Are you a landlord or rental property owner in Maine? Have you suffered lost rental income from the eviction moratorium in Maine?
In Maine, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic was officially announced, eviction moratoriums were put in place in the State of Maine, including some of its major cities, such as: Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Auburn, Augusta.
For almost two years now, Maine landlords, investment property owners, rental property owners, and Maine real estate property management companies have suffered financial harm from some residential and apartment tenants not paying rent during COVID.
Maine politicians, health professionals, and other state and federal authorities in ME touted these measures were necessary in the name of public safety. The pandemic measures were thought to take an estimated two weeks to level the curve, and that Maine residents would all be back to normal life soon.
Again, that was almost two years ago. No one involved in Maine real estate thought this health crisis and financial crisis for Maine landlords would be continuing this long.
Maine Landlords Forced to Comply with Unfair Eviction Moratoriums
During this entire pandemic, Maine residential rental property professionals, including: landlords, investment property owners, real estate investors, and property management firms were forced to comply with the mandated tenant eviction moratoriums by all levels of government in the State of Maine.
Landlords in Maine were essentially being ignored, while suffering economic harm and financial damages, each and every month, from tenants that decided not to pay rent, because they could not be evicted during the Maine moratorium.
This caused some ME landlords to default on their investment property mortgages, due to lost rental income and cash flow for some of their properties.
Maine Rental Property Owners Financially Harmed by the Illegal Eviction Moratorium
In Maine, and around the nation, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued an eviction moratorium that was backed by politicians across the country.
Landlords in Maine were immediately thrown into a potential financial hole of lost rents when some tenants stopped paying rent, with no recourse of eviction.
After a very long wait, Maine rental property owners had some financial relief on the horizon.
The Supreme Court of the United States finally ruled that the CDC, all on its own, had no authority to restrict rental property owners from operating their investment property within clearly established landlord tenant Maine rental laws.
Unfortunately for Maine rental property owners, this ruling came well after the fact of major financial real estate rental income losses suffered by hundreds of thousands of rental property owners, some of whom lost their properties and even had to file for bankruptcy.
Maine Landlord Rights During COVID
While some Maine tenants, including those in Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Auburn, Augusta, responsibly used their government stimulus checks to pay rent, or at least what they could, many others simply did not.
Not all tenants working in essential Maine jobs during the initial phases of the pandemic paid rent either. Even after Maine began relaxing COVID mandates, and many people returned to work, there was still a certain percentage of tenant rentals that still didn’t pay their rent to Maine landlords.
Despite news of this situation spreading and instances of some tenants bragging about not paying rent, Maine politicians ignored the pleas of landlords and just shrugged their shoulders and told rental property owners to be patient. In fact, as the pandemic continued, these same Maine politicians actually extended the eviction moratorium, in some cases, multiple times.
Bottom line? Maine landlords got shafted out of legally owed monthly rents by tenants who took advantage of the system not to pay rent.
Eviction Moratorium in Maine Continues to Deliver Financial Devastation to Landlords
Costs and financial consequences to rental property owners over the last two years has been astronomical.
For many honest ME rental property owners and managers, the financial devastation was equivalent to, or even worse than, the Great Recession in 2008 to 2010 that wreaked havoc on real estate rental portfolios around Maine.
Now in 2022, with some Maine eviction moratoriums expiring or have expired, the pain will continue for some rental property owners since in many Maine jurisdictions, landlords must still must take legal action to evict tenants that are behind on rents.
As many rental landlords and owners already knew, the eviction moratoriums across the nation completely ignored landlord property rights in ME.
Meanwhile, rental property owners in Maine are still on the hook for past due mortgage payments, property insurance, property taxes, and any repairs the property required, regardless if tenants paid rent or not.
How is this fair to tax paying landlords in Maine?
Adding insult to injury, videos and news reports showed groups of tenants in ME stepping out in protest declaring themselves free rent, even after many landlords voluntarily offered very generous rental discounts in an empathetic gesture to help ease everyone’s mutual financial pain due to COVID.
Of course, serious repairs and maintenance needed on Maine rental properties still had to be addressed, which caused more financial problems given all the COVID pandemic social distancing and scheduling issues between tenants and contractors.
With limited local Maine aid and eviction courts still packed with cases, it continues to be a very long and exhausting road for rental property owners who simply want to financially recover from the fallout of the COVID pandemic and move forward.
SBA EIDL Financial Relief for Landlords in Maine
Maine SBA loans offered through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is one of the main ways landlords in Maine can get financial relief.
If a Maine landlord had already applied for an EIDL loan prior to 12/31/21, they are still eligible to apply for loan reconsideration if one of their real estate entities was declined by the SBA.
Alternatively, if the Maine real estate entity already received EIDL funds, landlords may apply for a loan modification increase request to obtain more low interest funds.
Currently set at 3.75% APR, 30 year fixed rate loan, with no payments for 24 months.
Very cheap money to help Maine landlords recover and get financial assistance and relief, to offset major losses to cash-flow from unpaid rents due to the eviction moratoriums throughout Maine.
Summary and Conclusion for Maine Eviction Moratorium: Don’t Give Up! There is Financial Relief for Maine Landlords
For Maine investment and rental property owners harmed by COVID, Disaster Loan Advisors may be able to assist working with landlords in Maine that are eligible for the SBA EIDL program.
Does Your Maine Rental Property Business Need an Increase or Loan Modification to Your Existing SBA EIDL Loan?
Did you already receive a Maine SBA EIDL loan for your Maine Rental Properties?
We can assist Landlords in requesting additional SBA EIDL loan funds through the increase request and loan modification process in Maine.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your Rental Property business with the SBA Increase Request Process in Maine.
Was Your Maine Rental Property SBA EIDL Loan Denied?
Has your Maine SBA EIDL loan been denied for your ME business?
We can assist you in filing for an SBA EIDL loan reconsideration appeal for your Rental Property entities in Maine.
Schedule Your Free Disaster Loan Consultation to see if we may be able to help your Rental Property business with the SBA Loan Reconsideration Process in Maine.
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