Skip to main content
H 7658Cities & Towns

Towns and Cities - Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code - Notice of Violations

This bill requires code enforcement officers to notify tenants about housing code violations and related hearings for their building.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 11, 2026Committee House Municipal Government & Housing

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the Rhode Island Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code to increase transparency for tenants. Currently, when a code enforcement officer identifies a violation in a building, the notice is sent to the property owner or agent. This bill requires that the officer also provide a copy of the violation notice to the residents affected by the issue, either in person or by certified mail. Additionally, the bill mandates that tenants be notified of any hearings related to these violations. This ensures tenants are aware of safety or maintenance issues in their homes.

For younger readers

Imagine if an inspector found something broken or unsafe in the building where you live, like a bad roof or broken stairs. Right now, the inspector only has to tell the landlord about it. This new law says the inspector must also tell the people living there about the problem. It also says that if there is a meeting to talk about fixing the problem, the people living there must be invited. This helps make sure families know if their home has safety problems and what is being done to fix them.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Residential TenantsLandlords and Property OwnersMunicipal Code Enforcement OfficersProperty Management CompaniesHousing Boards of Review
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Empowers tenants by ensuring they are fully informed about safety and maintenance violations in their homes, allowing them to better advocate for their rights and living conditions.
  • Increases accountability for landlords by making code violations transparent to the residents, potentially pressuring negligent property owners to address repairs more promptly.
  • Promotes housing justice by ensuring that renters, who are often lower-income or marginalized, have the same access to critical information about the property as the property owner.
  • Does not explicitly provide funding or resources for legal representation for tenants at the hearings they are now notified about, potentially leaving them informed but unsupported.
  • Could lead to tenant anxiety or panic regarding the safety of their housing without providing immediate pathways for relocation or rent abatement within this specific bill.
  • Relies on municipal code enforcement officers to execute the notification process, which may be inconsistent in underfunded or overburdened municipalities.
For Conservatives
  • Promotes transparency and honesty in the contractual relationship between landlord and tenant, ensuring all parties are aware of the physical state of the property.
  • Encourages personal responsibility by giving tenants the accurate information they need to decide whether to remain in a lease or seek other housing arrangements.
  • Upholds the rule of law by ensuring that existing safety codes are transparently enforced rather than hidden in administrative correspondence between bureaucrats and owners.
  • Increases government bureaucracy and administrative costs by requiring certified mailings to multiple parties for every violation, which effectively increases the burden on taxpayers.
  • Interferes with private business operations by mandating how and when a property owner's clients (tenants) are contacted by the state regarding property management issues.
  • May encourage adversarial relationships and frivolous litigation between tenants and landlords based on minor technical violations that are already being addressed.

Votes

Loading votes...

Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 12 additions · 3 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 45-24.3-17 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24.3 entitled "Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code" is hereby amended to read as follows: 45-24.3-17. Notice of violation.

(a) Whenever the enforcing officer determines that any dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure, or the premises surrounding any of these, fails to meet the requirements established in this chapter or in applicable rules and regulations issued pursuant to this chapter, he or she shall issue a notice stating the alleged failures and advising the owner, occupant, operator, or agent that the failures must be corrected. This notice shall:

(1) Be in writing;

(2) State the alleged violations of the chapter or of applicable rules and regulations issued pursuant to it;

(3) Describe the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure where the violations are alleged to exist or to have been committed;

(4) Provide a reasonable time, not to exceed thirty (30) days, for the correction of any alleged violation; and

(5) Be served upon the owner, occupant, operator, or agent of the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure personally, or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known place of residence of the owner, occupant, operator, or agent; and

(6) Be served to the residents affected by said violations of the dwelling, in person, or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, and made available for copy and review upon request by a tenant at a local municipal code enforcement office.

(b) The owner of any dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit or structure who is a nonresident of the state of Rhode Island shall have and continuously maintain with the city or town clerk where the property is located a registered agent, which agent may be either an individual who resides in this state or corporation authorized to do business in this state. The landlord’s designation shall be in writing, shall include the name and address of the agent, and shall include the street address of each property designated to the agent. The agent so appointed shall be the agent of the owner upon whom any notice process or demand required or permitted by law to be served may be served. Any person who fails to maintain a registered agent shall be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars ($100).

(c) If one or more persons to whom the notice is addressed cannot be found after diligent effort to do so, service may be made upon the person or persons by posting a notice in or about the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure described in the notice, or by causing the notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, for a period of three (3) consecutive days.

(d) At the end of the period of time allowed for the correction of any alleged violation, the enforcing officer shall reinspect the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure described in the notice.

(e) If upon reinspection the alleged violations are determined by the enforcing officer not to have been corrected, he or she shall issue a second notice of violation on which constitutes an order requiring that the then existing failures to meet the requirements of this chapter, or of applicable existing rules or regulations issued pursuant to it, shall be corrected within a reasonable time allowed, but not to exceed thirty (30) days after the date of the reinspection, if the person served with the notice does not petition for a hearing on the matter in the manner provided by this chapter.

(f) The enforcing officer shall cause a copy of the second notice to be posted in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure where the violations are alleged to exist, and shall serve it in the manner provided in this section.

(g) The enforcing officer, after the expiration of time granted the person served with the second notice shall summon the owner, occupant, operator, or agent to a hearing by the housing board of review or by a court of competent jurisdiction. If the dwelling or dwelling unit is leased, the enforcing officer shall notify the tenant-occupant of any and all hearings pertaining to alleged violations in and around such tenant-occupant’s dwelling or dwelling unit, either by certified mail or by causing a copy of the summons to be posted in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure where the violations are alleged to exist. to seek a hearing in the manner provided by this chapter, or after final A final decision by the housing board of review or by a court of competent jurisdiction to which an appeal has been taken, shall cause the second notice to be recorded in the land registry of the corporate unit.

(h) The notice shall state that a cumulative civil penalty has been imposed. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no notice and lien recorded under this chapter shall be released until the violation has been abated and the penalty imposed, as provided for in § 45-24.3-18, has been paid.

(i) All subsequent transferees of the dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, or structure in connection with which a second notice has been so recorded, are deemed to have notice of the continuing existence of the alleged violations, and are liable to all penalties and procedures provided by this chapter and by applicable rules and regulations issued pursuant to it to the same degree as was their transferor.

(j) It is unlawful for the owner of any residential or non-residential building upon whom a notice of violation or order has been served to sell, transfer, mortgage, lease, or dispose of the building to another until the provisions of the notice or order have been complied with or until the owner first furnishes to the grantee, lessee, or mortgagee prior to the transfer, lease, or mortgage, a true copy of any notice or order issued by the enforcing officer, and, at the same time, notify the enforcing officer, in writing, of the intent to transfer, lease, or mortgage either by delivering the notice of intent to the enforcing officer and receiving a receipt for the notice, or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, giving the name and address of the person to whom the transfer, lease, or mortgage is proposed. A transferee, lessee, or mortgagee who has received actual or constructive notice of the existence of a notice or order is bound by the notice or order as of the date of the transfer, mortgage, or lease without service of further notice upon him or her.

(k) The notice, once recorded in the land registry, is effective for a period of three (3) years from the date of recording, and, in the absence of an intervening renewal by the enforcing officer or by the enforcing officer for the corporate unit taking other action as provided by this chapter, shall cease to be a notice of violation at the expiration of the three-year term. Notices already of record as of June 18, 1985 will, in the absence of an intervening renewal by the enforcing officer or by other action taken by the enforcing officer for the corporate unit under this chapter, cease to be a notice of violation at the expiration of three (3) years.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.