Cumberland County, ME Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

Cumberland County operates no noise code and has no nuisance-abatement ordinance applicable to short-term rentals. The statewide criminal baseline is Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 17-A §501-A (Disorderly conduct), which makes it a Class E crime to intentionally or recklessly cause public inconvenience or alarm by 'making loud and unreasonable noise,' with a 2021 amendment that expressly includes loud and unreasonable noise from consumer fireworks. Section 501-A(1)(C) further reaches a person who 'in a private place, makes loud and unreasonable noise that can be heard by another person as unreasonable noise in a public place or in another private place,' but only after a law-enforcement officer or person with authority over the property has ordered cessation and reasonable time has passed. The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office is the primary enforcement body in unincorporated lands and provides backup in municipalities without a dedicated police force; municipal police enforce within incorporated places. Substantive decibel limits, quiet-hours windows (typically 10pm–7am), and STR-specific noise-license conditions are set by each municipality — Portland Code Ch. 17 Art. III (Noise) sets 55 dBA daytime / 50 dBA nighttime ambient limits in residential zones, and the Portland STR ordinance imposes a 'three-strikes' policy for verified noise complaints. The Cumberland County Regional Communications Center is the 911 PSAP for most county municipalities and routes noise complaints to the appropriate local police.