AMM Land Sales (815) 384-6153

Maine · ME

Sell your land in Maine.

About half of Maine has no town government. The Land Use Planning Commission, created by Title 12 §683-A, zones roughly 10.4 million acres of unorganized townships and plantations, so on much of the state's land there is no local planning board to call — the permit comes from a state commission instead.

Selling vacant land in Maine may put you in the Unorganized Territory, which covers roughly half the state and has no municipal government at all — the Land Use Planning Commission regulates instead. Tree Growth classification carries a withdrawal penalty, and towns rather than counties collect the tax.

Tax sale type
Tax lien
Redemption window
18 months
Rate on redemption
Varies by municipality
Closings handled by
Partial attorney
Maine tax sale and closing at a glance
MaineWhat applies
Tax sale typeTax lien
Redemption window18 months
Rate on redemptionVaries by municipality
Closing conducted byPartial attorney

Redemption runs at different stages in different states — before a sale in some, after it in others, and not at all in a few. The sections below set out how it works in Maine, and where they and this table describe different clocks, the sections are the precise account.

Last reviewed

Figures describe Maine generally. Counties administer their own sales and their own calendars — your county treasurer is the only source for a payoff figure or a sale date you can act on.

Local detail

What actually matters about land in Maine

What is Maine's Unorganized Territory?

Maine's Unorganized Territory has no municipal government — no selectmen, no code enforcement officer, no local planning board. Title 12 §683-A creates the Land Use Planning Commission as the planning and zoning authority for those townships and plantations, roughly 10.4 million acres spread across thirteen of the sixteen counties, with Aroostook, Piscataquis, Somerset, Penobscot, Washington, Franklin, Oxford and Hancock holding most of it. The Commission adopts land use districts and standards, issues development permits, and reviews subdivisions. Property tax in the Unorganized Territory is assessed and collected by the Maine Revenue Services Property Tax Division rather than a town office. If your deed describes a township by number and letter, this is your regulator.

What does it cost to leave Maine Tree Growth?

The Maine Tree Growth Tax Law, 36 M.R.S. §§571 through 584-A, values forest land by its productivity rather than market value, and it charges to leave. Under §581 the penalty for withdrawal is the greater of two figures: the taxes that would have been assessed for the five preceding tax years had the land been valued at just value on the withdrawal date, less taxes actually paid and plus interest; or a percentage of the amount by which just value exceeds the classified valuation — 30 percent if the land was classified ten years or less, dropping one point for each full year beyond ten, with a floor of 20 percent.

How far does Maine shoreland zoning reach?

The Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act, 38 M.R.S. §§435 through 449, requires municipalities to regulate land within 250 feet of the normal high-water line of any great pond or river, within 250 feet of the upland edge of a coastal wetland, within 250 feet of the upland edge of a freshwater wetland, and within 75 feet of the normal high-water line of certain streams. Towns adopt and enforce their own ordinances, and the Department of Environmental Protection's Shoreland Zoning Unit supplies the minimum guidelines and training. In the Unorganized Territory, shoreland protection comes through the Land Use Planning Commission's own districts and standards rather than a town ordinance. Waterfront acreage is often mostly setback.

Who collects property tax in Maine?

In Maine's organized towns, property tax is assessed and collected by the municipality. Counties run the registries of deeds where your title lives, but they do not send the tax bill, and there is no county treasurer to call about arrears — the town office is the record. When taxes go unpaid, 36 M.R.S. §942 lets the collector record a tax lien certificate in the county registry, and that filing creates a tax lien mortgage in favor of the municipality with priority over other mortgages, liens and encumbrances. Section 943 governs redemption and discharge and requires the treasurer to notify the party named and each record mortgage holder before the foreclosing date. No court is involved.

Questions

Selling land in Maine

Do I have to give a disclosure statement for vacant Maine land?

No. Title 33 §173 requires a property disclosure statement from the seller of residential real property, and §171 defines that term as real estate consisting of one to four residential dwelling units. Bare ground has no dwelling unit, so the statute does not reach it and there is no form to deliver. You still cannot misrepresent what you know about the parcel. And a buyer will ask about septic feasibility, water, deeded access and flooding whether or not a statute requires the answers in writing.

My land is in Tree Growth. What happens when I sell?

A sale does not by itself trigger the withdrawal penalty. Under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law, 36 M.R.S. §§571 through 584-A, classification can continue if the new owner files the required forms with the assessor within the statutory window and keeps a current forest management and harvest plan in place. Withdrawal is what costs. Section 581 sets the penalty as the greater of a five-year tax recapture with interest or a percentage of the gain over classified value, starting at 30 percent and falling no lower than 20.

My parcel is in the Unorganized Territory. Who do I call?

The Land Use Planning Commission, and Maine Revenue Services for the tax. There is no town office, no selectmen and no code enforcement officer in the Unorganized Territory. Title 12 §683-A makes the Commission the planning and zoning authority for those townships and plantations, so land use districts, development permits and subdivision review all run through it. The Property Tax Division of Maine Revenue Services assesses and collects property tax there. Your deed still records at the county registry of deeds where the township sits.

Maine primary sources

Sources for the figures above

These are secondary references, accurate enough to orient you and not a substitute for the statute or your county. Tax procedure changes; nothing here is legal advice.

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Maine law, tax procedure and county practice vary and they change. Nothing here is legal or tax advice about your parcel. Before you act on a deadline, confirm it with the county or with an attorney in that state. See our editorial standards for how this is researched and how to tell us if something is wrong.

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