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S2269AHousing

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

Gives landlords 10 days to fix housing violations before tenants are notified, and requires notifying tenants of violation hearings.

Introduced34 Yea4 Nay0 Not voting
Population
Affected
28
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Housing & Municipal Government

Plain-English Summary

This bill amends the Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code regarding how notices of code violations are handled. When a housing code violation is found, the property owner or agent is given 10 days to fix the issue or dispute the violation before the tenants are notified. If the issue is not resolved or disputed within those 10 days, the enforcing officer must formally notify the affected tenants about the violation. Additionally, the bill requires that tenants be notified of any official hearings regarding alleged violations in or around their rented homes.

For younger readers

Imagine you rent an apartment and something is broken or unsafe, like a leaking roof. If a city inspector finds out, this rule says they have to tell the landlord first. The landlord gets 10 days to fix it or explain why it is not a problem. If the landlord does not do anything in those 10 days, the inspector has to tell the people living there about the problem. It also says that if there is a meeting with a judge about the broken apartment, the people living there must be invited.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
TenantsLandlordsProperty ManagersMunicipal Code Enforcement OfficersHousing Board of Review
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill outlines administrative procedures for notifying property owners and tenants of housing code violations. It respects due process by giving landlords a chance to refute claims and does not appear to infringe on free speech or involve unreasonable searches.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Empowers tenants by mandating they receive formal notification if housing code violations are not promptly addressed, increasing transparency about their living conditions.
  • Requires enforcing officers to notify tenants of any hearings regarding violations, giving renters a voice and visibility into legal proceedings that directly impact their housing safety.
  • Creates a documented paper trail of unaddressed violations being communicated to residents, which can help tenants legally break leases or demand repairs without retaliation.
  • Grants landlords a 10-day grace period where violations are hidden from tenants, potentially keeping renters in the dark about immediate health or safety hazards in their homes.
  • Places the administrative burden on municipal code enforcement to track the 10-day period and mail notices to tenants, which underfunded local agencies might struggle to execute efficiently.
  • Fails to impose harsher financial penalties or immediate consequences on property owners who frequently violate housing codes, focusing instead on procedural notification delays.
For Conservatives
  • Protects property owners' reputations by giving them a 10-day window to quietly fix or dispute violations before tenants are alarmed or notified.
  • Prevents unnecessary panic or disputes between landlords and tenants over minor or easily correctable code infractions by delaying tenant notification.
  • Preserves the due process rights of landlords by allowing them time to refute false or inaccurate violation claims made by inspectors before it impacts their tenant relationships.
  • Increases the bureaucratic burden on local governments by mandating strict, multi-step notification procedures involving certified mail for tenants.
  • Mandating that tenants be notified of all hearings could encourage tenant activism against landlords, complicating legal proceedings and increasing legal costs for property owners.
  • Expands the regulatory requirements for municipal code enforcement offices, potentially leading to increased local government spending and higher property taxes to cover the administrative costs.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 16 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 the owner, occupant, operator, or agent shall be afforded ten (10) days from receipt of such notice to refute the alleged violation or remediate the condition prior to any notice being provided to tenants; and

(6) If the alleged violation is not refuted or remediated within the ten (10) day period, notice shall then 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.