Maine Judgments & Liens Search

Maine Judgment and Lien Records: Executions, Registry Filings and Current Court Access

Start with the judgment, then trace the execution and recorded instrument

A Maine money judgment and its registry lien have separate records and dates. Rule 58 makes a judge-signed judgment effective and enforceable when signed, while an unsigned judgment becomes effective upon docket entry. The date of docket entry controls the periods prescribed by the civil rules, other rules and statutes. Obtain the judgment and docket history together when checking an award, appeal or enforcement step. The rules index maintained by the Judicial Branch is the official parent of the individual rule documents; the extracted historical committee notes beneath a rule should not be substituted for its current operative text. Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 58, linked by the civil-rules index. Judicial Branch civil-rules index.

Rule 69 generally uses a writ of execution to enforce a money judgment unless the court directs otherwise. Its discovery provision points to the disclosure proceedings in 14 M.R.S. sections 3120 through 3136 and permits other discovery only on a court order for good cause. This matters when reviewing a creditor's file: the award, issued writ, disclosure order and recorded lien are different documents. A docket entry saying that judgment was entered does not establish that an execution was issued, served or recorded against a particular parcel. Rule 69, process to enforce a money judgment.

The ordinary civil-rule stay is twenty-one days after entry of judgment, or the longer period for taking an appeal specified by the rule. Injunction, receivership, support and protective-order exceptions need their own reading. Rule 62 also treats a default against a defendant who did not appear and lacked actual notice separately. An appeal generally stays execution without a bond under the stated exceptions. Older advisory language in the same PDF discusses a former thirty-day period; that historical explanation is not the current twenty-one-day rule printed at the beginning. Current Rule 62, stay and attachment provisions.

An attachment ordinarily continues through the time for appeal and while an appeal is pending. After a final judgment for the plaintiff, the rule describes another sixty days; after a final judgment for the defendant, it dissolves immediately. The court can address immediate execution on a motion and good cause, subject to the rule's protection when the opposing party represents an intention to seek the specified relief. A registry attachment recorded before trial must therefore be read with the final judgment and any stay rather than classified only by its recording age. Rule 62 attachment continuation and immediate-execution limits.

Section 4651-A permits a judgment creditor to record an execution or an attested copy in a registry of deeds within three years after the execution was issued. That filing creates a lien on the debtor's nonexempt real-property interest in the county. The three years are a filing window measured from issuance of the execution. They are not the lifespan of every Maine judgment lien, nor a rule that filing the judgment alone automatically encumbers land. Preserve the issued execution date, county, book and page, debtor's interest and amount when examining the recorded instrument. 14 M.R.S. section 4651-A, execution lien on real property.

The execution lien is void unless the creditor sends the required notice by certified or registered mail on or before the twentieth day after filing. The notice identifies the recording event, amount, creditor or attorney and the statutory contact information. If the property was previously attached, the lien relates back to the attachment only to the extent the statute permits; the remaining amount takes the later filing date. The mailed notice and earlier attachment can therefore affect conclusions that cannot be drawn from the registry index alone. Notice and priority requirements in section 4651-A.

For an execution lien established on or after September 1, 2020, subsection 9-A provides a ten-year term and one renewal for another ten years. Timely renewal carries the statutory relation-back treatment and notice requirement. The preceding provision gives a twenty-year term and one twenty-year renewal for the specified liens established after September 21, 2001 and before September 1, 2020. Older transitional language also remains in the section. A modern ten-year lien should not be assigned the prior twenty-year term merely because both appear in the current compilation. Section 4651-A subsections 9 and 9-A, dated duration rules.

The separate rule in section 864 presumes a judgment or decree paid after twenty years from the time the duty or obligation accrued, with its child-support exception. That presumption is not a replacement for the dated recording-lien periods in section 4651-A. When a search shows a recent recording associated with an older case, record both dates and identify any renewal instrument. A new index date by itself does not prove a new judgment, and an old judgment date does not by itself identify which recorded-lien rule applies. 14 M.R.S. section 864, presumption of payment.

A judgment from another qualifying court may be filed in Maine under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. Section 8003 calls for an authenticated copy filed with the District or Superior Court clerk and gives the filed judgment the effect, defenses and procedures described in that statute. Under section 8004, the creditor supplies an affidavit with the parties' addresses. The clerk mails notice and records the mailing, or the creditor can supply proof of mailing under the alternative procedure. Execution or other enforcement generally waits thirty days after filing, subject to the protection-order exception. County land recording remains a further step. 14 M.R.S. section 8003, foreign judgment filing. Section 8004 notice and thirty-day enforcement interval.

Disclosure, payment orders and the amount still collectible

The Judicial Branch's collection guide separates small claims from other civil judgments. For small claims it instructs the creditor to wait thirty days after judgment and obtain the Notice of Small Claims Disclosure Hearing and a date from the clerk. Other civil disclosure uses a Disclosure Subpoena, Civil Summary Sheet and writ of execution. Secure the clerk's hearing date before arranging service. The guide describes service at least seven days before a small-claims disclosure hearing and at least ten days before the civil disclosure hearing. The return of service must reach the court; arranging service is not proof that it occurred. Judicial Branch guide to collecting a money judgment, revision 2025. Official legal-guide index linking the collection PDF.

At disclosure, the debtor can be examined under oath about income and assets unless the parties reach the agreement contemplated by the statute. The court hears evidence concerning the debtor's ability to satisfy the judgment. A finding that the debtor has no nonexempt assets or earnings can end that proceeding, while the creditor's failure to appear can result in dismissal. The hearing record thus explains what a later installment or turnover order actually authorizes. A recorded lien does not supply the testimony or findings needed to reconstruct that decision. 14 M.R.S. section 3125, disclosure hearing.

An installment order cannot be based solely on income from exempt sources. Section 3126-A limits ordinary installments to the least of three calculations: twenty-five percent of disposable earnings plus exempt income; the amount by which that combined income exceeds forty times the higher applicable federal or state minimum hourly wage; or the debtor's total disposable earnings. The court also considers the debtor's and dependents' needs, other orders, priorities and debt circumstances. Support, tax and Chapter 13 exceptions require separate treatment. These are formulas, so a dollar amount should not be calculated with an assumed wage or an incomplete income record. 14 M.R.S. section 3126-A, installment formula and protected income.

Two missed installment payments or a failure to attend as subpoenaed can lead to the withholding-and-answer process described in section 3127-B. The order must be served on the employer and debtor within sixty days, and the employer's answer is due within twenty days of service. Withholding is limited to the lesser of the installment amount and the applicable maximum. The debtor or creditor can request the prescribed hearing within twenty days after the answer. The employer may deduct $1 per withholding payment from the withheld amount; the statute also protects the employee from discharge for this process. 14 M.R.S. section 3127-B, employer withholding and responses.

A turnover order concerns nonexempt property and requires the court's valuation process. Interested parties receive the prescribed notice before the order. For real estate, section 3131 provides a ninety-day redemption period followed by a thirty-day sale period; personal property has a thirty-day sale period, with extensions available on motion as specified. The sale affidavit is due within thirty days after the sale. A timely challenge to that affidavit concerns the monetary accounting under the section, rather than undoing ownership through that procedure. Obtain the actual turnover, redemption and sale documents when the registry shows an enforcement transfer. 14 M.R.S. section 3131, turnover and sale safeguards.

Postjudgment interest generally uses the statutory Treasury benchmark plus six percentage points, with the higher contractual rate controlling when the statute so provides. Interest accrues from judgment and during an appeal. A prevailing party's requested continuance exceeding thirty days can suspend accrual for the specified interval, and the court may waive interest for good cause on petition. Those qualifications make the face amount and age of the judgment insufficient for a payoff. Review payments, continuances, contractual terms and any waiver order as well as the published annual rate. 14 M.R.S. section 1602-C, postjudgment interest.

The official OTH-156 table gives 9.51 percent for 2026. The current attorneys' index links that form through courtforms.courts.maine.gov, but the linked host returned an error during this review. The same identified form returned a readable table through the Judicial Branch's mjbportal.courts.maine.gov route. That distinction is retained with the source evidence. The 2026 figure is not applied here to every older judgment or used to override the statutory contractual-rate and suspension provisions. Record the applicable year and the legal basis for the rate used in an actual calculation. Judicial Branch form OTH-156, postjudgment rate table. Attorneys index and its current OTH-156 link.

Read the adjusted exemption order and the 2026 medical-debt act

Maine's exemption statute distinguishes the debtor's equity in a residence from its entire sale price. The residence categories include different treatment for a minor dependent, a debtor who is at least sixty or has the qualifying disability, joint ownership, and specified survivorship circumstances. Qualifying sale proceeds retain protection for twelve months when used for reinvestment as the section requires. The amount applicable to a lien must also be read with subsection 1-E's recording-date provision. A single undated homestead number cannot describe all of these categories. 14 M.R.S. section 4422, property categories and conditions.

The Supreme Judicial Court adjusted the statutory dollar amounts in an order effective immediately on October 24, 2024. Its residence rows replace $80,000 with $94,300, $160,000 with $188,550, and $240,000 with $282,800. The order explains the Consumer Price Index period and rounding to the next $50, and resolves an ambiguity in the statute's adjustment language. Read the category in section 4422 first, then apply its corresponding adjusted row. The lower amount still printed in the statute is not proof that the judicial adjustment disappeared. Administrative Order JB-24-02, effective October 24, 2024. Administrative-order index linking JB-24-02.

Other adjusted amounts include $11,800 for a motor vehicle, $600 for the household-furnishing item category, $1,200 for jewelry, $4,750 for the specified wedding or engagement ring category, and $11,200 for tools of the trade. The retirement-fund row changes to $1,242,600, the designated legal-award row to $23,600, the other-property amount to $600, and the transferable unused-residence amount to $12,400. These figures retain the statute's conditions and limits; the table does not turn every listed category into an unrestricted cash allowance. Adjusted personal-property rows in JB-24-02.

The statute also protects specified food, fuel, health aids, qualifying commercial fishing boats and designated farming or logging equipment. Retirement protection has exceptions involving recent contributions and support obligations. The unused residence allowance can be applied only to the categories the statute identifies. A person asserting an exemption should identify the property, the statutory category, ownership, relevant value and any exception. For money in a bank account, the applicable motion and proof matter; the existence of an exemption is not a direction to a search service to remove a recorded document. Conditions and non-dollar categories in section 4422.

Public Law 2025, chapter 649 was approved April 6, 2026. The Legislature's session notice establishes July 29, 2026 as the general effective date for nonemergency laws of that session, and the act contains no separate delayed date. It adds protection for a principal residence from medical debt and prohibits the specified attachment or garnishment of earnings for medical debt. It also restricts collection of interest accumulating on or after the effective date in the stated principal-residence medical-lien or attachment disposition. The approval date and the effective date are different dates and should both remain visible in a record review. Public Law 2025, chapter 649, official bill-history-linked act. LD 2129 bill history and enacted-text link. Legislature notice of July 29, 2026 general effective date.

The medical-debt definition covers the specified health and dental goods or services. It excludes veterinary debt, general-purpose credit-card debt unless the stated health-only condition applies, home-equity or general credit lines, and secured debt. A balance incurred while paying a medical bill is therefore not automatically within every new protection. Read the original obligation and financing arrangement before applying the 2026 act. The returned older version of section 4655 did not contain the act's new interest language, so the enacted 2026 text controls the discussion of that change here. 32 M.R.S. section 11002 subsection 7-A, medical-debt definition. Chapter 649 amendments, including the interest restriction.

When an execution lien is filed against exempt property in the circumstances covered by subsection 8, the debtor can give the creditor written proof of the exemption. The statute provides fifteen days to discharge after receipt of the required proof and permits actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees for failure to do so. Preserve the written proof, delivery date and the lien's recording identifiers. A telephone discussion about payment or exemption does not document the statutory written demand or identify which recorded instrument must be discharged. Section 4651-A subsection 8, improperly filed execution lien.

Public court access changed again in November 2026

Maine's eCourts rollout must be checked by court and case history. The current access instructions identify Cumberland's September 28, 2026 implementation and distinguish the public online register of actions from documents available at courthouse Public Access Computers. A free public account does not make every filed attachment remotely viewable. Parties can obtain access to their own electronically available case materials under the court's rules. The instructions also identify locations without a public terminal, so an electronic filing court and an available public terminal are not interchangeable descriptions. Judicial Branch electronic court-record access instructions.

The October 16 order effective November 2, 2026 governs the current access transition alongside the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems. It preserves the treatment of older paper records and distinguishes party access, remotely available public information and public-terminal documents. A case entered into the new system does not mean that every earlier paper filing has been scanned. The order also addresses required approved forms and the handling of cases containing sealed material. Use the current order with the rules rather than relying on a general older statement that no criminal records are electronic. Administrative Order JB-20-03, effective November 2, 2026. Official administrative-order index.

The access list identifies no Public Access Computer at Androscoggin Superior Court in Auburn, Franklin Superior Court in Farmington, Somerset Superior Court in Skowhegan or the Caribou location of Aroostook Superior Court. Its December 7, 2026 notice concerning Lincoln Superior and Wiscasset District Court is prospective as of November 6. The court instructions say public paper printouts of available public electronic records are free at courts with eFiling. That service differs from the ordinary copy tariff for legacy files. Confirm the document's system and the available terminal before estimating a retrieval charge or making a trip. Current public-terminal locations and dated rollout notice.

The court expects all active cases to be in eCourts by February 2027, a future target rather than completed statewide coverage on November 6, 2026. Closed legacy cases are not automatically converted unless reopened. For those records, use the originating clerk or the Judicial Branch Service Center request process. The current office instructions list PO Box 266, Lewiston, ME 04240, and 207-753-2901. The still-linked request form prints ZIP 04243 for the same box. That conflict is retained, so confirm the mailing ZIP with the Service Center instead of silently treating the older form as a corrected address. Judicial Branch paper-record request instructions. Linked records-search form, revision 10/15.

The linked form requires a request delivered by mail, carrier or in person and rejects email and fax for that route. Its charge is $20 for each name at each selected court location, with aliases counted separately and a stated exception for a person's own case search. It asks for a self-addressed stamped envelope. The form's revision-10/15 targets are five working days for one to five names, thirty for six to ten, forty-five for eleven to fifteen and sixty for sixteen to twenty; larger requests and pre-2000 records require different handling. These are published service targets, not a newly verified statutory deadline or a guarantee. Mandatory records-search form and declared service targets.

A records-search response identifies docket status and matching cases; it does not necessarily supply the judgment, attachments and payment history. The form warns that civil records do not contain dates of birth sufficient to certify identity. Match parties, addresses shown in public documents, case numbers and the recorded property's ownership before attaching a common-name result to someone. Request the actual judgment separately when the award or enforceability is material. A no-match response from selected court boxes cannot establish that every Maine court, registry and federal docket was searched. Scope and identity limits of the court search product.

The March 9, 2026 court schedule lists ordinary copies at $2 for the first page and $1 for each additional page. Attestation adds $5 per document; exemplification adds its own $5 charge in addition to applicable attestation and copying. Mailing and handling is $5 under the schedule's conditions. A prepared or renewed writ of execution costs $25, an unattested writ copy costs $5 regardless of its page count, and an attested writ copy costs $10 regardless of page count. If each writ page is separately attested, each page after the first adds $5. That instruction should not be confused with the ordinary all-page writ-copy product. Court fee schedule JB-05-26, effective March 9, 2026. Administrative-order index linking the current fee schedule.

A general civil filing and registration of a foreign judgment each carry a $175 filing charge. The general money-judgment disclosure proceeding is $85 and reactivation $55; the specified debt-collector surcharge can change the disclosure total. Small-claims filing is $70, and small-claims disclosure is $30 per defendant. The schedule separately lists service charges, including $20 for small-claims disclosure service with its subpoena component. A recording fee at the registry and sheriff service are separate from court filing. Use the row for the actual proceeding rather than a civil filing price as the cost of obtaining a judgment copy. Current court filing and disclosure charges.

The schedule includes exceptions for the specified party copy of an order and necessary copies in a pending action where in forma pauperis status applies, while audio and transcript products have separate rules. A waived filing fee does not establish that an unrelated historical search, registry certification or commercial portal product is free. Likewise, the clerk's signature on a lis pendens or certificate is a separate $5 item. A request should identify whether the desired output is an ordinary copy, attested judgment, writ, certified docket history or exemplified record so the clerk can apply the correct tariff. Court fee exceptions and product distinctions.

The District Court directory covers civil, criminal and family matters and supplies the local clerk routes. Its Madawaska entry states that the court is permanently closed, with pending cases transferred to Caribou or Fort Kent according to location. Newport's court has moved to the Penobscot Judicial Center at 78 Exchange Street in Bangor. Those changes are reasons to follow the current directory even when a judgment bears an older courthouse name. The Superior Court directory separately identifies the county courts, including both Aroostook locations and distinct physical and mailing addresses in several counties. Current District Court directory and relocation notices. Current Superior Court directory.

Financial attachments, restricted documents and access review

Public case information does not make tax returns, bank statements, pay records, medical information or fee-waiver financial affidavits public. The electronic-record rules list protected financial and health materials and require redaction of specified identifiers. Their family-case provisions separately protect designated financial documents and qualified domestic relations orders. A public support order and a confidential financial attachment can exist in the same docket. An asset inquiry should identify the precise document and access classification before asking for it, rather than assuming that a divorce or bankruptcy label exposes every account. Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems, financial-record exclusions.

Rule 9 provides public-terminal and clerk-assisted access with presumptive time and volume limits, including fifteen-minute terminal use and clerk assistance for fifteen records a day. It addresses identifying the requested records and allows photographs subject to the inspection-only restriction. Rule 10 provides a motion supported by the required affidavit for limiting access, with the court weighing the stated privacy and public-access factors. The January 2026 rule text already contains the photography permission; the November administrative order should not be described as its first introduction. MRECS Rules 9 and 10, inspection and limitations.

Where the law permits access to nonpublic material by court order, Rule 11 supplies a motion procedure and notice requirements. A limited access order does not automatically turn the material into a public record for everyone. The rule includes a three-day stay of an order granting access and continuation of the stay when a timely appeal is taken as specified. For a denial or limitation affecting a court filing, use that court-record procedure and the applicable appellate rules. A municipal Freedom of Access Act request does not replace a motion directed to the court that controls its confidential file. MRECS Rule 11, request for access to nonpublic material.

For records governed by Maine's Freedom of Access Act, section 408-A requires acknowledgment within five working days and a reasonable estimate of the response time. A denial must be written within the statutory period and identify the legal basis. The general copy and staff-time rules include a ten-cent paper-copy ceiling, two initial free staff hours and a $25 hourly ceiling thereafter, subject to other law and the section's conditions. Registry-specific charges in Title 33 are not displaced by treating every land-record purchase as a ten-cent FOAA copy. The law does not require creation of a record that does not exist. 1 M.R.S. section 408-A, nonjudicial public-record requests.

A written FOAA refusal may be challenged within thirty calendar days in the Superior Court venue described by section 409. The agency must supply its position within the prescribed fourteen-day period after service, and the statute addresses costs and attorney fees for the stated bad-faith circumstances. Section 408-A also permits a court process for exceptionally burdensome requests; it is not a general license for an office to ignore a request. Keep the actual request, acknowledgment, estimate and written refusal so the reviewing court can identify what was sought and withheld. 1 M.R.S. section 409, refusal review. Section 408-A response and burden procedures.

Mechanic liens require separate recording, mailing and lawsuit checks

Maine's construction-lien statute reaches the described labor, materials and professional services associated with land and improvements, including the listed surveying, engineering, architectural, forestry and equipment categories. Contract or owner-consent conditions remain part of the statute. A recorded statement should be examined for the project, property owner, claimant, work supplied and basis of the claimed interest. A general unsecured bill is not transformed into a construction lien simply because a contractor records a document with a lien title. 10 M.R.S. section 3251, covered work and interests.

For the claimants subject to section 3253, the sworn lien statement must be recorded in the registry for the property's county within ninety days after the last labor, services or materials. It states the amount after credits, describes the property and identifies its owners. The section also requires mailing the statement to the owner by ordinary mail and gives the certificate of mailing its specified evidentiary effect. The owner-contract exception to this section must be read separately. A generic instruction to record within 120 days omits this ninety-day recording and mailing rule for affected claimants. 10 M.R.S. section 3253, ninety-day statement and mailing.

Section 3255 uses a different deadline: an enforcement suit in the Superior or District Court for the county where the property lies within 120 days after the last work or materials. For a claimant without a direct owner contract, service on the owner cannot occur until thirty days after filing the complaint. The statute also addresses the owner's payments, notice, commercial circumstances and the record needed against a bona fide purchaser. Recording a statement is therefore not completion of the enforcement suit, and filing suit is not a substitute for an applicable earlier recording requirement. 10 M.R.S. section 3255, enforcement lawsuit.

Build the project chronology from actual documents: the last qualifying work date, statement, owner mailing, complaint, service and any recorded litigation notice. Compare the lien amount with credits and the owner-payment provisions before treating the recorded figure as the eventual court award. If the project or ownership spans a transfer, examine the statutory purchaser protections and the litigation record. The registry's acceptance proves that a document entered the record; the complaint, defense and court orders determine questions that the recording office does not adjudicate. Construction-lien record review under section 3255.

Section 4013 generally requires removal of a satisfied lien within sixty days unless another law supplies a different period. It provides the stated costs and attorney-fee remedy against a noncomplying private lienholder, excludes the identified government lienholders from that remedy, and does not apply to UCC filings. A check clearing or a contractor's receipt should be connected to the actual recorded release. Keep the original instrument and later discharge together because historical images remain in the registry even after the secured obligation has been satisfied. 10 M.R.S. section 4013, removal after satisfaction.

Municipal taxes, state assessments and federal notices use different clocks

For the municipal procedure in section 942, the collector sends the statutory thirty-day demand after eight months and within one year from commitment. The statute provides the certified-mail route and the $3 notice charge plus postage. The certificate is then recorded during the prescribed ten-day period after that thirty-day interval, with the required copies to the treasurer and mortgagees. Its cost provisions include recording and discharge charges, the stated $13 component and later notice costs. The demand, mailing proof and recorded certificate are separate evidence of compliance. 36 M.R.S. section 942, municipal tax-lien certificate procedure.

Recording the municipal certificate creates the statutory tax-lien mortgage with its priority over the competing interests described in section 943. The ordinary redemption period is eighteen months from recording. The collector's notice ordinarily falls thirty to forty-five days before expiration; a late compliant notice can supply the additional thirty-day period described in the statute. The current text also addresses a certificate for a former owner's paid share under the specified agreement without discharging the entire parcel. Do not use a partial payment entry as proof that every owner's tax interest has been released. 36 M.R.S. section 943, redemption and notice.

After foreclosure, section 943-C regulates sale of the tax-acquired property when it is not transferred back to the former owner. It includes the ninety-day prelisting notice, broker marketing at the highest reasonable price, the described twelve-month marketing period and alternatives when the broker route fails. The former owner can be entitled to excess proceeds after the authorized charges, and an accounting is available under the statute. A tax-deed record alone does not show whether the required sale notice, accounting and surplus treatment occurred. 36 M.R.S. section 943-C, sale after tax foreclosure.

A Maine Revenue Services assessment lien is distinct from the municipal tax-lien mortgage. For the current statutory assessment category, the lien arises on assessment, while public notice is recorded with the county registry for real property and with the Secretary of State for the described personal property. The recorded notice has a ten-year period and may be renewed in further ten-year periods under the timely renewal provision. Priority qualifications, including the stated forty-five-day rule, must be considered with the competing interest. These state-tax rules do not inherit the ordinary execution lien's one-renewal limit. 36 M.R.S. section 175-A, state tax lien.

The state-tax section provides release when the liability is paid or unenforceable and addresses release or discharge in circumstances involving security, lack of value or no jeopardy to collection. Enforcement by the Attorney General in Superior Court is another distinct record route. When an assessment has been disputed or adjusted, obtain the department's release or discharge and locate its filing in the same public office as the notice. A reduced account balance is a lead for that search, not the recorded instrument that establishes release against the property. Section 175-A, release and enforcement grounds.

Maine files federal real-property lien notices and related certificates in the county or counties where the land is situated. Section 1903 assigns ordinary covered personal-property notices to the Secretary of State, with separate real-property-office treatment for the specified timber, mineral and related Article 9 categories. A federal assessment can therefore require both central and county searches. Section 1905 directs indexing of releases, nonattachment and withdrawals differently from the discharge or subordination certificates that affect particular collateral. 33 M.R.S. section 1903, Maine filing offices for federal liens. Section 1905, indexing of federal-lien certificates.

The IRS distinguishes a lien securing the debt from a levy that takes property. Its public guidance states that a lien is released within thirty days after full payment. A discharge removes the lien from particular property, subordination changes priority, and withdrawal concerns the public notice while liability may remain. For a payoff or release inquiry the Centralized Lien Operation lists 800-913-6050; complex discharge or subordination questions use the Collection Advisory route linked by the IRS. Search for the particular certificate matching the relief granted instead of interpreting every tax-related document as a complete release. IRS explanation of lien relief and collection contacts.

Central UCC searches, county fixtures and disputed filings

Article 9 divides the filing office by collateral and filing type. The county real-property office receives the specified as-extracted collateral, timber-to-be-cut and fixture filings. Other financing statements generally go to the Secretary of State, including a financing statement covering fixtures that is not a fixture filing. A transmitting utility has the separate central-filing treatment stated in the section. Search both the appropriate debtor record and the relevant land record when the transaction requires it; a county deed search cannot stand in for the central UCC index. 11 M.R.S. section 9-1501, filing jurisdiction.

The official online UCC application identifies its data as processed through November 2, 2026 at 5 p.m. EDST in the body read for this review. That is the displayed processing cutoff, not an assertion that every filing made by November 6 was indexed. The application warns about unsupported characters and describes its treatment of organization-name words since October 21, 2013. Keep the exact legal debtor name and the selected name variants with the search record. The Secretary of State's surrounding office HTML did not load, but the government-hosted application itself returned these service instructions. Maine official UCC application notice.

The online product screen prices an official debtor-name or file-number search at $12 and adds $5 for certification. Its free unofficial search helps identify names, including active filings and filings lapsed within the described preceding year, but does not provide the same filing information as the paid official search. A free name lead is therefore not a certified search result. No search was submitted and no account or purchase was created during this review; the prices and scope come from the returned product instructions. Maine UCC search-product screen.

The statute separately states $15 for a one- or two-page paper filing and $30 for a longer paper filing, with $10 for a communication made by another authorized medium. It gives different public-finance and manufactured-home transaction prices, including paper amounts of $60 and $40 and authorized nonpaper amounts of $30 and $20. A written information request is $20 and an electronic request $12. The county real-property office uses its own governing fee law. Do not add a central UCC page charge to Maine's 2026 flat county recording price. 11 M.R.S. section 9-1525, central UCC charges.

An ordinary financing statement is effective for five years. A continuation is filed during the final six months and ordinarily adds another five years. The statute treats a properly indicated public-finance or manufactured-home transaction with a thirty-year period, a transmitting utility filing through termination, and the specified mortgage serving as a fixture filing until release or satisfaction of the mortgage. Those exceptions explain why age alone does not determine whether a financing statement is lapsed. Read its indicated transaction type and continuation history before assigning an expiration date. 11 M.R.S. section 9-1515, duration and continuation.

For the consumer-goods circumstances described in section 9-1513, a secured party must cause termination within sixty days after the conditions are met, or earlier within twenty days after the debtor's signed demand. Other qualifying cases use the twenty-day demand provision. Unauthorized financing statements have their own treatment within the section. Keep the demand, proof of receipt and filing number when pursuing termination. A debtor-name match without a termination is not proof that the secured balance remains unpaid; conversely, a payment receipt is not the termination record itself. 11 M.R.S. section 9-1513, termination obligations.

A person who believes a filed record is inaccurate or wrongfully filed may submit the information statement described in section 9-1518. It identifies the initial filing, gives the reasons for the objection and includes the county book and page when the real-property filing rule requires it. The statute expressly leaves the effectiveness of the challenged record unchanged. Treat the statement as a documented dispute that should be reviewed with the original filing, amendments, termination and any court order, rather than as an automatic cancellation. 11 M.R.S. section 9-1518, information statements.

The January 2026 county tariff and what an online image includes

Maine changed to a flat recording structure from January 1, 2026. Section 751 states a $35 general base for nongovernment instruments and $25 for the State or a municipality; the counties' current notices show the $5 surcharge on the applicable private instrument, producing $40. Plans have a $45 statutory base and published $50 total. The new flat structure removes the old arithmetic for extra pages, names and marginal references. A copy or certification order remains a different product, and any fee set elsewhere for a particular instrument must still be checked. 33 M.R.S. section 751, current registry fee provisions. Franklin official announcement of the January 1, 2026 structure.

Ordinary registry paper copies are $1 per page and plan copies $10 per page. The statute provides the first 400 electronic images in a calendar year without charge to a person, then fifty cents for each subsequent image, with a municipality exempt from that subsequent-image charge. Printed images and postage are distinct. The twenty-five-cent bulk rate requires at least 1,000 consecutive images, a registry equipped and willing to provide them, and a written agreement. It is not the price of an isolated certified deed, lien or release. Section 751 paper, electronic and bulk-copy categories.

The official registry association links seventeen offices across Maine's sixteen counties because Aroostook has northern and southern registries. It is operated by the individual registries and is linked from the current Cumberland and Franklin government office pages. Follow the county's actual service link rather than a similarly named advertisement or an assumed web address. The directory's fraud-alert links are notification tools; a notification subscription does not adjudicate ownership, prevent recording or substitute for inspecting the document that triggered an alert. Official Maine Registries of Deeds association directory. Cumberland official registry parent. Franklin official registry parent.

Androscoggin and the two Aroostook registries

Androscoggin places its registry at 2 Turner Street, Unit 4, Auburn, with 207-753-2500 extension 1981 for the office. Its government page links the androscoggindeeds.com desktop service. That exact destination did not return a usable body in the attempted browser and direct retrievals, so no earliest searchable year, local certification amount or result-screen behavior is assigned to it here. Use the office contact for an older lien or discharge that cannot be established online, supplying the party names and any known recording reference. Androscoggin County Registry of Deeds.

Northern Aroostook's registry is at 22 Hall Street in Fort Kent, with mail to PO Box 47 and telephone 207-834-3925. Southern Aroostook is at 26 Court Street, Suite 102, Houlton, telephone 207-532-1500. The official association's separate SearchIQS links returned distinct northern and southern login screens. Their coverage links returned the login screen again, so a complete earliest image year was not established. Select the proper district before treating a no-match as an absence of a lien. The current county-directory page is the parent of the 2026 directory PDF used for these contacts. Maine County Commissioners Association 2026 directory, Aroostook offices. Official county-directory parent. Office-directory-linked northern Aroostook search. Office-directory-linked southern Aroostook search.

Cumberland

Cumberland's registry uses 27 Northport Drive, Portland, telephone 207-871-8389, with weekday research, copying and recording hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its holdings description begins with land records in 1753 and plans in 1828; those dates describe the collection and are not treated here as a promise of uniform name-search indexing. A posted software-conversion notice says the registry is closed December 4 and 7 without printing a year in that notice. Confirm that dated operational notice directly before planning a visit instead of assigning it an unstated year. Cumberland registry office and posted operations.

Cumberland's US Land Records service describes free viewing and the first 400 downloaded images, followed by the stated fifty-cent image charge. It separately prices a printed search-result list at $1.50 per page, capped at $75. The result list is not a copy of the recorded instrument. The county's fee schedule gives $1 per document-copy page plus $5 certification per document. Its home-page fee link had a duplicated path and failed; the functioning fee page returned its own canonical link and the current schedule. That link defect is preserved rather than treated as a second fee product. Cumberland office-linked land-record service. Cumberland current fee-schedule body.

Franklin and Hancock

Franklin operates at 140 Main Street, Suite 5, Farmington, telephone 207-778-5889, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registry describes scanned documents and indexes from 1983 forward, while the 1838 through 1982 indexes are scanned original index pages. An older name search may therefore require reading the original index rather than expecting a modern field match. The office links its SearchIQS service directly. Its January 1, 2026 fee sheet prices staff-prepared mailed or emailed copies at $1 per page plus $1, in-house copies at $1 per page and plan copies at $10 each. Franklin registry collection and office instructions. Franklin office-linked search service. Current Franklin fee PDF linked by the registry.

Hancock distinguishes its general office day, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., from recording hours of 8:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. The registry is at 50 State Street, Suite 9, Ellsworth, with mail to PO Box 1059 and telephone 207-667-8353. A late-afternoon arrival must satisfy the recording cutoff even though the office remains open afterward. Its linked fee-announcement Word file did not return a readable body, so no Hancock-specific certification figure is supplied. The statewide current recording statute is available, but an unreturned local attachment does not prove additional local service charges. Hancock County Registry of Deeds.

Kennebec and Knox

Kennebec's registry is at 77 Winthrop Street in Augusta, telephone 207-622-0431. Its published schedule has a noon-to-1 p.m. closure between the 8 a.m. morning opening and 4 p.m. closing. The holdings begin in 1799, but no complete online image span is inferred from that collection date. The exact CountyFusion destination linked by the office returned an error. The separately linked property-alert service is a notification route and does not establish that the CountyFusion search has been replaced or that a particular document is available there. Kennebec County registry instructions.

Knox explains that its records include material from 1760 and earlier county arrangements involving Lincoln, Waldo and Hancock before Knox was established. Historical county boundaries can therefore matter more than the modern town label when tracing an old mortgage or lien. Its office is at 62 Union Street, Rockland, telephone 207-594-0422. Recording stops at 3:30 p.m.; municipalities bringing liens or discharges in volume are asked to arrive before 1 p.m. when possible. The original signed and acknowledged instrument and a return envelope are part of its published recording instructions. Knox registry historical holdings. Knox registry location and hours. Knox recording instructions and fees.

Knox lists document copies at $1 per page, attestation at $5 per document and emailed copies at $2 per page. Its current service page links the SearchIQS destination, whose returned screen permits a guest search but requires account registration to print documents. No account was created to infer additional coverage. The registry explains that payment does not remove the historic lien image; the discharge must be recorded. Match the discharge's original recording reference and inspect both instruments before describing the recorded interest as satisfied. Knox service charges and exact search link. Knox office-linked SearchIQS screen. Knox explanation of recorded lien history.

Lincoln and Oxford

Lincoln's registry describes its files from 1761 as scanned. The office uses 32 High Street, first floor of the courthouse in Wiscasset, with mail to PO Box 249 and telephone 207-882-7431. Its recording service runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The linked fee PDF lists $1 per document-copy page, $5 attestation per document, $2.25 per emailed page and $10 per plan-copy page; a large color copy is a separate $25 product. Supply a stamped return envelope or account for the stated additional mailing charge. The office-linked SearchIQS screen itself does not establish a different start date. Lincoln registry office and collection description. Lincoln fee PDF linked by the registry. Lincoln official search destination.

Oxford's office-linked SearchIQS landing information identifies 26 Western Avenue, South Paris, with mail to PO Box 179 and telephone 207-743-6211. The office's weekday schedule is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its local fee page states $1 per copy page plus $5 for certification, asks for a stamped return envelope for mailed work, and describes the annual electronic-image allowance separately. A certified copy order should identify the book and page and whether certification applies to the entire document. No complete earliest online year was established from the returned Oxford instructions. Oxford registry service and office contacts. Oxford local copy and certification schedule.

Penobscot and Piscataquis

Penobscot provides separate search paths for its historical indexes. The service identifies scanned indexes for 1814 through 1874 and 1890 through 1966, a special name button for 1875 through 1889, and a book-and-page or scanned-index route for records before 1961. The overlapping periods are retained as the office describes them, because they concern different search tools. Its subscription offer is $105 quarterly with separate page charges; that is not the statewide free-image allowance. The county's contact PDF places the registry at 97 Hammond Street, Bangor, with mail to PO Box 2070 and telephone 207-942-8797. Penobscot online index instructions. Penobscot office-linked contact and fee PDF.

Penobscot's office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while recording ends at 4 p.m. Its instructions require the stated first-page recording space and margins and warn that nonconforming documents can be rejected. The current PDF gives the $40 flat document and $50 plan totals. For an older lien with no name-field match, keep the index volume and page used to find the document, then check the discharge in the appropriate later index. A modern search-result printout does not preserve that historical search path by itself. Penobscot recording hours and document format.

Piscataquis uses 159 East Main Street, Suite 10, Dover-Foxcroft, telephone 207-564-2411, with weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registry's index dates to 1838 and its plans include nineteenth-century material, but the office cautions that not all images are online. Requests should use book and page or an owner's name and approximate purchase year; assessor map and lot identifiers alone are not its index. It lists $1 document copies, $10 plan copies, and the first 400 electronic pages through a basic account before the fifty-cent charge. Piscataquis registry research and payment instructions.

Piscataquis accepts cash, checks and most major cards under its posted instructions and asks mailed requesters for a stamped return envelope. Its linked January 2026 criteria PDF returned no extractable text, so it supplies no verified local certification amount here. The association-linked SearchIQS route returned the county's login screen. When the requested image predates the accessible collection, ask the registry for the original index and document instead of assuming that the visible online search exhausts the county's holdings. Piscataquis service limits and linked search. Piscataquis official-directory-linked SearchIQS screen.

Sagadahoc and Somerset

Sagadahoc says its records have been imaged and indexed, but the indexing before 1920 is still being proofread. It directs researchers to verify those entries against the original indexes because a name or document error can affect a search. The registry is at 752 High Street, Bath, telephone 207-443-8214, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with recording ending at 3:30 p.m. Its linked AVA route returned only a loading screen in this review, and its fee attachment failed. Those limits do not erase the county's specific warning about the historical index. Sagadahoc registry indexing warning and hours.

Somerset describes online land records from 1809 to the present and searches by grantor, grantee, book and page. A map-and-lot inquiry should first obtain the owner's name from the municipal assessor. The registry is on the first floor at 41 Court Street, Skowhegan, telephone 207-474-3421; recording runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and research to 4 p.m. Copies are $1 per page, attestation adds $5 per document, and fax service is $2 per page. Its mailing instructions address postage and a return envelope separately. Somerset registry records and charges.

Somerset explains why an old lien remains visible after payment: the historic instrument is preserved, and the discharge must enter the record. Use its SearchIQS link for the registry collection and connect any later release to the original book and page. A name search that returns both documents is more informative when the images identify the same debt and property. The registry's administration telephone and general county footer are different from the recording-office contact given above, so direct copy and release inquiries to the registry itself. Somerset lien discharges and office-linked search. Somerset current official search destination.

Waldo, Washington and York

Waldo's registry is at 39A Spring Street in Belfast, with mail to PO Box D, telephone 207-338-1710 and weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county describes a collection extending into the eighteenth century without supplying a single complete online start year for every record type. Its January 1, 2026 fee PDF states $1 per copy page and $5 attestation per document, plus $1 when the certification must be placed on the back because adequate margin is lacking. The county-government document link and the association's SearchIQS route were both followed and retained. Waldo registry location and official document links. Waldo official fee PDF. Waldo directory-linked search screen.

Washington's registry contact in the current county directory is 207-255-6512 and deeds@washingtoncountymaine.gov. Its older office website did not return a usable body. The official registries association links the Washington SearchIQS service, which returned a guest-search and login screen. That establishes the actual county service route, but not a complete earliest image date, current local certification charge or counter hours. For a specific lien or discharge, send the known names and recording reference to the registry and establish the requested product before relying on an inferred fee or date range. 2026 official county directory, Washington registry contact. Washington official-directory-linked search. Official parent of the 2026 county directory PDF.

York's recording office is at 45 Kennebunk Road, Alfred, with mail to PO Box 339 and telephone 207-324-1576. The general county footer lists a different location, so it should not be used as the registry delivery address. Weekday service is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. York lists document copies at $1 per page plus $5 attestation per document and plan copies at $10. Copy inquiries may be emailed to Deeds@yorkcountymaine.gov. The office excludes out-of-state checks and personal checks above $50, and its card notice adds 2.5 percent for transactions over $40. York registry office, copy orders and payment restrictions.

York links its SearchIQS collection and a free property-alert service. The returned search screen provides the actual county route, while the office's historical descriptions do not establish a uniform earliest online image year. A notification is a prompt to inspect the new instrument and compare the parties, legal description and recording reference. It does not itself prove that a deed is authorized or that a judgment debtor owns the parcel. For a certified lien or discharge copy, identify the recorded document and certification requirement rather than ordering a general name-results list. York search route and recorded-document alerts. York current office-linked SearchIQS destination.

Federal cases, bankruptcy orders and dated fee notices

Federal district judgments belong to a separate court record system. The District of Maine lists Portland at 156 Federal Street, telephone 207-780-3356, and Bangor at 202 Harlow Street, telephone 207-945-0575, with weekday clerk service from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its case-access FAQ links PACER directly. Preserve the federal case number and district when comparing a judgment with a later county recording; a Maine state-court name search does not establish the federal docket's contents. United States District Court for the District of Maine. District of Maine official PACER-linking FAQ.

The district's local electronic-access provisions describe public civil documents after January 1, 2003 and criminal documents after November 1, 2004, with separate Social Security access treatment beginning December 1, 2007 for the described judgments, opinions and orders. Sealed filings require the applicable authority or court order. The local appendix distinguishes a visible civil docket entry for sealed material from the treatment of a sealed criminal entry. These are local access descriptions, not a claim that every historic file was imaged. The current local-rules page is the official parent of the PDF. District of Maine Local Rules, effective April 1, 2025. District of Maine local-rules parent.

As of this November review, PACER charges ten cents per page, generally caps a single document at $3, and waives a quarterly total of $30 or less. Search reports, non-case-specific reports and transcripts are outside the ordinary document cap; court opinions and courthouse viewing have their stated free treatment. The Maine bankruptcy court's September 2, 2026 notice announces a future twelve-cent rate and a $40 quarterly waiver threshold from January 1, 2027. Those future figures should not replace the November price in a current cost estimate. PACER current public-access pricing. Maine bankruptcy court notice of January 1, 2027 PACER pricing.

Maine's bankruptcy clerk uses 537 Congress Street, second floor, Portland, telephone 207-780-3482, and 202 Harlow Street, third floor, Bangor, telephone 207-945-0348. The local payment instructions allow the specified online debit or ACH payments and bank checks or money orders; they exclude cash, personal checks and credit cards. A bankruptcy discharge relieves the debtor of the covered personal liability, but a valid lien not avoided in the case can remain. Review the discharge, lien-avoidance or other property order and the county release record before concluding that a land interest disappeared. United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine. Maine bankruptcy clerk fee and payment instructions. United States Courts explanation of discharge and surviving liens.

The readable national schedule effective December 1, 2023 lists paper copies at fifty cents per page, certification at $12 per document, exemplification at $24 and a court record search at $34 per name or item. Those are the current November products; archived-file retrieval and electronic records supplied outside CM/ECF have separate charges. An official November 2, 2026 court notice announces changes to federal miscellaneous fees effective December 1, 2026. A request made after that date should use the new schedule, while the future effective date must remain attached to any later price. Current national bankruptcy miscellaneous fee schedule. Official notice of December 1, 2026 federal miscellaneous-fee changes.

A local notice also affects interpretation of recent service records. General Order 26-02 states that the Bankruptcy Noticing Center interruption from October 7 through 27 had ended and suspends the specified prospective duties from October 28. Duties already unfulfilled under the earlier order remain subject to its terms, and electronic notices were treated separately. The earlier order is retained as an appendix, so it should not be mistaken for a statement that the outage continued after October 28. Check the applicable service order when the timing of notice, rather than the mere filing date, matters. Maine Bankruptcy General Order 26-02, October 28, 2026. Official announcement linking the October 28 order.