The three changes

Bangor's City Council passed the Tenant Housing Rights ordinance in February 2023, and it took effect that October. It is codified as Chapter 282 of the city code. The three provisions that reach an owner directly:

1. Sixty days' notice before a rent increase

Maine's statewide baseline is 45 days. Inside Bangor it is 60. If your property is in the city and you gave 45 days because that is what the state requires, the notice is short.

2. No rental application fee at all

Not capped. Prohibited. A landlord in Bangor may not charge a fee simply to apply.

3. Screening fees capped, and charged to one person only

A screening fee may not exceed the actual cost of the screening or $75, whichever is less. It may only be charged to the applicant who is actually going to become the tenant, and it may only be collected when the first month's rent is due, not before.

That third piece is the one that trips up owners who have been doing this for years. The common practice of collecting a screening fee from everyone who applies, up front, is exactly what the ordinance ended.

Check whether the property is inside city limits. Chapter 282 is a City of Bangor ordinance. It does not reach Brewer, Orono, Old Town, Hampden, Veazie or Hermon. Owners with units on both sides of a town line are running under two different rulebooks, and that is a genuinely easy way to make a mistake.

Why the city did it

The ordinance came out of a period of fast rent growth in the Bangor market, and it passed the council unanimously. Whatever you make of the policy, the practical read for an owner is simple: the city has shown it is willing to legislate on the landlord and tenant relationship, so it is worth knowing what the code says rather than assuming Maine law is the whole picture.

The other city program, and it is not an obligation

Separately from Chapter 282, Bangor runs a Rental Registry, also called the Quality Housing Provider program. The City Council approved it in 2024 as a two year pilot, and owners could begin signing up on July 1.

Participation is voluntary. We are saying that plainly because it would be easy, and good for us, to present it as one more rule you might be breaking. It is not. The city describes it as a program owners are encouraged to join, not required to, and the published material sets out no penalty for staying out of it.

What joining involves: designating a point of contact for each building you own, reviewing and signing a property condition worksheet, and optionally providing tenant information. The stated purpose is to build an inventory of the city's rental housing and its condition.

Whether it is worth your time is a judgment call, and it depends on how you read a pilot that ends in a decision about whether to make something like it permanent. The registry page is on the city's own site under Rental Registry.

Where to read it yourself

The full text lives in the City of Bangor's online code as Chapter 282, Tenant Housing Rights. Anything on this page is a summary written to be useful, not legal advice, and ordinances get amended. Before you send a notice or set up a screening process, read the current text or ask your attorney.

This is also, bluntly, one of the reasons owners hire out. A management company working across Bangor deals with these three rules every week. An owner with one unit reads about them once and then has to remember.

Get management proposals for your property

Tell us about the property and we will pass it to independent management companies serving your town. They contact you directly. There is no charge to you and no obligation to sign with anyone.

Bangor has its own rules, and they are stricter than Maine's