What happens if a tenant breaks a lease in Maine?
In Maine, a landlord who claims rent or damages from a tenant who moved out early must make reasonable efforts to re-rent, and the amount recovered is reduced by the net rent those efforts could have obtained. Reasonable efforts are the steps the landlord would have taken to rent the unit if it had been vacated in due course, in line with local rental practice for similar properties. The landlord must allege and prove efforts to comply, and the tenant has the burden of proving those efforts were not reasonable. Separately, federal law lets a servicemember end a lease early after receiving qualifying military orders. This is 14 M.R.S. § 6010-A.
| What | Maine |
|---|---|
| Landlord’s duty to re-rent | Required by statute |
| What it means | The landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent |
Source
Read the statute in the Maine Revised Statutes (Maine Legislature): legislature.maine.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 13, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.
Guides on this rule
- Breaking a Lease by State: What the Tenant Owes — What a tenant owes after leaving a lease early, and the 34 states whose statutes say whether the landlord must try to re-rent the home.
Compare this rule in every state
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- What are squatters’ rights in Maine?
- Can a landlord refuse a Section 8 voucher in Maine?
- Can a landlord retaliate against a tenant for complaining in Maine?
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- Every Maine rule on one page
The same question in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas