AUGUSTA – Last August, a landlord-tenant dispute escalated.

In a rundown apartment building on Oxford Street in Lewiston, four tenants rose up and refused to pay rent, citing a lack of heat and needed repairs.

The situation dragged out until December, when a Lewiston District Court judge ordered the tenants to leave, after collecting $500 apiece from the landlord to assist with moving costs.

Rep. Richard V. Wagner, D-Lewiston, proposed a bill that will mandate mediation in landlord-tenant disputes, triggered by the incident.

“If mediation had been available, I believe this dispute could have been resolved with a reasonable degree of alacrity and with less disruption of the lives of those tenants not involved in the affair,” he said at a public hearing on the bill Wednesday in front of the Judiciary Committee.

His bill deals primarily with residential disputes. Funding, he said, will be provided by a schedule of filing fees to pay a mediator to be in the courtroom when the docket is called. What the mediator decides is a court order, he said.

Mediation will be required unless the judge waives it, he said, as some non-payment issues are resolved quickly.

Wagner worked as a court mediator for 27 years.

“In my experience, it’s beneficial to both parties,” he said. “Neither gets exactly what they want” but both could benefit.

During the hearing, lawmakers were concerned the mediation process would drag out settlements. Wagner promised to add language to the bill addressing that.

Jack Colmart with Maine Equal Justice Partners used to handle landlord-tenant disputes with Pine Tree Legal in Augusta, which represents poor people. He testified Wednesday that of hundreds of evictions, 99 percent were settled.

Linda Gifford, who works with the Maine Association of Realtors, testified against the bill. She said she supports mediation, but it shouldn’t be mandated, as it isn’t always necessary.

Diane Kenty, director of the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Service to Maine, who took a neutral stance in her testimony, coordinates mediators. She estimated the bill would cost an extra $20,000 to $25,000, to be collected by fees.

“People are more likely to comply to agreements made in mediation,” she said.

Copy the Story Link