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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- S 0509 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC001653 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND |
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| 16 | 16 | | DEVELOPMENT |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Senators Zurier, Ciccone, Mack, and Quezada |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: March 07, 2023 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: Senate Finance |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Section 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 entitled "Tourism 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | and Development" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 42-63.1-14. Offering residential units through a hosting platform. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (a) All hosting platforms For any rental property offered for tourist or transient use on a 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | hosting platform that collects collect and remits remit applicable sales and hotel taxes in compliance 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44-18-18, and 44-18-36.1 are permitted to offer short-term rental, cities, 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | towns, or municipalities shall not prohibit the owner from offering the unit units for tourist or 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | transient use, and may through such hosting platform, or prohibit such hosting platform from 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | providing provide a person or entity the means to rent, pay for, or otherwise reserve a residential 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | unit for tourist or transient use. A hosting platform shall comply with the requirement imposed 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | upon room resellers in §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i) and 44-18-36.1 in order for the prohibition of this 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | section to apply. The division of taxation and the department of business regulation shall at the 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | request of a city, town, or municipality confirm whether a hosting platform is registered in 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | compliance with § 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i). Nothing herein shall impair the authority of a city or town to 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | exercise its authority to regulate the zoning of short-term rental units. 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (b) Any short-term rental property listed for rent on the website of any third-party hosting 16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | platform that conducts business in Rhode Island shall be registered with the department of business 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | regulation. The registration shall provide the information necessary to identify the property 18 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LC001653 - Page 2 of 4 |
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| 44 | 44 | | pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “short-term rental” 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | means a person, firm, or corporation’s utilization, for transient lodging accommodations, not to 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | exceed thirty (30) nights at a time. 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (c) The department of business regulation shall contact all hosting platforms that list 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | property in Rhode Island on their website for rent and that submit hotel taxes to the division of 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | taxation and shall provide notice of the registration requirement, pursuant to this section, instructing 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | the hosting platforms to notify their listed properties to register with the department of business 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | regulation by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines pursuant to § 42-63.1-14.1. 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (d) The state registration pursuant to this section shall include: 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (1) The principal place of business of the owner, or if outside the state, the agent for service 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | of process or property manager for the owner; 11 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (2) The phone number of the owner of the property and/or property manager; 12 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (3) The email address of the property owner and/or property manager; 13 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (4) The address of the rental property; 14 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (5) The number of rooms for rent at the property; 15 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (6) Whether the registrant rents or owns; and 16 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (7) Intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space). 17 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (e) The assigned registration number shall consist of numeric and alpha characters, the 18 |
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| 62 | 62 | | alpha characters shall correspond to the city/town where the property is located and shall be uniform 19 |
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| 63 | 63 | | for the remaining properties in said city/town. 20 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (f) The department of business regulation shall notify all hosting platforms to contact all 21 |
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| 65 | 65 | | listed properties by December 31, 2021, to ensure compliance with this section and if the listed 22 |
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| 66 | 66 | | properties are not duly registered after six (6) months, the hosting platform shall remove the 23 |
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| 67 | 67 | | property listing from its website. 24 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (g) The department of business regulation shall promulgate rules and regulations to 25 |
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| 69 | 69 | | correspond with and enforce this section and § 42-63.1-14.1 and may charge a registration fee to 26 |
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| 70 | 70 | | property owners registering with the department pursuant to this section. 27 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (h) The department of business regulation shall create an online database to store all 28 |
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| 72 | 72 | | registered short-term rental units, and each unit shall have an online identification number in said 29 |
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| 73 | 73 | | database to correspond with subsection (e) of this section. 30 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (i) Any owner of the property who or that fails to register with the department of business 31 |
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| 75 | 75 | | regulation as prescribed herein and lists the property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform 32 |
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| 76 | 76 | | website shall be subject to a civil fine as follows: 33 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (1) Two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first thirty (30) days of non-compliance; 34 |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | LC001653 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (2) Five hundred dollars ($500) for between thirty-one (31) and sixty (60) days of non-1 |
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| 82 | 82 | | compliance; and 2 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (3) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for more than sixty (60) days of non-compliance. 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ======== |
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| 86 | 86 | | LC001653 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ======== |
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| 88 | 88 | | |
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| 89 | 89 | | |
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| 90 | 90 | | LC001653 - Page 4 of 4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 92 | 92 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 93 | 93 | | OF |
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| 94 | 94 | | A N A C T |
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| 95 | 95 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND |
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| 96 | 96 | | DEVELOPMENT |
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| 97 | 97 | | *** |
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| 98 | 98 | | This act would allow all hosting platforms that collect and remit sales taxes and comply 1 |
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| 99 | 99 | | with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44-18-18, and 44-18-36.1 to offer short-term rental units. This act would 2 |
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| 100 | 100 | | not impair the authority of a city or town to exercise its authority to regulate the zoning of short-3 |
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| 101 | 101 | | term rental units. 4 |
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| 102 | 102 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 5 |
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| 104 | 104 | | LC001653 |
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