§ Rule 80A Real Actions

Codes > Maine Revised Statutes > Rules of > XI Special > Rule 80A

Rule 80A. Real Actions

    (a) Applicability. Writs of entry are abolished, and these Rules of Civil Procedure shall govern the procedure in real actions including actions in the District Court to quiet title to real estate under 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 6651-6658 and 36 M.R.S.A. § 946, except as otherwise provided in this rule.

    (b) Commencement of Action; Service. An action to recover any estate in fee simple, in fee tail, for life, or for any term of years shall be commenced by complaint and service of summons as in other civil actions.

    (c) Complaint. The demanded premises shall be clearly described in the complaint. The plaintiff shall declare on the plaintiff's own seizin within 20 years then last past, without naming any particular day or averring a taking of the profits, and shall allege a disseizin by the defendant. The plaintiff shall set forth the estate which the plaintiff claims in the premises, but if the plaintiff proves a lesser estate than the plaintiff has alleged, amendment may be made to conform to the proof and judgment ordered accordingly. The plaintiff need not state in the complaint the origin of the plaintiff's title, but the court may, on motion of the defendant, order the plaintiff to file a statement of the plaintiff's title and its origin. The complaint shall include any claim against the defendant for damages which have accrued at the time of commencement of the action for the rents and profits of the premises or for any destruction or waste of the buildings or other property for which the defendant is by law answerable.

    (d) Answer. All defenses shall be made by answer as in other actions. The defendant may defend for a part only of the premises, and when for a part only, it shall be described in the answer with like certainty as is required in the complaint. If the defendant defends for a part only, the plaintiff shall, subject to the provisions of Rule 54(b), have judgment against the defendant on the pleadings for recovery of possession of the part not defended. If the defendant by answer alleges that the defendant has been in possession of a tract of land lying in one body for 6 years or more before the commencement of the action, that only part of it is demanded, and that the plaintiff has as good a title to the whole as to such part, proof of that fact shall defeat the action unless the complaint is amended so as to include the
whole tract, which the court may allow without costs. A defendant not in possession of the premises when the action was commenced may defeat the action by disclaiming in the answer any right or title to the premises.

    (e) No Abatement by Death or Intermarriage. No real action shall be abated by the death or intermarriage of either party after it has been commenced. The court shall proceed to try and determine such action, but only after such notice as the court orders has been given to all persons interested in his estate.

    (f) Judgment. The judgment shall declare the estate, if any, in all or in any part of the demanded premises to which the plaintiff is entitled; and if the plaintiff shall recover judgment for title and possession of all or any part of the demanded premises, the court may order one or more writs of possession to issue in accordance with law. If either party dies before a writ of possession is executed or the action is otherwise disposed of, any money payable by the defendant may be paid by the defendant, the defendant's executor or administrator, or by any person entitled to the estate under the defendant, to the plaintiff, or the plaintiff's executor or administrator with the same effect as if both parties were living. The writ of possession shall be issued in the name of the original plaintiff against the original
defendant, although either or both are dead; and when executed, it shall enure to the use and benefit of the plaintiff, or of the person who is then entitled to the premises under the plaintiff, as if executed in the lifetime of the parties.

    (g) Foreclosure of Mortgage. An action under this rule may be used for the purpose of the foreclosure of a mortgage of real estate as provided by law.