More than 300,000 people in Maine are renters who live in one of Maine’s 155,000 units. And almost half of those people are paying much more rent than they can afford. 

In the past decade, many have seen rent increases in the double digits, well above inflation and raises in pay. On top of that, tenants can be evicted for no reason, have their rent gouged regularly, and have very little recourse when a landlord violates the rules.

And yet, most housing affordability solutions in Maine have focused on property tax relief, or some form of homeowner assistance. In reality, on average, property taxes amount to less than 4% of a homeowner’s income, compared to almost 50% of a renter’s income. 

To that problem, I offer the “Tenant Bill of Rights.” This is an action plan pulled from all the best ideas I have seen or based on personal experience as a renter in Maine. While it should be enacted statewide, municipalities can take up many of its tenets as well.

  1. Prohibit no-cause evictions. No tenant should be kicked out of their home for no reason, yet the practice is legal and frequent in Maine. Half a dozen states have laws requiring landlords to show “just cause” to terminate/not renew someone’s lease (even New Hampshire, for heaven’s sake). Maine should do the same.
  2. Cap all rent increases to the rate of inflation. Right now, as every renter knows, landlords can and do raise the rent hundreds of dollars a month. A freeze tied to inflation, preferably permanent, but for five years would work, will protect hundreds of thousands of Mainers from rent gouging, as we look to longer term solutions.
  3. Create a statewide rental registry including rent levels. In order to fully understand the rental housing crisis, and to track the rent gouging which has made thousands homeless, we need a statewide registry of the rent charged for every unit and all increases imposed. This is also essential to administer number two (rent increase cap).
  4. Require landlords to negotiate with organized tenant unions. Unions for workers have basic protections. If a majority of employees vote to form a union, ownership must negotiate with them as a unit. While landlords can’t evict tenants for forming a union, landlords are not required to negotiate with them. They should be.
  5. Require 90-day notice for all rent increases. When a landlord raises the rent, it is only humane to ensure that they give a tenant a full 90 days to prepare. That creates an opportunity for the tenant to seek a new place, ask for a raise at work, or, most likely, squeeze some other part of their budget to stay housed.
  6. Limit security deposits to one month’s rent. One of the biggest detriments to tenants getting an apartment is that under current law, a landlord can ask for two months’ deposit plus the first month’s rent. For a unit renting at $1,500-$2,500 a month, that can be entirely prohibitive. Limiting up-front costs to a one month deposit and the first month’s rent will free up many tenants. And while we’re at it, landlords should be required to pay the tenant back the interest they earn holding that deposit for years.
  7. Ban broker/application fees to apply for an apartment. Currently, a landlord can require a tenant to go through a broker to rent an apartment, who, in turn, can charge a tenant thousands to secure the unit. Also, a landlord can pass on the costs of doing a background check. Both should be banned.
  8. Allow tenants to recover legal fees/damages for illegal evictions. Current law does not allow for tenants to recover legal fees or damages, even if your landlord does something illegal to you. When mine tried to evict me for organizing a union, we had to raise tens of thousands of dollars, including thousands of dollars of my own money, to fight back. Very few tenants have access to those kinds of resources.
  9. Require significant civil penalties against landlords for violations. Right now, landlords in Maine face almost no consequences for breaking the law. The repercussions for health hazards, illegal fees, confiscating deposits, violating lease terms, etc, are basically fix it/pay it back. If the penalty for getting caught stealing was just to return the money, we’d all be bank robbers.
  10. Create a cabinet level office to protect tenants. New York City has the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. The office advocates for tenants by enforcing rent laws, reversing housing discrimination, stopping landlord harassment, and preventing illegal evictions right in their tracks. Maine needs the same.

While implementing the above will not end our housing crisis overnight, it will quickly begin to alleviate the economic straightjacket currently burdening renters across Maine. I hope elected officials, candidates, and activists alike take up the torch. 

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