What to Do When a Maine Customer Does Not Pay

Before anything else: your contract decides how this ends

Maine collection disputes are usually won or lost months before the customer stops paying. Because Maine regulates the contract rather than the contractor, a contractor with a compliant written agreement walks into a payment fight with a documented scope, a documented price, a documented schedule and a documented change history. A contractor working off a verbal understanding and a text message thread does not.

The requirement is concrete. Any home construction or repair work over $3,000 needs a written signed contract, and 10 M.R.S. section 1487 requires it to state the total contract price including all costs, or a cost-plus formula with estimated labour and materials; the method of payment "with the initial down payment being limited to no more than 1/3 of the total contract price"; estimated commencement and substantial completion dates; and a general description of the work and materials to be used. Every one of those is an element you would otherwise have to prove.

Change orders matter more than the original contract in most disputes, because most disputes are about scope creep. Section 1488 requires each change order to be in writing, to detail all changes resulting in a revision of the contract price, to state "The previous contract price" and "the revised price", and to be signed by both parties. If you extended the job on a handshake, you are arguing about an unwritten agreement that the statute says should have been written.

There is a real risk in the other direction as well. Section 1490 provides that "Any violation of this chapter shall constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices Act, Title 5, chapter 10", and that each violation "constitutes a civil violation for which a forfeiture of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 may be adjudged". A customer who does not want to pay and finds you took a 50 percent deposit or skipped the written contract now has a counter-argument. Compliance is not just consumer protection; it is your own collection strategy.

Official sources: Maine Attorney General: Home Construction and Repair; Maine Attorney General: Home Construction Contracts; 10 M.R.S. section 1487 (home construction contracts); 10 M.R.S. section 1488 (change orders); 10 M.R.S. section 1490 (penalties)

Maine's mechanic's lien: who has one and on what

10 M.R.S. section 3251 establishes the lien and its coverage is broad. It reaches "A person who performs labor or furnishes labor or materials, including repair parts of machines used, or performs services as a surveyor, an architect, a forester licensed under Title 32, chapter 76 or an engineer, or as a real estate licensee, or as an owner-renter, owner-lessor, or owner-supplier of equipment". The work covered includes erecting, altering, moving or repairing buildings and appurtenances, including public buildings, constructing or repairing wharves or piers, and preparatory work described as "surveying, clearing, grading, draining, excavating or landscaping of the ground".

The lien attaches to "the building or appurtenances, and on the land on which it stands and on any interest the owner has in the same". Where the owner has no legal interest in the underlying land, the lien attaches to the structure alone. The statute also reaches work done under "a contract with or by consent of the owner", which is the doorway through which a subcontractor's lien passes.

Notice what this does and does not require. Section 3251 sets no licence precondition, and there is currently none in Maine law. LD 1226 would have added one, providing that a person required to be licensed under the proposed chapter who did not obtain a licence "does not have a lien claim under Title 10, chapter 603 for any residential construction performed, or materials supplied to a residential construction project, during the period in which the person was not licensed". That bill died on adjournment on April 29, 2026 and never took effect, so no such bar exists today. If a licensing law returns in a future session, expect that provision to return with it, because it is the enforcement mechanism such bills rely on.

Official sources: 10 M.R.S. section 3251 (mechanics' lien established); Maine Legislature: LD 1226 Text and Status, 132nd Legislature; Maine Legislature: LD 1226 bill text as introduced

The two clocks: 90 days to file, 120 days to sue

Maine runs two separate deadlines and confusing them is the most common way a valid claim dies. The first applies only if you did not contract directly with the owner, which is the position of most subcontractors and suppliers. Section 3253 provides that the lien is dissolved unless the claimant, "within 90 days after ceasing to labor, furnish materials or perform services", files in the registry of deeds for the county where the property is located "a true statement of the amount due the claimant, with all just credits given, together with a description of the property", and provides a copy of that statement to the owner or owners by ordinary mail. The statute adds that "a post office certificate of mailing the notice to the owner is conclusive proof of receipt", which is a cheap and decisive piece of evidence to obtain. Section 3253 expressly does not apply "when the labor, materials or services are furnished by a contract with the owner of the property affected".

The second clock applies to everyone. Section 3255 provides that the lien "may be preserved and enforced by action against the debtor and owner of the property affected" within 120 days after the last of the labour or services are performed or the labour, materials or services are furnished, by filing the complaint with the Superior Court or District Court clerk in the county or division where the property is situated. That is a lawsuit, not a recorded notice. Filing a lien statement at the registry does not preserve the lien on its own; the action does.

Two procedural details in section 3255 change how you sequence things. Where the work was not performed under a contract with the property owner, the claimant may not serve the owner until 30 days after the complaint is filed, which builds a pause into the process. And the notice to the owner must describe the property, identify the owners, state that labour, materials or services are being or have been performed or furnished, and warn that failure to pay the worker may result in the owner paying twice. A notice filed with the register of deeds under that section is effective for 120 days and may be re-recorded.

Both clocks run from your last day of work, not from the date of the unpaid invoice, not from the date of the demand letter, and not from the date the customer stopped answering. That is the practical trap: a contractor who spends three months negotiating politely before consulting a lawyer may have burned most of the 120 days. Diarise the deadline on the day you leave the site, and treat it as a hard date.

Official sources: 10 M.R.S. section 3253 (lien not by contract with owner); 10 M.R.S. section 3255 (preserving and enforcing a lien)

The steps that come before a lien, and what they buy you

A lien is a serious remedy with a short fuse, so most Maine payment disputes should start with a paper trail that is already complete. Send a written statement of the amount due giving all just credits, since that is the form section 3253 requires for a registry filing anyway, and preparing it early forces you to reconcile the account. Attach the signed contract and every signed change order, since section 1488 required both parties to sign each one and states that each must show "The previous contract price" and "the revised price".

If the dispute is really about scope rather than money, go back to what section 1487 required you to put in writing: the general description of the work and materials, the estimated substantial completion date, and the warranty covering faulty materials, code compliance, skilful construction and habitability. In a well-documented Maine job most scope arguments resolve at that document rather than in court.

Be realistic about the opt-out too. Section 1489 permits parties to exempt themselves from chapter 219-A, but only where "the contractor specifically informs the homeowner or lessee of the homeowner's or lessee's rights under this chapter and the parties then mutually agree to a contract or change order that does not contain the parts set forth in sections 1487 and 1488". If you used that route, be ready to prove the disclosure happened, because without it the exemption fails and you are back inside the chapter holding an agreement that does not meet it.

One thing we will not tell you is how strong your particular claim is. This article states Maine's published deadlines and procedure; it does not tell you whether to file, and lien practice is technical enough that the 120-day window is not the place to learn it. If you are approaching either deadline with money outstanding, talk to a Maine lawyer while there is still runway.

Official sources: 10 M.R.S. section 3253 (lien not by contract with owner); 10 M.R.S. section 1487 (home construction contracts); 10 M.R.S. section 1488 (change orders); 10 M.R.S. section 1489 (exemption from chapter)

Building the next contract so this does not repeat

The best collections work happens at the quoting stage. Maine caps the initial down payment at one third under section 1487(5), and counts as a down payment "all payments to a home construction contractor prior to or contemporaneous with the execution of the home construction contract" under section 1486, so you cannot solve cash-flow risk with a bigger deposit. What you can do is structure progress draws tied to defined milestones inside the written contract, so that non-payment stops the job at a defined point rather than after you have carried three weeks of unbilled work.

Use the dispute-resolution slot deliberately. Section 1487 requires the contract to offer binding arbitration, nonbinding arbitration or mediation. That is a choice you make once, in your template, and it determines where a future argument is heard. Making it thoughtfully with your own lawyer is worth an hour that you will otherwise spend badly later.

And keep the date discipline. Record the last day of work on every job in the same place you record the invoice, because both Maine lien clocks run from it. On a job with a subcontractor position, note the 90-day registry deadline as well as the 120-day action deadline. A contractor who knows those two dates on the day the crew leaves site has already done more than most.

Official sources: 10 M.R.S. section 1486 (definitions); 10 M.R.S. section 1487 (home construction contracts); 10 M.R.S. section 3253 (lien not by contract with owner); 10 M.R.S. section 3255 (preserving and enforcing a lien)