How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Maine?

No fixed statutory period (see notice standard). Maine requires 'reasonable notice' before entry, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable in the absence of evidence to the contrary (14 M.R.S. §6025(2)). Treat 24 hours as the safe default: it is a rebuttable presumption, not an express minimum, and entry must also be at reasonable times.

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Maine?

A landlord may enter to inspect the premises, make repairs or improvements, supply agreed services, or show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, or contractors. For those purposes the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (§6025(1)).

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Maine?

Yes — Maine recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Maine?

None by the clock — entry must be at 'reasonable times' only; the statute sets no hour windows.

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Maine?

Verified August 2, 2026 All Maine topics →

Check your municipality. Maine does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice rules, and fee limits that are stricter than the state-level rules on this page and are not covered here. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below. Verified local pages: Portland , South Portland .

What the state record says

Maine does not preempt local rent control, and two cities regulate rents. Portland has run voter-initiated rent control since 2021, allowing 2.2% for calendar 2026, one increase per 12 months, and 90 days' notice; South Portland caps annual increases at 10% for buildings of 16+ commonly owned units. There is no statewide rent control or percentage cap (§6016's habitability bar is a condition on increases, not a cap). Portland's ordinance is Portland City Code ch. 6, secs. 6-231 to 6-239: an annual Allowable Increase Percentage published each September 1 (2.2% for calendar 2026), one increase per 12 months, +5% of base rent on voluntary turnover, banked increases, a hard 10% ceiling per increase, Rent Board review, and 90 days' written notice, plus a local one-month deposit cap and application-fee ban. South Portland's is a council-enacted rent stabilization ordinance (March 2023; 10% annual cap for buildings of 16+ commonly owned units; sunsets 2030). The former state enabling chapter (30-A ch. 167, 'Municipal Rent Control') was repealed in 1995 with nothing enacted in its place; municipalities act under home rule (30-A §3001).

Maine landlords must give 'reasonable notice' before entering a rental unit, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable unless the evidence shows otherwise — so 24 hours is the safe default, but the statute stops short of a flat 24-hour minimum.

Cited to 14 M.R.S. § 6025 (1)-(4) and 2 more Maine statutes · Verified August 2, 2026

Entry is allowed only at reasonable times and for listed purposes (inspection, repairs and improvements, providing services, and showings to buyers, lenders, or prospective tenants and contractors), with no-notice entry permitted in an emergency, when giving notice is impracticable, or when an animal's welfare is at risk. A tenant cannot waive these protections — any waiver is void — and a landlord who enters unlawfully, enters in an unreasonable manner, or harasses the tenant with repeated demands owes the greater of actual damages or $250 — raised from $100 by PL 2025, c. 767, effective July 29, 2026 — faces an injunction, and pays attorney's fees if the tenant wins a contested case. Also effective July 29, 2026: a landlord, a landlord's agent, or anyone acting under the landlord's direction may not disclose a tenant's, applicant's, or occupant's personal information — a defined list running from contact details through immigration status, ID and Social Security numbers, financial data, and crime-victim status — with the intent to harass, intimidate, or force a move-out outside the court eviction process, without a legitimate business purpose and without the person's express consent; the remedy is the greater of actual damages or $1,000, plus an injunction and attorney's fees after a contested hearing (new 14 M.R.S. § 6025-B, with exceptions for court process, law enforcement, sale or refinancing, affordable-housing program administration, and municipal code officers). Tenants who change the locks must give the landlord a duplicate key within 48 hours (72 hours for domestic-violence victims); refusing to hand over a key is ground for a 7-day termination.

Maine entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	No fixed statutory period (see notice standard)
Notice standard	Maine requires 'reasonable notice' before entry, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable in the absence of evidence to the contrary (14 M.R.S. §6025(2)). Treat 24 hours as the safe default: it is a rebuttable presumption, not an express minimum, and entry must also be at reasonable times. The statute provides that, except in case of emergency 'or if it is impracticable to do so,' the landlord 'shall give the tenant reasonable notice of the landlord's intent to enter and shall enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is presumed to be a reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary.' No fixed number of hours appears above, because Maine sets a statutory presumption rather than a fixed requirement.
Permitted reasons	A landlord may enter to inspect the premises, make repairs or improvements, supply agreed services, or show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, or contractors. For those purposes the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (§6025(1)). The full statutory list is inspecting the premises; making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements; supplying necessary or agreed services; and exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors (§6025(1)). Emergency entry is additionally permitted without notice when an animal's welfare is at risk as described in §6025-A (cross-reference added by PL 2023, c. 336).
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	None by the clock — entry must be at 'reasonable times' only; the statute sets no hour windows.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Maine Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified August 2, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/maine/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Maine statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

24 hours is a presumption, not a fixed minimum — the statute requires 'reasonable notice' and presumes 24 hours is reasonable 'in the absence of evidence to the contrary.' Treat 24 hours as the safe default; many summaries overstate it as a hard rule.
When no notice is needed — an emergency, when notice is 'impracticable' (a broader escape valve than most states'), or — since 2023 — when an animal's welfare is at risk (§ 6025-A).
New since July 29, 2026 (PL 2025, c. 767) — the recovery for unlawful entry, unreasonable entry, or harassment by repeated demands rose from $100 to $250, and the new § 6025-B disclosure ban (described above) carries a $1,000 floor.
Effective-date trap — some summaries give July 28, 2026; the Legislature's published effective date for this session's nonemergency laws is Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
Official pages lag the law — as of August 2, 2026 the Revisor's consolidated § 6025 page still showed the old $100 figure, and no § 6025-B page existed yet. The chaptered law, linked in the citations, controls.
Lock changes — a tenant who changes the locks must give the landlord a duplicate key within 48 hours (domestic-violence victims: their own expense, 72 hours). Refusing permits a 7-day termination; with no key, emergency forced entry is allowed at the tenant's cost.
No waiver — any lease clause waiving § 6025 rights is void.
Verified — chapter 710 contains no other entry or access provision, and every cited section states the law as it stood on August 2, 2026.

Common questions: Maine entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Maine?: No fixed statutory period (see notice standard). Maine requires 'reasonable notice' before entry, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable in the absence of evidence to the contrary (14 M.R.S. §6025(2)). Treat 24 hours as the safe default: it is a rebuttable presumption, not an express minimum, and entry must also be at reasonable times.
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Maine?: A landlord may enter to inspect the premises, make repairs or improvements, supply agreed services, or show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, or contractors. For those purposes the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent (§6025(1)).
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Maine?: Yes — Maine recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Maine?: None by the clock — entry must be at 'reasonable times' only; the statute sets no hour windows.

Statute citations

14 M.R.S. § 6025 (1)-(4) (verified 2026) Official source
14 M.R.S. § 6025-A (verified 2026) Official source
PL 2025, c. 767 (LD 2176) — raises the § 6025(3) remedy to $250 and enacts § 6025-B, effective 2026-07-29 §§ 1-3 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Maine Revisor of Statutes site (legislature.maine.gov): sections 6032, 6033, 6034, 6038, 6015, 6028, and 6025 of Title 14 each read twice in independent formats (the HTML section page and the Revisor's official section PDF, read verbatim), with every decisive figure matching (2-month deposit cap; 30-day-maximum/21-day return split with the later-of trigger; forfeiture rule; double damages with 7-day pre-suit notice and landlord burden; separate-bank-account rule with $500/one-month remedy; 45-day and 75-day/10% rent-increase notices with 12-month aggregation; 4% late-fee cap, 15-day late definition, and written-notice-at-inception duty; 24-hour reasonable-notice presumption with emergency/impracticable exception). PL 2023, c. 594 (LD 1490) was additionally reconciled against the enrolled chapter law PDF, which pins 'Sec. 13. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2025.' Supporting sections read once (6031, 6035, 6036, 6037, 6039, 6000, 6016, 6022-A, 6030-I, 6030-J, 6002) plus full chapter listings of ch. 709 subch. 1, ch. 710, and ch. 710-A as the sweep basis for verified negatives (no deposit interest, no other late-fee or entry provision, no rent-increase frequency limit, no preemption statute). Preemption checked via Title 30-A: former ch. 167 'Municipal Rent Control' (30-A sections 3601-3606) confirmed repealed by PL 1995, c. 194 with nothing enacted in its place, home rule under 30-A section 3001; Portland's active rent control ordinance verified from the City of Portland's own Rent Control FAQ (version 2025.10.24, Portland City Code ch. 6, secs. 6-231 to 6-239; 2026 allowable increase 2.2%). Bill checks on official status pages: LD 1534 (municipal rent-stabilization enabling) died Ought Not to Pass 2025-05-27; LD 1765 enacted as PL 2025, c. 365 (2025-06-18, mobile home park licensing/model-ordinance only); 132nd Legislature adjourned sine die 2026-04-29. Main-session supplement (2026-07-11): the full Second Regular Session public-laws list (chapters ~500-775) was swept via the Revisor's Laws of Maine service; one on-topic enactment found and flagged as pending — PL 2025, c. 767 (LD 2176), which raises the section 6025(3) entry-violation minimum recovery from $100 to $250 and enacts section 6025-B (tenant personal-information disclosure ban), effective on the session's general nonemergency effective date, 2026-07-29 (per the Legislature's published effective-date statement), so NOT in force at this verification; folded into entry_notice 2026-08-02 once effective. Two manufactured-housing acts (PL 2025, c. 688 and c. 691) checked and confirmed out of v1 scope (lot-tenancy notice/mediation and park-sale machinery; no hard rent caps).