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| 6 | 7 | | LC002544 |
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| 8 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 9 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 10 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 11 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 12 | 13 | | |
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| 13 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 14 | 15 | | RELATING TO PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT |
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| 15 | 16 | | Introduced By: Senator Dawn M. Euer |
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| 16 | 17 | | Date Introduced: March 23, 2023 |
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| 17 | 18 | | Referred To: Senate Judiciary |
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| 18 | 19 | | (Attorney General) |
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| 19 | 20 | | |
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| 20 | 21 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 21 | 22 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 34-18-58 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18 entitled "Residential 1 |
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| 22 | 23 | | Landlord and Tenant Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2 |
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| 23 | 24 | | 34-18-58. Statewide mandatory rental registry. 3 |
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| 24 | 25 | | (a) All landlords shall register the following information with the department of health: 4 |
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| 25 | 26 | | (i) Names of individual landlords or any business entity responsible for leasing to a tenant 5 |
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| 26 | 27 | | under this chapter; 6 |
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| 27 | 28 | | (ii) An active business address, PO box, or home address; 7 |
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| 28 | 29 | | (iii) An active email address; 8 |
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| 29 | 30 | | (iv) An active telephone number that would reasonably facilitate communications with the 9 |
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| 30 | 31 | | tenant of each dwelling unit; 10 |
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| 31 | 32 | | (v) Any property manager, management company, or agent for service of the property, 11 |
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| 32 | 33 | | along with the business address, PO box, or home address of the property manager, management 12 |
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| 33 | | - | company or agent and including; 13 |
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| 34 | | - | (A) An active email address; and 14 |
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| 35 | | - | (B) An active telephone number, for each such person or legal entity, if applicable, for each 15 |
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| 36 | | - | dwelling unit; and 16 |
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| 37 | | - | (vi) Information necessary to identify each dwelling unit. 17 |
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| 34 | + | company or agent; 13 |
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| 35 | + | (vi) An active email address; 14 |
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| 36 | + | (vii) An active telephone number, for each such person or legal entity, if applicable, for 15 |
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| 37 | + | each dwelling unit; and 16 |
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| 38 | + | (viii) Information necessary to identify each dwelling unit. 17 |
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| 40 | 42 | | |
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| 41 | 43 | | LC002544 - Page 2 of 4 |
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| 42 | 44 | | to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, for each dwelling unit, provide the department 1 |
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| 43 | 45 | | of health with a valid certificate of conformance in accordance with chapter 128.1 of title 42 ("lead 2 |
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| 44 | 46 | | hazard mitigation") and regulations derived therefrom, or evidence sufficient to demonstrate that 3 |
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| 45 | 47 | | they are exempt from the requirement to obtain a certificate of conformance. 4 |
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| 46 | 48 | | (c) Contingent upon available funding, the department of health, or designee, shall create 5 |
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| 47 | 49 | | a publicly accessible online database containing the information obtained in accordance with 6 |
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| 48 | 50 | | subsections (a) and (b) of this section, no later than nine (9) months following the effective date of 7 |
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| 49 | 51 | | this section. 8 |
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| 50 | 52 | | (d) All landlords subject to the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section as of 9 |
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| 51 | 53 | | September 1, 2024, shall register the information required by those subsections no later than 10 |
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| 52 | 54 | | October 1, 2024. 11 |
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| 53 | 55 | | A landlord who acquires a rental property, or begins leasing a rental property to a new 12 |
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| 54 | 56 | | tenant, after September 1, 2024, shall register the information required by subsections (a) and (b) 13 |
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| 55 | 57 | | of this section within thirty (30) days after the acquisition or lease to a tenant, whichever date is 14 |
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| 56 | 58 | | earlier. All landlords subject to the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall, 15 |
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| 57 | 59 | | following initial registration, re-register by October 1 of each year in order to update any 16 |
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| 58 | 60 | | information required to comply with subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or to confirm that the 17 |
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| 59 | 61 | | information already supplied remains accurate. 18 |
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| 60 | 62 | | (e) Any person or entity subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this section who fails to 19 |
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| 61 | 63 | | comply with the registration provision in subsection (d) of this section, shall be subject to a civil 20 |
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| 62 | 64 | | fine of at least fifty dollars ($50.00) per month for failure to register the information required by 21 |
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| 63 | 65 | | subsection (a) of this section, or at least one-hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) per month, for 22 |
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| 64 | 66 | | failure to register the information required by subsection (b) of this section. 23 |
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| 65 | 67 | | (f) All civil penalties imposed pursuant to subsection (e) of this section shall be payable to 24 |
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| 66 | 68 | | the department of health. There is to be established a restricted receipt account to be known as the 25 |
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| 67 | 69 | | "rental registry account" which shall be a separate account within the department of health. 26 |
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| 68 | 70 | | Penalties received by the department pursuant to the terms of this section shall be deposited into 27 |
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| 69 | 71 | | the account. Monies deposited in the account shall be transferred to the department of health and 28 |
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| 70 | 72 | | shall be expended for the purpose of administering the provisions of this section or lead hazard 29 |
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| 71 | 73 | | mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention. No penalties shall be levied under 30 |
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| 72 | 74 | | this section prior to October 1, 2024. 31 |
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| 73 | 75 | | (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of ยง 34-18-35, a landlord or any agent of a landlord 32 |
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| 74 | 76 | | may not commence an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in any court of competent jurisdiction, 33 |
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| 75 | 77 | | unless, at the time the action is commenced, the landlord is in compliance with the requirements of 34 |
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| 76 | 78 | | |
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| 77 | 80 | | LC002544 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 78 | 81 | | subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section. A landlord must present the court with evidence of 1 |
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| 79 | 82 | | compliance with subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section at the time of filing an action to evict 2 |
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| 80 | 83 | | for nonpayment of rent in order to proceed with the civil action. 3 |
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| 81 | 84 | | (h) The department of health may commence an action for injunctive relief and additional 4 |
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| 82 | 85 | | civil penalties of up to fifty dollars ($50.00) per violation against any landlord who repeatedly fails 5 |
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| 83 | 86 | | to comply with subsection (a) of this section. The attorney general may commence an action for 6 |
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| 84 | 87 | | injunctive relief and additional civil penalties of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation 7 |
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| 85 | 88 | | against any landlord who repeatedly fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section. Any 8 |
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| 86 | 89 | | penalties obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be used for the purposes of lead hazard 9 |
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| 87 | 90 | | mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention, or for the purpose of administering 10 |
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| 88 | 91 | | the provisions of this section. No penalties shall be levied under this section prior to October 1, 11 |
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| 89 | 92 | | 2024. 12 |
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| 90 | 93 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 13 |
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| 92 | 95 | | LC002544 |
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