Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0718 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2025 -- S 0718
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7	7	LC002226
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9	9	S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
16	16	Introduced By: Senators Appollonio, Ciccone, Tikoian, Burke, Thompson, Patalano, and
17	17	McKenney
18	18	Date Introduced: March 07, 2025
19	19	Referred To: Senate Housing & Municipal Government
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22	22	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23	23	SECTION 1. Section 34-18-58 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18 entitled "Residential 1
24	24	Landlord and Tenant Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
25	25	34-18-58. Statewide mandatory rental registry. 3
26	26	(a) All landlords who lease a residential property constructed prior to 1978 shall register 4
27	27	the following information with the department of health: 5
28	28	(1) Names of individual landlords or any business entity responsible for leasing to a tenant 6
29	29	under this chapter; 7
30	30	(2) An active business address, PO box, or home address; 8
31	31	(3) An active email address; 9
32	32	(4) An active telephone number that would reasonably facilitate communications with the 10
33	33	tenant of each dwelling unit; 11
34	34	(5) Any property manager, management company, or agent for service of the property, 12
35	35	along with the business address, or PO box, or home address of the property manager, management 13
36	36	company, or agent and including: 14
37	37	(i) An active email address; and 15
38	38	(ii) An active telephone number, for each such person or legal entity, if applicable, for each 16
39	39	dwelling unit; and 17
40	40	(6) Information necessary to identify each dwelling unit. 18
41	41	(b) All landlords who lease a residential property constructed prior to 1978 and that is not 19
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45	45	exempt from the requirements of chapter 128.1 of title 42 (“lead hazard mitigation”) shall, in 1
46	46	addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, for each dwelling unit, provide the 2
47	47	department of health with a valid certificate of conformance in accordance with chapter 128.1 of 3
48	48	title 42 (“lead hazard mitigation”) and regulations derived therefrom, or evidence sufficient to 4
49	49	demonstrate that they are exempt from the requirement to obtain a certificate of conformance. 5
50	50	(c) Contingent upon available funding, the department of health, or designee, shall create 6
51	51	a publicly accessible online database containing the information obtained in accordance with 7
52	52	subsections (a)(1), (a)(5)(ii), but excluding subsections (a)(2) through (a)(4); and (b) of this section, 8
53	53	no later than nine (9) months following the effective date of this section [June 20, 2023]. 9
54	54	(d) All landlords subject to the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section as of 10
55	55	September 1, 2024 September 1, 2025, shall register the information required by those subsections 11
56	56	no later than October 1, 2024 October 1, 2025. 12
57	57	A landlord who acquires a residential rental property constructed before 1978, or begins 13
58	58	leasing a rental property to a new tenant, after September 1, 2024 September 1, 2025, shall register 14
59	59	the information required by subsections (a) and (b) of this section within thirty (30) days after the 15
60	60	acquisition or lease to a tenant, whichever date is earlier. All landlords subject to the requirements 16
61	61	of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall, following initial registration, re-register by October 17
62	62	1 of each year in order to update any information required to comply with subsections (a) and (b) 18
63	63	of this section, or to confirm that the information already supplied remains accurate. 19
64	64	(e) Any person or entity subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this section who fails to 20
65	65	comply with the registration provision in subsection (d) of this section, shall be subject to a civil 21
66	66	fine of at least fifty dollars ($50.00) per month for failure to register the information required by 22
67	67	subsection (a) of this section, or at least one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) per month, for 23
68	68	failure to register the information required by subsection (b) of this section. 24
69	69	(f) All civil penalties imposed pursuant to subsection (e) of this section shall be payable to 25
70	70	the department of health. There is to be established a restricted receipt account to be known as the 26
71	71	“rental registry account” which shall be a separate account within the department of health. 27
72	72	Penalties received by the department pursuant to the terms of this section shall be deposited into 28
73	73	the account. Monies deposited into the account shall be transferred to the department of health and 29
74	74	shall be expended for the purpose of administering the provisions of this section or lead hazard 30
75	75	mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention. No penalties shall be levied under 31
76	76	this section prior to October 1, 2024 October 1, 2025. 32
77	77	(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 34-18-35, a landlord or any agent of a landlord 33
78	78	may not commence an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in any court of competent jurisdiction, 34
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82	82	unless, at the time the action is commenced, the landlord is in compliance with the requirements of 1
83	83	subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section. A landlord must present the court with evidence of 2
84	84	compliance with subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section at the time of filing an action to evict 3
85	85	for nonpayment of rent in order to proceed with the civil action. 4
86	86	(h) The department of health may commence an action for injunctive relief and additional 5
87	87	civil penalties of up to fifty dollars ($50.00) per violation against any landlord who repeatedly fails 6
88	88	to comply with subsection (a) of this section. The attorney general may commence an action for 7
89	89	injunctive relief and additional civil penalties of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation 8
90	90	against any landlord who repeatedly fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section. Any 9
91	91	penalties obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be used for the purposes of lead hazard 10
92	92	mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention, or for the purpose of administering 11
93	93	the provisions of this section. No penalties shall be levied under this section prior to October 1, 12
94	94	2024 October 1, 2025. 13
95	95	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 14
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102	102	EXPLANATION
103	103	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
104	104	OF
105	105	A N A C T
106	106	RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
107	107	***
108	108	This act would limit the mandatory rental registry to properties constructed prior to 1978, 1
109	109	and further push out the effective date of registration to September 1, 2025, with the penalty clause 2
110	110	becoming effective as of October 1, 2025. This act would further eliminate the prohibition on 3
111	111	landlords from evicting a tenant for nonpayment of rent unless they have registered the property 4
112	112	with all of the personal information and provided the department of health a certificate of 5
113	113	conformance. 6
114	114	This act would take effect upon passage. 7
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