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Rhode Island Senate Bill S0719

Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0719 Compare Versions

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55 2025 -- S 0719
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77 LC002077
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99 S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
1010 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1111 JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
1212 ____________
1313
1414 A N A C T
1515 RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
1616 Introduced By: Senators Bissaillon, Mack, Britto, Acosta, Gu, Murray, and Bell
1717 Date Introduced: March 07, 2025
1818 Referred To: Senate Housing & Municipal Government
1919
2020
2121 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
2222 SECTION 1. Section 34-18-37 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18 entitled "Residential 1
2323 Landlord and Tenant Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
2424 34-18-37. Termination of periodic tenancy. 3
2525 (a) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by a written notice, 4
2626 in a form substantially similar to that provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other at least ten 5
2727 (10) days before the termination date specified in the notice. 6
2828 (b) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy or any periodic 7
2929 tenancy for more than a month or less than a year by a written notice, in a form substantially similar 8
3030 to that provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other at least thirty (30) sixty (60) days before 9
3131 the date specified in the notice, or at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the date specified 10
3232 in the notice for tenants aged sixty-two (62) years or older. 11
3333 (c) The landlord or tenant may terminate a year-to-year tenancy by written notice, in a form 12
3434 substantially similar to that provided in § 34-18-56(c), delivered to the other at least three (3) 13
3535 months prior to the expiration of the occupation year. 14
3636 SECTION 2. Section 34-18-56 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18 entitled "Residential 15
3737 Landlord and Tenant Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16
3838 34-18-56. Notices and complaint forms. 17
3939 (a) A notice in substantially the following language shall suffice for the purpose of giving 18
4040 a tenant a five (5) day demand for payment of rent prior to commencement of an eviction pursuant 19
4141
4242
4343 LC002077 - Page 2 of 14
4444 to § 34-18-35: 1
4545 FIVE-DAY DEMAND NOTICE FOR NONPAYMENT OF RENT 2
4646 R.I.G.L. 34-18-35 3
4747 Date of Mailing: _____________________ 4
4848 TO: __________________________ 5
4949 (tenant) 6
5050 _____________________________ 7
5151 _____________________________ 8
5252 You are now more than fifteen days in arrears for some or all of the rent owed under your 9
5353 rental agreement. State law requires that you be sent this Notice of arrearage. 10
5454 Unless you make payment of all rent in arrears within five days of the date this notice was 11
5555 mailed to you, an eviction action may be instituted in court against you. You can prevent the 12
5656 eviction by paying all rent owing within five days of the mailing of this notice. 13
5757 If you believe you have a legal reason for not paying this rent, you will be able to present 14
5858 that defense at the eviction hearing. The rent in arrears as of the above date is $_____________. 15
5959 _______________________________ 16
6060 (signature) 17
6161 _______________________________ 18
6262 _______________________________ 19
6363 (name and address of land-lord/owner) 20
6464 I certify that I placed in regular U.S. mail, first class postage prepaid, a copy of this Notice, 21
6565 addressed to the tenant, on the ________ day of ________________________, 20______. 22
6666 ______________________________ 23
6767 (landlord or owner signature) 24
6868 (b) A notice in substantially the following language shall suffice for the purpose of giving 25
6969 a tenant a notice of noncompliance with the rental agreement pursuant to § 34-18-36: 26
7070 NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE 27
7171 R.I.G.L. 34-18-36 28
7272 Date of Mailing: ____________________ 29
7373 TO: __________________________ 30
7474 (tenant) 31
7575 _____________________________ 32
7676 _____________________________ 33
7777 (address) 34
7878
7979
8080 LC002077 - Page 3 of 14
8181 You are in breach of your rental agreement, or of your legal duties under R.I.G.L. 34-18-1
8282 24, because you: 2
8383 ________________________________________________________________________ 3
8484 ________________________________________________________________________ 4
8585 ________________________________________________________________________ 5
8686 (provide details) 6
8787 To remedy this situation you must do the following within twenty days of the date of 7
8888 mailing of this Notice: 8
8989 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
9090 ________________________________________________________________________ 10
9191 ________________________________________________________________________ 11
9292 If you do not remedy this situation within twenty days, your rental agreement will terminate 12
9393 without further notice on __________ (date, which must be not less than twenty-one days from the 13
9494 date of mailing of this Notice). (NOTE: Under the law you lose this right to remedy your 14
9595 noncompliance if this is the second notice on the same subject within the past six months.) After 15
9696 that date an eviction case may begin in court, and you may be served with a complaint. You will 16
9797 have the right to a hearing and to present any defenses you believe you have. 17
9898 __________________________________ 18
9999 (signature) 19
100100 __________________________________ 20
101101 (name and address of land-lord/owner) 21
102102 I certify that I placed in regular U.S. mail, first class postage prepaid, a copy of this Notice, 22
103103 addressed to the tenant, on the ________ day of ________________________, 20______. 23
104104 __________________________________ 24
105105 (landlord or owner signature) 25
106106 (c) A notice in substantially the following language shall suffice for the purpose of giving 26
107107 a tenant notice of termination of tenancy pursuant to § 34-18-37: 27
108108 NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF TENANCY 28
109109 R.I.G.L. 34-18-37 29
110110 Date of Mailing: _______________________ 30
111111 TO: _________________________ 31
112112 (tenant) 32
113113 _____________________________ 33
114114 _____________________________ 34
115115
116116
117117 LC002077 - Page 4 of 14
118118 (address) 1
119119 You are hereby directed to vacate and remove your property and personal possessions from 2
120120 the premises located at _______________________________________________________ 3
121121 (address of premises) 4
122122 and deliver control of the premises to the landlord/owner on the first day after the end of your 5
123123 current rental period, namely ____________________, 20_____ rental period. 6
124124 (insert date) 7
125125 This notice is given for the purpose of terminating your tenancy. You must continue to pay 8
126126 rent as it becomes due until the date indicated above. If you fail to pay that rent, a nonpayment 9
127127 eviction action may be instituted against you. 10
128128 If you fail to vacate the premises by the date specified, an eviction may be instituted against 11
129129 you without further notice. If you believe you have a defense to this termination, you will be able 12
130130 to raise that defense at the court hearing. 13
131131 _______________________________ 14
132132 (signature) 15
133133 _______________________________ 16
134134 _______________________________ 17
135135 (name and address of land-lord/owner) 18
136136 I certify that I placed in regular U.S. mail, first class postage prepaid, a copy of this Notice, 19
137137 addressed to the tenant, on the ________ day of ________________________, 20______. 20
138138 __________________________ 21
139139 (landlord or owner signature) 22
140140 (d) A complaint in substantially the following language shall suffice for the purpose of 23
141141 commencing an eviction action for nonpayment of rent pursuant to § 34-18-35: 24
142142 State of Rhode Island 25
143143 _______________________, Sc. DISTRICT COURT 26
144144 ____________________________ _____________ DIVISION 27
145145 PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT 28
146146 ____________________________ __________________________ 29
147147 (Landlord's Name) (Tenant's Name) 30
148148 V 31
149149 __________________________________ ______________________________ 32
150150 __________________________________ ______________________________ 33
151151 __________________________________ ______________________________ 34
152152
153153
154154 LC002077 - Page 5 of 14
155155 (address) (address of rental premises) 1
156156 COMPLAINT FOR EVICTION 2
157157 FOR NONPAYMENT OF RENT 3
158158 R.I.G.L. 34-18-35 4
159159 1. Plaintiff is the owner/landlord of the rental premises listed above, in which the Defendant 5
160160 Tenant currently resides. 6
161161 2. Defendant is more than fifteen days in arrears in rental payments due to the plaintiff from 7
162162 the defendant. The rent is $__________ per __________, and the amount in arrears is $________ 8
163163 as of the __________ day of __________, 20____. 9
164164 (month) 10
165165 3. Plaintiff has served the five-day demand notice as required by law, and a copy of that 11
166166 notice is attached to this complaint. The notice was mailed to the defendant on the __________ day 12
167167 of ________, 20____. 13
168168 4. Defendant has not paid the rent in arrears or offered the full amount in arrears, either 14
169169 before or after the demand notice. Defendant remains in possession of the rental premises. 15
170170 WHEREFORE, Plaintiff requests that this Court grant a judgment for possession of the 16
171171 premises (eviction of the tenant) and for back rent in the amount of $______________, plus costs. 17
172172 __________________________________________ 18
173173 (Name & address of landlord/owner 19
174174 or attorney for landlord) 20
175175 __________________________________________ 21
176176 Date complaint filed with clerk __________________ 22
177177 (e) A complaint in substantially the following language shall suffice for the purpose of 23
178178 commencing an eviction action for noncompliance with the rental agreement pursuant to § 34-18-24
179179 36, or an eviction action for unlawfully holding over after expiration or termination of the tenancy 25
180180 pursuant to § 34-18-38: 26
181181 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 27
182182 _______________________, Sc. DISTRICT COURT 28
183183 ____________________________ _____________ DIVISION 29
184184 PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT 30
185185 ____________________________ __________________________ 31
186186 (Landlord's Name) (Tenant's Name) 32
187187 V 33
188188 __________________________________ _____________________________ 34
189189
190190
191191 LC002077 - Page 6 of 14
192192 __________________________________ _____________________________ 1
193193 (address) (address of rental premises) 2
194194 COMPLAINT FOR EVICTION 3
195195 FOR REASON OTHER THAN 4
196196 NONPAYMENT OF RENT 5
197197 R.I.G.L. 34-18-36 6
198198 R.I.G.L. 34-18-38 7
199199 1. Plaintiff Landlord(s) owns the rental premises listed above, in which the Defendant 8
200200 Tenant(s) resides. 9
201201 2. CHECK ONE: 10
202202 ____ Defendant breached the tenant's obligations under the rented agreement or § 34-18-11
203203 24 as set forth in the attached copy of the notice of noncompliance which was mailed to the 12
204204 defendant. Defendant has not cured or remedied the breach. (Plaintiff must attach copy of required 13
205205 notice of noncompliance.) 14
206206 ____ Defendant has remained in possession of the rented premises following the period set 15
207207 forth in the attached notice of termination of tenancy which was mailed to defendant. (Plaintiff 16
208208 must attach copy of required termination notice.) 17
209209 ____ Defendant breached the tenants' obligations under § 34-18-24(8), (9) or (10). 18
210210 3. Plaintiff seeks judgment for possession of the premises plus judgment in the amount of 19
211211 ___________________________________________________for ________________________ 20
212212 ______________________________________________________________________________ 21
213213 ______________________________________________________________________________ 22
214214 (explain basis for money claim) 23
215215 Plaintiff seeks costs and fees (if applicable). 24
216216 ________________________________ 25
217217 (Signature of Landlord/Owner or26
218218 Attorney) 27
219219 ________________________________ 28
220220 Date complaint filed with clerk __________ 29
221221 (f) A complaint in substantially the following language, or in similar language, shall be 30
222222 sufficient for use by landlords or by tenants to bring any claims or causes of action other than 31
223223 eviction actions: 32
224224 NOT FOR EVICTION 33
225225 State of Rhode Island 34
226226
227227
228228 LC002077 - Page 7 of 14
229229 _______________________, Sc. DISTRICT COURT 1
230230 ____________________________ _____________ DIVISION 2
231231 PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT 3
232232 ____________________________ __________________________ 4
233233 (Name) (Name) 5
234234 V 6
235235 _______________________________ __________________________ 7
236236 _______________________________ __________________________ 8
237237 _______________________________ __________________________ 9
238238 (address) (address of rental premises) 10
239239 LANDLORD-TENANT COMPLAINT 11
240240 (NOT FOR USE IN EVICTIONS) 12
241241 1.Plaintiff is the ____ Tenant ____ Landlord/Owner of the rental premises at 13
242242 ______________________________________________________________________________. 14
243243 (address of rental premises) 15
244244 2. Defendant is the ____ Tenant ____ Landlord/Owner. 16
245245 3. Plaintiff claims that defendant has breached the obligations of the rental agreement or 17
246246 law in relation to this landlord-tenant relationship, as follows: 18
247247 ________________________________________________________________________ 19
248248 ________________________________________________________________________ 20
249249 ________________________________________________________________________ 21
250250 (brief description of claim, attach extra sheet, if necessary) 22
251251 4. Plaintiff seeks the following judgment or relief from the Court: 23
252252 ________________________________________________________________________ 24
253253 ________________________________________________________________________ 25
254254 ________________________________________________________________________ 26
255255 Date Complaint Filed _______________________________ 27
256256 With Clerk: __________ (Signature of plaintiff or plaintiff's 28
257257 attorney) 29
258258 _______________________________ 30
259259 (address) 31
260260 (g) The summons in an action for eviction for nonpayment of rent pursuant to § 34-18-35 32
261261 shall be in substantially the following form: 33
262262 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 34
263263
264264
265265 LC002077 - Page 8 of 14
266266 DISTRICT COURT SUMMONS 1
267267 EVICTION-NONPAYMENT OF RENT 2
268268 DIVISION COUNTY CIVIL ACTION-FILE NO. 3
269269 Address of Court: 4
270270 ____________________________ ______________________________ 5
271271 ____________________________ ______________________________ 6
272272 ____________________________ ______________________________ 7
273273 (name & address of plaintiff landlord) (name & address of defendant-tenant) 8
274274 TO THE TENANT: You are served with an eviction complaint for nonpayment of rent. If 9
275275 you do nothing, you will lose by default and be evicted. If you claim any defense, you must 10
276276 complete the enclosed ANSWER and file it with the Court Clerk at or before the hearing date. You 11
277277 should also mail a copy to the landlord or the landlord's lawyer. Your hearing will be at 9:30 A.M. 12
278278 on the hearing date, at the court address listed above. You should go to the hearing or you may lose 13
279279 by default. If you think the case is "settled," you should still go to the hearing to make sure the 14
280280 settlement is in the court record. 15
281281 YOUR HEARING DATE IS: ________________________________. 16
282282 (Proof of Service on next page) 17
283283 ________________________________________ 18
284284 PROOF OF SERVICE 19
285285 I hereby certify that I served a copy of the Complaint and Summons & Answer upon the 20
286286 defendant(s) by delivering or leaving said papers in the following manner: 21
287287 ______ to the defendant personally; or 22
288288 ______ at his or her dwelling unit or usual place of abode at the address listed below with 23
289289 a person of suitable age then residing therein; or 24
290290 ______ if none be found, by posting conspicuously on the door to the defendant's 25
291291 dwelling unit. 26
292292 ADDRESS OF DWELLING OR USUAL PLACE OF ABODE: 27
293293 ________________________________________________________________________ 28
294294 NAME OF PERSON OF SUITABLE AGE: 29
295295 ________________________________________________________________________ 30
296296 SERVICE DATE: ________________________________________________________ 31
297297 DEPUTY SHERIFF/CONSTABLE: __________________________________________ 32
298298 ________________________________________________________________________ 33
299299 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 34
300300
301301
302302 LC002077 - Page 9 of 14
303303 I hereby certify that a copy of this Complaint and Summons was placed into regular U.S. 1
304304 Mail, postage prepaid, on the __________________ day of ________________, 20____, addressed 2
305305 to defendant at the following address: 3
306306 ________________________________________________. 4
307307 _____________________________ 5
308308 (Signature of ____________ Clerk) 6
309309 (h) The summons in an action for eviction for noncompliance with the rental agreement 7
310310 pursuant to § 34-18-36, or for unlawfully holding over after termination or expiration of tenancy 8
311311 pursuant to § 34-18-38, shall be in substantially the following form: 9
312312 State of Rhode Island 10
313313 District Court Summons 11
314314 EVICTION FOR REASON OTHER THAN NONPAYMENT OF RENT 12
315315 DIVISION COUNTY CIVIL ACTION-FILE NO. 13
316316 Address of Court: 14
317317 _______________ ___________________ ______________________ 15
318318 V 16
319319 _______________________________ _______________________________ 17
320320 _______________________________ _______________________________ 18
321321 (name & address of plaintiff landlord) (name & address of defendant- tenant) 19
322322 TO THE TENANT: You are served with an eviction complaint for noncompliance with 20
323323 rental agreement (R.I.G.L. 34-18-36), or for unlawfully holding over after termination or expiration 21
324324 of tenancy (R.I.G.L. 34-18-38). If you do nothing, you will lose by default and be evicted. If you 22
325325 claim any defense, you must complete the enclosed ANSWER and file it with the Court Clerk 23
326326 within TWENTY (20) days after you are served with this summons and complaint. You should also 24
327327 mail a copy of the ANSWER to the landlord or the landlord's lawyer. If you file the enclosed 25
328328 ANSWER, then you will receive another written notice telling you when the hearing will be. If you 26
329329 have any questions, you may consult a lawyer. If you think the case is "settled" you should still file 27
330330 the enclosed ANSWER or be sure that the written settlement is in the file at the Clerk's office. 28
331331 (Proof of Service on next page) 29
332332 ________________________________________ 30
333333 PROOF OF SERVICE 31
334334 I hereby certify that I served a copy of the Complaint, Summons, and Answer form upon 32
335335 the defendant(s) by delivering or leaving said papers in the following manner: 33
336336 ____ to the defendant personally 34
337337
338338
339339 LC002077 - Page 10 of 14
340340 ____ at his/her dwelling unit or usual place of abode at the address listed below, with a 1
341341 person of suitable age then residing therein 2
342342 ____ to an agent named below authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of 3
343343 process 4
344344 ____ further notice as required by law was given as noted below 5
345345 Address of dwelling or usual place of abode: 6
346346 ________________________________________________________________________ 7
347347 Name of person of suitable age or of agent: 8
348348 ________________________________________________________________________ 9
349349 Service Date: ____________________ 10
350350 Deputy Sheriff/Constable (circle one): 11
351351 __________________________ 12
352352 (signature) 13
353353 (i) The summons in an action relating to any claims by tenants, or by landlords other than 14
354354 for eviction, shall be in substantially the following form: 15
355355 State of Rhode Island 16
356356 District Court Summons 17
357357 ______________ ____________________ _____________________________ 18
358358 DIVISION COUNTY CIVIL ACTION-FILE NO. 19
359359 _____________________________ __________________________ 20
360360 PLAINTIFF PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY 21
361361 __________________________ 22
362362 ADDRESS 23
363363 vs 24
364364 _________________ ________________ 25
365365 DEFENDANT 26
366366 __________________________ 27
367367 DEFENDANT'S ADDRESS 28
368368 ______________________________ __________________________ 29
369369 TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT: 30
370370 You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon the plaintiff's attorney, whose name 31
371371 and address appears above, an answer to the complaint which is herewith served upon you. Your 32
372372 answer must be made within 20 days after service of this summons, excluding the date of service. 33
373373 The original must be filed in writing with this court. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will 34
374374
375375
376376 LC002077 - Page 11 of 14
377377 be taken against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. 1
378378 ____________ _________________________ 2
379379 DATE CLERK 3
380380 ________________________ __________________________ 4
381381 SEAL OF THE DISTRICT COURT DATE RECEIVED 5
382382 ________________________________________________________________________ 6
383383 PROOF OF SERVICE 7
384384 I hereby certify that on the date below I served a copy of this summons and a copy of the 8
385385 complaint received herewith upon the above-named defendant by delivering or leaving said papers 9
386386 in the following manner: 10
387387 □ to the defendant personally. 11
388388 □ at his dwelling house or usual place of abode at the address entered below, with a 12
389389 person of suitable age and discretion then residing therewith. 13
390390 □ to an agent named below authorized by appointment or by law to receive service 14
391391 of process. 15
392392 □ Further notice as required by statute was given as noted on the reverse side. 16
393393 ________________________________________________________________________ 17
394394 Address of Dwelling or Usual Place of Abode 18
395395 ________________________________________________________________________ 19
396396 Name of Authorized Agent or Person of Suitable Age 20
397397 ______________________________ __________________________ 21
398398 Date Deputy Sheriff/Constable 22
399399 _________________________ __________________________ 23
400400 SERVICE FEE $____________ 24
401401 (j) The blank answer served in eviction actions shall be in substantially the following form: 25
402402 State of Rhode Island 26
403403 _______________________, Sc. DISTRICT COURT 27
404404 ____________________________ _____________ DIVISION 28
405405 PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT 29
406406 ____________________________ __________________________ 30
407407 (Landlord's Name) (Tenant's Name) 31
408408 V 32
409409 __________________________________ __________________________ 33
410410 __________________________________ __________________________ 34
411411
412412
413413 LC002077 - Page 12 of 14
414414 (address) (address of rental premises) 1
415415 INSTRUCTIONS TO THE DEFENDANT 2
416416 Listed below are several possible defenses to the eviction action your landlord has filed 3
417417 against you. If one or more of these defenses apply to your case, check the appropriate box(es). If 4
418418 space is provided, write in facts in support of that defense. Use additional paper if necessary. Some 5
419419 of these defenses are technical, and there may be others not listed here. You may consult a lawyer 6
420420 and seek representation before filling out this Answer. 7
421421 TENANT'S ANSWER 8
422422 The complaint against me is untrue or fails to state the following facts: 9
423423 I offered rent, but my landlord refused it. I am still able and willing to pay the rent. 10
424424 I have a defense for nonpayment because the landlord has failed to maintain the premises 11
425425 in a fit and habitable condition. 12
426426 My rent has not been paid, but I have a legally justifiable defense for not paying: 13
427427 I have a written lease which does not expire until: 14
428428 I have not received the required notice from the landlord before this complaint was served 15
429429 on me. 16
430430 The landlord is trying to evict me because I have exercised my legal rights by calling code 17
431431 enforcement officials, or by taking the following protected action: 18
432432 I have other defenses as follow: 19
433433 WHEREFORE: Because of the defense(s) indicated above, I ask the court to grant a 20
434434 judgment in my favor and not order me to be evicted. 21
435435 COUNTERCLAIM 22
436436 Instructions: If you believe you are entitled to be awarded damages or money for any reason 23
437437 from your landlord, you may fill out the statement below: 24
438438 I hereby sue my landlord for the amount of $_____________. 25
439439 I believe I am entitled to receive an award of this amount because 26
440440 ________________________________________________________________________ 27
441441 __________________________________ __________________________ 28
442442 Name of Defendant (or attorney) Signature of Defendant 29
443443 ___________________________________ 30
444444 Address 31
445445 ___________________________________ 32
446446 Telephone number 33
447447
448448
449449 LC002077 - Page 13 of 14
450450 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1
451451 ========
452452 LC002077
453453 ========
454454
455455
456456 LC002077 - Page 14 of 14
457457 EXPLANATION
458458 BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
459459 OF
460460 A N A C T
461461 RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
462462 ***
463463 This act would increase the notification time about rent increases and termination of 1
464464 tenancy for month-to-month tenants. 2
465465 This act would take effect upon passage. 3
466466 ========
467467 LC002077
468468 ========
469469