchaser, but the purchaser's protection under 33 M.R.S. section 1604-108, subsection (c), against liability for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in this certificate is not limited to that date.
Maine's payoff statement
On a unit owner's written request, the association must furnish a recordable statement setting forth the amount of unpaid assessments currently levied against the unit, within 10 business days after receipt of the request; the statement is binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner (33 M.R.S. 1603-116(h)). The association may impose a reasonable charge for preparing it (33 M.R.S. 1603-102(a)(12)), but the duty is not conditioned on payment, so the 10 business days run from the written request.
About Demand LettersMaine resale certificate: common questions
What is a Maine resale certificate?
It is what Maine law has the association provide when a home in condominiums is sold: a statement of what the home owes and of the association's finances, insurance, and rules, under 33 M.R.S. 1604-108.
How much does a Maine resale certificate cost?
Maine sets no dollar cap, so the association or its management company sets the fee.
How long does a Maine association have to provide a resale certificate?
10 days, counted from the request.
Is a resale certificate required in Maine?
Yes, for condominiums, under 33 M.R.S. 1604-108.
Can a buyer cancel after receiving a Maine resale certificate?
Yes. The buyer has 5 days after receiving it to cancel the purchase contract.
Who pays for the resale certificate in Maine?
Whoever orders it pays the association's fee, usually the seller or the closing agent on the seller's behalf, and the purchase contract can move the cost to the buyer.
What is included in a Maine resale certificate?
What the home owes the association, the fees due at closing, the budget and reserves, the insurance the association carries, pending lawsuits, and the governing documents. The full list is in 33 M.R.S. 1604-108.
How do I get a resale certificate in Maine?
Ask the association, or its management company if it has one. Many take the request through an online order page and deliver by email. Once asked, a Maine association has 10 days. A buyer should ask the seller or the closing agent to order it.
Is this the same as a Maine sales tax resale certificate?
No. A sales tax resale certificate is a form a retailer gives a supplier so it can buy goods without paying sales tax. It shares a name and nothing else. This page is about the condo document used when a home is sold.
How Maine compares with its neighbors
Management companies that work across state lines meet a different rule on each side. Maine: no fixed dollar cap, 10 days.
New Hampshire
Resale Package
No fixed dollar cap
10 days
Required by statute
Massachusetts
6D Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
No statutory deadline
Not required by statute
Vermont
Resale Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
10 days
Required by statute
See all 51 jurisdictions on the map, compare every state in the fee and deadline table, or read about lender questionnaires, estoppel letters, and demand letters.
Your next Maine resale certificate could write itself.
The resale platform is free for the association. The requester pays for the document. No contract to sign.