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ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 75 75 MAINE Looking Out for Elderly Homeowners Last year, Maine passed a law to provide extra protection to elderly homeowners who are behind on their property taxes. Less than six months after the new law took place, it faced repeal; but lawmakers have reportedly decided to leave the law as-is for now. e bill, championed by former Maine's Gov. Paul LePage, aims to protect elderly homeowners from tax foreclosure. e bill lays out a multi-step pre-foreclosure process municipalities must follow before foreclosing on the home of residents 65 years or older who are delinquent on property taxes. e law requires "active municipal assistance with an abate- ment application and mediation if necessary to create a reasonable tax payment plan," according to the bill filed with the Maine legislature. Under the new law, the homeowners in question are also able to stay in their homes until the sale is completed, and the homeowners recoup any proceeds from the sale of their home beyond the amount they owed in property taxes. Some have argued that municipalities already go to great lengths avoid foreclosing on elderly homeowners with tax for- giveness and with attempts to connect homeowners at risk with services that can help them. e Portland Press Herald recently reported that David Little, Deputy Finance Director for Bangor, Maine, testified in a legisla- tive hearing that most properties the municipality foreclosed on were vacant and property taxes had not been paid for between six and 10 years. He conjectured that the new law actually incentivizes municipalities to foreclose earlier in cases where homeowners are nearing the age of 65 in order to avoid the pre-foreclosure process the law requires. On the other hand, Will Lund, Superintendent of the Finan- cial Regulation's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, said since the new law passed the bureau has been able to help elderly homeowners facing foreclosure by connecting them with counsel- ing and other services, according to the Portland Press Herald. All told, the bureau has received contact from 11 foreclosure cases since the new law took effect in September 2018. "It really needs to have some time to play out so we can actually see if it's worth repealing or not," said Rep. Bruce Bickford from Auburn, Maine, according to the Portland Press Herald.