Section 648-5-10 - COLLECTION OF C-PACE ASSESSMENTS, RECORDING OF LIENS1. Priority of C-PACE Lien. A C-PACE Lien secures payment for any unpaid C- PACE Assessment and, together with all associated interest and penalties for default and associated attorney's fees and collection costs, takes precedence over all other liens or encumbrances except a lien for real property taxes of the Municipality and liens of municipal sewer, sanitary and water districts. From the date of recording, a C-PACE Lien is a priority lien against a property, subject only to liens set out in 35-A M.R.S. §6111- A, 36 M.R.S. §552 and 38 M.R.S. §§1050 and 1208, except that the priority of such a C-PACE Lien over any lien, except a lien for real property taxes of the Municipality or a lien of a municipal sewer, sanitary or water district, that existed prior to the C-PACE Lien is subject to the written consent of such existing lienholder.2. Collection of C-PACE Assessments. A C-PACE Assessment constitutes a lien on the Qualifying Property until it is paid in full and must be assessed and collected by the Trust, a 3rd-party administrator contracted by the Trust, a municipality or an agent designated by the Trust or a municipality in any manner allowed under the C-PACE Program, consistent with applicable laws. If the Trust or a 3rd-party administrator contracted by the Trust collects C-PACE assessments on behalf of a Municipality, the Trust shall periodically report to the Municipality on the status of the C-PACE assessments in the Municipality and shall notify the Municipality immediately of any delinquent C-PACE Assessments. Upon receiving notification from the Trust of a delinquent C-PACE Assessment, a Municipality shall notify the holder of any mortgage on the property of the delinquent assessment.3. Collection, default and foreclosure. A C-PACE Assessment for which notice is properly recorded under this section creates a lien on the Qualified Property. The portion of the Assessment that has not yet become due is not eliminated by foreclosure, and the lien may not be accelerated or extinguished until fully repaid. A C-PACE Assessment and any interest, fees, penalties and attorney's fees incurred in its collection must be collected in the same manner as the real property taxes of the Municipality in which the Qualified Property is located. If a C-PACE Assessment is delinquent or in default and the Property Owner is delinquent in any tax debt due to the Municipality in which the Property is located, collection may occur only by the recording of liens and by foreclosure under 36 M.R.S. §§942 and 943. Liens must be recorded and released in the same manner as liens for real property taxes.
If only a C-PACE Assessment is delinquent but the Property Owner is current on payment of all municipal taxes due to the participating Municipality, then a C-PACE lienholder shall accept an assignment of the C-PACE Lien, as provided in the written agreement between the participating Municipality and the C-PACE Registered Capital Provider. The assignee shall have and possess all the same powers and rights at law as the participating Municipality and its tax collector with regards to the priority of the C-PACE Lien, the accrual of interest and fees and the costs of collection. The assignee shall have the same rights to enforce the C-PACE Lien as any private party or lender holding a lien on real property, including, but not limited to, the right of foreclosure consistent with 14 M.R.S. §§6203-A and 6321 and any other action in contract or lawsuit for the enforcement of the C-PACE Lien. The assignee shall recover costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred as a result of any foreclosure action or other legal proceeding brought pursuant to this subsection, which may be collected by the assignee at any time after the assignee has made demand for payment.
4. Judicial or nonjudicial sale or foreclosure. In the event of a judicial or nonjudicial sale or foreclosure of a property subject to a C-PACE Lien by a lienholder that is not a C-PACE lienholder, the C-PACE Lien must survive the foreclosure or sale to the extent of any unpaid installment, interest, penalties or fees secured by the lien that were not paid from the proceeds of the sale. All parties with mortgages or liens on that property, including without limitation C-PACE lienholders, must receive on account of such mortgages or liens sale proceeds in accordance with the priority established in the C-PACE Act and by applicable law. A C-PACE Assessment is not eliminated by foreclosure and cannot be accelerated. Only the portion of a C-PACE Assessment that is in arrears at the time of foreclosure takes precedence over other mortgages or liens; the remainder transfers with the property at resale. Unless otherwise agreed upon by the C-PACE lender, all payments on a C-PACE Assessment that become due after the date of transfer by judicial or nonjudicial sale or foreclosure must continue to be secured by a lien on the property and are the responsibility of the transferee.
95-648 C.M.R. ch. 5, § 10