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S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNME NT -- TOURISM AND
DEVELOPMENT
Introduced By: Representatives Vella-Wilkinson, Morales, and Noret
Date Introduced: March 01, 2023
Referred To: House Corporations
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 42-63.1-2 and 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 1
entitled "Tourism and Development" are hereby amended to read as follows: 2
42-63.1-2. Definitions. 3
For the purposes of this chapter: 4
(1) “Consideration” means the monetary charge for the use of space devoted to transient 5
lodging accommodations. 6
(2) “Corporation” means the Rhode Island commerce corporation. 7
(3) “District” means the regional tourism districts set forth in § 42-63.1-5. 8
(4) “Hotel” means any facility offering a minimum of one (1) room for which the public 9
may, for a consideration, obtain transient lodging accommodations. The term “hotel” shall include 10
hotels, motels, tourist homes, tourist camps, lodging houses, and inns. The term “hotel” shall also 11
include houses, condominiums or other residential dwelling units, regardless of the number of 12
rooms, which are used and/or advertised for rent for occupancy. The term “hotel” shall not include 13
schools, hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, and chronic care centers. 14
(5) “Hosting platform” means any electronic or operating system in which a person or 15
entity provides a means through which an owner may offer a residential unit for “tourist or 16
transient” use. This service is usually, though not necessarily, provided through an online or web-17
based system which generally allows an owner to advertise the residential unit through a hosted 18
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website and provides a means for a person or entity to arrange, or otherwise facilitate reservations 1
for, tourist or transient use in exchange for payment, whether the person or entity pays rent directly 2
to the owner or to the hosting platform. All hosting platforms are required to collect and remit the 3
tax owed under this section. 4
(6) “Occupancy” means a person, firm or corporation’s use of space for transient lodging 5
accommodations not to exceed thirty (30) days. Excluded from “occupancy” is the use of space for 6
which the occupant has a written lease for the space, which lease covers a rental period of twelve 7
(12) months or more. Furthermore, any house, condominium or other residential dwelling rented, 8
for which the occupant has a documented arrangement for the space covering a rental period of 9
more than thirty (30) consecutive days or for one calendar month is excluded from the definition 10
of occupancy. 11
(7) “Tax” means the hotel tax imposed by § 44-18-36.1(a). 12
(8) “Owner” means any person who owns real property and is the owner of record. Owner 13
shall also include a lessee where the lessee is offering a residential unit for “tourist or transient” 14
use. 15
(9) “Residential unit” means a room or rooms, including a condominium or a room or a 16
dwelling unit that forms part of a single, joint or shared tenant arrangement, in any building, or 17
portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let, or hired out to be occupied for non-18
commercial use. 19
(10) “Tour operator” means a person that derives a majority of his or her or its revenue by 20
providing tour operator packages. 21
(11) “Tour operator packages” means travel packages that include the services of a tour 22
guide and where the itinerary encompasses five (5) or more consecutive days. 23
(12) “Tourist or transient” means any use of a residential unit for occupancy for less than 24
a thirty (30) consecutive day term of tenancy, or occupancy for less than thirty (30) consecutive 25
days of a residential unit leased or owned by a business entity, whether on a short-term or long-26
terms basis, including any occupancy by employee or guests of a business entity for less than thirty 27
(30) consecutive days where payment for the residential unit is contracted for or paid by the 28
business entity. 29
42-63.1-14. Offering residential units through a hosting platform. 30
(a) For any rental property offered for tourist or transient use on a hosting platform that 31
collects and remits applicable sales and hotel taxes in compliance with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44-32
18-18, and 44-18-36.1, cities, towns, or municipalities shall not prohibit the owner from offering 33
the unit for tourist or transient use through such hosting platform, or prohibit such hosting platform 34
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from providing a person or entity the means to rent, pay for, or otherwise reserve a residential unit 1
for tourist or transient use. A hosting platform shall comply with the requirement imposed upon 2
room resellers in §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i) and 44-18-36.1 in order for the prohibition of this section to 3
apply. The division of taxation shall at the request of a city, town, or municipality confirm whether 4
a hosting platform is registered in compliance with § 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i). 5
(b) Any short-term rental property listed for rent on the website of any third-party hosting 6
platform that conducts business in Rhode Island shall be registered with the department of business 7
regulation. The registration shall provide the information necessary to identify the property 8
pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “short-term rental” 9
means a person, firm, or corporation’s utilization, for transient lodging accommodations, not to 10
exceed thirty (30) nights at a time. 11
(c) The department of business regulation shall contact all hosting platforms that list 12
property in Rhode Island on their website for rent and that submit hotel taxes to the division of 13
taxation and shall provide notice of the registration requirement, pursuant to this section, instructing 14
the hosting platforms to notify their listed properties to register with the department of business 15
regulation annually by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines pursuant to § 42-63.1-14.1. 16
(d) The state registration pursuant to this section shall include: 17
(1) The principal place of business of the owner, or if outside the state, the agent for service 18
of process or property manager for the owner; 19
(2) The phone number of the owner of the property and/or property manager; 20
(3) The email address of the property owner and/or property manager; 21
(4) The address of the rental property; 22
(5) The number of rooms for rent at the property; 23
(6) Whether the registrant rents or owns; and 24
(7) Intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space). 25
(e) The assigned registration number shall consist of numeric and alpha characters, the 26
alpha characters shall correspond to the city/town where the property is located and shall be uniform 27
for the remaining properties in said city/town. 28
(f) The department of business regulation shall notify all hosting platforms to contact all 29
listed properties by December 31, 2021, to ensure compliance with this section The registration 30
number shall be valid for the calendar year during which it is assigned, and if the a listed properties 31
are property is not duly registered after six (6) months the expiration of the annual registration 32
period, the hosting platform shall remove the property listing from its website. 33
(g) The department of business regulation shall promulgate rules and regulations to 34
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correspond with and enforce this section and § 42-63.1-14.1 and may charge a registration fee to 1
property owners registering with the department pursuant to this section. 2
(h) The department of business regulation shall create an online database to store all 3
registered short-term rental units, and each unit shall have an online identification number in said 4
database to correspond with subsection (e) of this section. 5
(i) Any owner of the property who or that fails to register with the department of business 6
regulation as prescribed herein and lists the property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform 7
website shall be subject to a civil fine as follows: 8
(1) Two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first thirty (30) days of non-compliance; 9
(2) Five hundred dollars ($500) for between thirty-one (31) and sixty (60) days of non-10
compliance; and 11
(3) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for more than sixty (60) days of non-compliance. 12
(j) Notwithstanding any other law or provision to the contrary, no hosting platform shall 13
list any residence for short-term rental for tourist or transient use without the property’s current, 14
valid registration number, and its expiration date, which shall be displayed on the listing. Any 15
hosting platform that offers short-term rental of residential property for tourist or transient use 16
without displaying the current, valid registration number of a property, and its expiration date, shall 17
be subject to a civil fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day per violation, with each property 18
listing constituting a separate violation. 19
(k) A hosting platform shall provide to the department of business regulation, on a monthly 20
basis, an electronic report, in a format determined by the department of business regulation, of the 21
listings maintained, authorized, facilitated or advertised by the hosting platform within the state for 22
the applicable reporting period. The report shall include a breakdown of where the listings are 23
located, whether the listing is for a room or a whole unit, and shall include the number of nights 24
each unit was reported as occupied during the applicable reporting period. 25
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024. 26
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND
DEVELOPMENT
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This act would require hosting platforms offering short-term rental of residential property 1
for tourist or transient use to disclose on listings the current, valid registration number and its 2
expiration date. 3
This act would take effect on January 1, 2024. 4
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