# Maine LD 358: An Act to Increase Fees Paid to Registers of Deeds Maine LD 358, An Act to Increase Fees Paid to Registers of Deeds, is a 132nd Maine Legislature (2025-2026) Senate bill sponsored by Richard A. Bennett (Independent); status became law, last action 2025-06-17 (ACTPUB Chapter 328); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD358-132 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Maine LD 358 - State: Maine - Session: 132nd Maine Legislature (2025-2026) - Title: An Act to Increase Fees Paid to Registers of Deeds - Status: became law - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-01-30 - Last action: 2025-06-17, ACTPUB Chapter 328 - Sponsor: Richard A. Bennett (Independent) - Cosponsors: 3 - Subjects: COUNTIES, COUNTIES - REGISTERS OF DEEDS - Touches household money: yes - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Faster sale records to town assessors: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, registers of deeds must send a copy of each recorded property transfer to the town assessor within 30 days. The copy must be in the format the assessor asks for. Registers may charge a reasonable fee for paper copies. This replaces the old rule to photocopy certain deeds. - Higher recording fees for property filings: cost, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, the registry charges flat fees to record documents. It is $25 per instrument when the State or a municipality requests recording, and $35 for everyone else. Plans cost $45 to record, index, and preserve. A $5 surcharge per recorded document applies on top of other fees. S… - Free 400 registry images, new fees: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, you get the first 400 electronic images from a registry website free each calendar year. After 400, electronic images cost $0.50 each. Printed images from the website cost $1 each, plus any county postage. Municipalities are not charged for electronic images under this ru… - Old registry fee rules repealed: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, two older fee subsections in the registry of deeds laws are repealed. This cleans up prior rules; any real effect depends on what those subsections used to require. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Richard A. Bennett (Independent), Senate - Cosponsor: Donna Bailey (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: James D. Libby (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Joseph Martin (Republican), Senate ## Actions (7) - 2025-06-17: ACTPUB Chapter 328 - 2025-06-03: PASSED TO BE ENACTED, in concurrence. (Senate) - 2025-06-02: PASSED TO BE ENACTED. Sent for concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (House) - 2025-06-02: CONSENT CALENDAR - FIRST DAYUnder suspension of the rules CONSENT CALENDAR - SECOND DAY.The Bill was PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (S-192).In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (House) - 2025-06-02: Report READ and ACCEPTED.READ ONCE.Committee Amendment "A" (S-192) READ and ADOPTED.Under suspension of the Rules, READ A SECOND TIME and PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED AS AMENDED BY Committee Amendment "A" (S-192).Ordered sent down forthwith for concurrence. (Senate) - 2025-03-21: CARRIED OVER, in the same posture, to the next special or regular session of the 132nd Legislature, pursuant to Joint Order SP 519. (Senate) - 2025-01-30: Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 30, 2025 and REFERRED to the Committee on STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 (Senate) ## Bill text - Amendment C-A (S-192), adopted by House & Senate: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=2&snum=132) - Enacted: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=3&snum=132) - Introduced: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=1&snum=132) ## Related bills - LD 1522: An Act to Establish the Maine Eviction Prevention Program (failed) - LD 1665: An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine Families (failed) - LD 1872: An Act to Reinvest in the Pension Funds of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (failed) - LD 2067: An Act to Include Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan for Retirement (failed) - LD 1611: An Act to Decrease the Retirement Contributions Required for Teachers and State Employees (failed) - LD 1294: An Act to Expand the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit (failed) ## Sources - [Amendment C-A (S-192), adopted by House & Senate (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=2&snum=132) - [Enacted (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=3&snum=132) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0144&item=1&snum=132) ## Related - [LD 1522: An Act to Establish the Maine Eviction Prevention Program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1522-132) - [LD 1665: An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine Families](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1665-132) - [LD 1872: An Act to Reinvest in the Pension Funds of the Maine Public Employees Retiremen…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1872-132) - [LD 2067: An Act to Include Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD2067-132) - [LD 1611: An Act to Decrease the Retirement Contributions Required for Teachers and State…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1611-132) - [LD 1294: An Act to Expand the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1294-132) - [Maine bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/maine/bills) - [Maine state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/maine) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD358-132 (as of 2026-10-17).