Maine state law: STR permits delegated to municipalities under home rule

The Maine Revised Statutes contain no statewide short-term-rental permit, license, or registration requirement. Under 30-A MRS § 3001 (Ordinance Power), 'Any municipality, by the adoption, amendment or repeal of ordinances or bylaws, may exercise any power or function which the Legislature has power to confer upon it, which is not denied either expressly or by clear implication.' The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that any municipal ordinance is a valid exercise of home-rule authority. STR permitting in Maine is therefore entirely local: Portland operates a tiered registration scheme (non-owner-occupied units capped by district, owner-occupied units uncapped, annual fee, life-safety inspection); Bar Harbor restricts non-owner-occupied STRs by category and license cap; many smaller Maine towns have no STR ordinance at all. Hosts must still register with Maine Revenue Service for the 9% state lodging tax (36 MRS § 1811) unless the platform collects on their behalf under § 1754-B.

No statewide STR-permit penalty exists; municipal fines (typically $100-$500/day in Portland and Bar Harbor) and the Class E criminal penalty for failure to register as a Maine sales-tax seller under 36 MRS § 1754-B apply.