Maine rent receipt law: one signed receipt for every cash payment, with seven required details
Title 14, section 6022 of the Maine Revised Statutes requires a landlord or agent to give a written receipt for each rent or deposit payment received partly or fully in cash. The receipt goes to the tenant when the cash is accepted, and each installment gets its own. Small owner-occupied buildings are exempt.
When must a Maine landlord give a receipt?
Subsection 1 says a landlord or the landlord's agent shall provide a written receipt for each rental payment and each security deposit payment received partially or fully in cash. The words "partially or fully" matter: if a tenant pays part by check and part in cash, the payment still needs a receipt.
The receipt must be delivered to the tenant at the time the cash payment is accepted. It cannot be mailed later.
Does each payment need its own receipt?
Yes. If rent or a deposit is accepted in more than one installment, a separate receipt is required for each payment. If rent and a security deposit arrive at the same time, you issue one receipt for the rent and another for the deposit, each properly identified.
Example a made-up tenant pays $600 in cash on the 1st and $400 in cash on the 10th toward $1,000 rent. You issue two receipts, one for each payment, with the date, the amount and the period they apply to. A single receipt for $1,000 on the 10th would not satisfy the statute.
What must the receipt say?
Subsection 2 says the information "shall include, but is not limited to," the following:
- The date of the payment.
- The amount paid.
- The name of the party for whom the payment is made.
- The period for which the payment is being made.
- A statement that the payment is for rent or for security deposit.
- The signature of the person receiving the payment.
- The name of that person, printed legibly.
A rent card retained by the tenant that holds this information satisfies the section. That is a practical option for a landlord who collects cash in person month after month.
Who is exempt?
Subsection 3 says the section does not apply to a tenancy for a dwelling unit that is part of a structure containing no more than five dwelling units, one of which is occupied by the landlord. A landlord who lives in a five-unit building is exempt. A landlord who lives elsewhere, or in a building with six or more units, is not.
What does the section not say?
It sets no retention period and no penalty of its own. Because it is limited to cash, a check or a bank transfer does not trigger it, though a receipt is still good practice. See do landlords have to give rent receipts and how long to keep rental records.
A simple receipt routine for Maine landlords
Maine's list reads like a form, so use one. A receipt book with the seven items preprinted keeps you from forgetting the period covered or your printed name, which are the two items landlords most often leave off. A rent card the tenant keeps works too, as long as it carries the same information and you sign each entry. When a tenant pays in two parts, write two entries even if both happen the same day. When rent and deposit arrive together, write them on separate lines or separate receipts, each marked rent or deposit. Check your building against the exemption before you decide whether the section applies to you.
How DoorKeeping fits in Maine
If tenants pay by bank transfer or Zelle, there is no cash to receipt, and each deposit shows in your bank feed with a date and amount that DoorKeeping matches to the tenant. For any cash you do take, keep the signed receipt with that month's records. This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current text of the law and your lease before you act.
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Questions
- Does a Maine landlord have to give a receipt for cash rent?
- Yes. Each payment received partly or fully in cash needs a written receipt, delivered when the cash is accepted.
- What must a Maine rent receipt include?
- The date, the amount, the party the payment is for, the period covered, whether it is rent or deposit, the receiver's signature and the receiver's printed name.
- Who is exempt from Maine's receipt rule?
- Tenancies in a structure of no more than five dwelling units where one unit is occupied by the landlord.