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S 2474Real Estate

Property - Residential Landlord and Tenant Act

This bill restricts public access to the rental registry, extends landlord registration deadlines, and allows unregistered landlords to evict tenants.

Held for study
Population
Affected
42
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Housing & Municipal Government

Plain-English Summary

This bill amends the "Residential Landlord and Tenant Act" regarding the statewide mandatory rental registry for properties built before 1978. It extends the deadline for landlords to register with the Department of Health from 2024 to October 1, 2026. The bill changes the registry from a publicly accessible database to a restricted one, accessible only to tenants, the judiciary, and government agencies. It requires the Department of Health to issue lead conformance renewals within seven days. Significantly, it removes a provision that previously prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent if the landlord had not complied with registration requirements.

For younger readers

There is a rule that people who own rental houses (landlords) must put their names on a list to show their houses are safe from lead paint, which can make kids sick. This bill gives landlords two more years to sign up for this list. It also changes the rules so that strangers cannot look at this list on the computer; only the people living in the house and the government can see it. Also, it removes a rule that said landlords couldn't kick people out for not paying rent if the landlord forgot to sign up on the list.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Landlords, Tenants, Department of Health, Judiciary, Property Managers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures that tenants retain the specific right to access the database to verify if their own rental unit is compliant with lead safety regulations and landlord contact information.
  • Maintains the requirement for landlords to register pre-1978 properties and provide lead conformance certificates, keeping the focus on public health and lead poisoning prevention.
  • Allocates civil penalties collected from non-compliant landlords to a restricted receipt account specifically for lead hazard mitigation, abatement, and poisoning prevention programs.
  • Removes the critical enforcement mechanism that prevented non-compliant landlords from evicting tenants, thereby reducing the leverage tenants had to ensure safe housing conditions.
  • Eliminates public access to the rental registry, which reduces transparency and hinders housing advocates, researchers, and community organizations from identifying neglectful landlords.
  • Delays the mandatory registration deadline by two years (to 2026), slowing down the state's ability to comprehensively track rental stock and ensure lead safety compliance.
For Conservatives
  • Restores property rights by removing the prohibition on evictions, allowing landlords to remove non-paying tenants even if the landlord has administrative paperwork pending.
  • Protects landlord privacy by removing the "publicly accessible" requirement for the database, ensuring that personal contact information is not available to the general public.
  • Imposes strict limits on the Department of Health to prevent bureaucratic delays, mandating a 7-day turnaround for renewals and establishing that submitted affidavits count as compliance if the state is slow to act.
  • Maintains a government-mandated registry for private property owners, which continues to be viewed by some as an overreach of state authority into private business.
  • Continues to impose civil fines on property owners for administrative failures regarding registration, rather than focusing solely on actual safety violations.
  • Empowers the Attorney General to commence actions for injunctive relief and penalties against landlords, maintaining a level of state prosecutorial power over property management.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 40 additions · 18 deletions

SECTION 1. Sections 34-18-46 and 34-18-58 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-18 entitled "Residential Landlord and Tenant Act" are hereby amended to read as follows: 34-18-46. Retaliatory conduct prohibited.

(a) Except as provided in this section, a landlord may not retaliate by increasing rent or decreasing services or by bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession because:

(1) The tenant has complained to a governmental agency charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building or housing code of a violation applicable to the premises materially affecting health and safety; or

(2) The tenant has complained to the landlord of a violation under § 34-18-22; or

(3) The tenant has organized or become a member of a tenants’ union or similar organization; or

(4) The tenant has availed himself or herself of any other lawful rights and remedies.

(b) If the landlord acts in violation of subsection (a), the tenant is entitled to the remedies provided in § 34-18-34 and has a defense in any retaliatory action against him or her for possession. In an action by or against the tenant, evidence of a complaint within six (6) months before the alleged act of retaliation creates a presumption that the landlord’s conduct was in retaliation. The presumption does not arise if the tenant made the complaint after notice of a proposed rental increase or diminution of services. “Presumption” means that the trier of fact must find the existence of the fact presumed unless and until evidence is introduced which would support a finding of its nonexistence.

(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), this subsection shall not be considered retaliatory, and a landlord may bring an action for possession if:

(1) The violation of the applicable building or housing code was caused primarily by lack of reasonable care by the tenant, a member of his or her family, or other person on the premises with his or her consent; or

(2) The tenant is in default in rent; or

(3) Compliance with the applicable lead mitigation act, building or housing code or other public action such as eminent domain, requires alteration, remodeling, or demolition which would effectively deprive the tenant of use of the dwelling unit, and the relocation requirements have been met by the municipality.

(d) The maintenance of an action under subsection (c) of this section does not release the landlord from liability under § 34-18-28(b). 34-18-58. Statewide mandatory rental registry.

(a) All landlords who lease a residential property constructed prior to 1978 and that is not exempt from the requirements of chapter 128.1 of title 42 (“lead hazard mitigation”), shall register the following information with the department of health:

(1) Names of individual landlords or any the business entity or property management company responsible for leasing to a tenant under this chapter;

(2) An active business address, PO box, or home address;

(3) An active email address;

(4) An active telephone number that would reasonably facilitate communications with the tenant of each dwelling unit; and

(5) Any property manager, management company, or agent for service of the property, along with the business address, PO box, or home address of the property manager, management company, or agent and including:

(i) An active email address; and

(ii) An active telephone number, for each such person or legal entity, if applicable, for each dwelling unit; and

(6) Information necessary to identify each dwelling unit.

(b) All landlords who lease a residential property constructed prior to 1978 and that is not exempt from the requirements of chapter 128.1 of title 42 (“lead hazard mitigation”) shall, in addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, for each dwelling unit, provide the department of health with a valid certificate of conformance in accordance with chapter 128.1 of title 42 (“lead hazard mitigation”) and regulations derived therefrom, or evidence sufficient to demonstrate that they are exempt from the requirement to obtain a certificate of conformance.

(c) Contingent upon available funding, the department of health, or designee, shall create a publicly accessible an online database containing the information obtained in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section, no later than nine (9) months following the effective date of this section [June 20, 2023]. The information contained in this database shall not be available to the public and shall only be accessible to:

(1) Tenant(s) who reside in the rental unit they are requesting information on;

(2) The department of health (hereinafter referred to in this section as (“DOH”);

(3) Any city or town in the State of Rhode Island;

(4) The Rhode Island judiciary; and

(5) Any other Rhode Island governmental agency with a legitimate purpose; provided and only if that, purpose is related to lead or code enforcement and in no case shall the information contained in the database be used for any other purpose.

(d) All landlords subject to the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section as of September 1, 2024, shall register the information required by those subsections no later than October 1, 2024 2026. A landlord who acquires a rental property, or begins leasing a rental property to a new tenant, after September 1, 2024, shall register the information required by subsections (a) and (b) of this section within thirty (30) sixty (60) days after the acquisition or lease to a tenant, whichever date is earlier. All landlords subject to the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall, following initial registration, and shall re-register by October 1 of each year in order to update any information required to comply with subsections (a) and (b) of this section, but is not required to register each year if there has been no change in the information to be updated, or to confirm that the information already supplied remains accurate.

(e) Any person or entity subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this section who fails to comply with the registration provision in subsection (d) of this section, shall be subject to a civil fine of at least fifty dollars ($50.00) per month for failure to register the information required by subsection (a) of this section, or at least one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) per month, for failure to register the information required by subsection (b) of this section.

(f) All civil penalties imposed pursuant to subsection (e) of this section shall be payable to the department of health. There is to be established a restricted receipt account to be known as the “rental registry account” which shall be a separate account within the department of health. Penalties received by the department pursuant to the terms of this section shall be deposited into the account. Monies deposited into the account shall be transferred to the department of health and shall be expended for the purpose of administering the provisions of this section or lead hazard mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention. No penalties shall be levied under this section prior to October 1, 2024.

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 34-18-35, a landlord or any agent of a landlord may not commence an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in any court of competent jurisdiction, unless, at the time the action is commenced, the landlord is in compliance with the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section. A landlord must present the court with evidence of compliance with subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section at the time of filing an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in order to proceed with the civil action.

(h) The department of health may commence an action for injunctive relief and additional civil penalties of up to fifty dollars ($50.00) per violation against any landlord who repeatedly fails to comply with subsection (a) of this section. The attorney general may commence an action for injunctive relief and additional civil penalties of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation against any landlord who repeatedly fails to comply with subsection (b) of this section. Any penalties obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be used for the purposes of lead hazard mitigation, abatement, enforcement, or poisoning prevention, or for the purpose of administering the provisions of this section. No penalties shall be levied under this section prior to October 1, 2024.

(i) The DOH or any related agency shall allow any landlord required to register in accordance with this section, to register free of charge.

(j) The DOH shall strictly comply with the requirements of this section and shall not create any additional burdens, regulations or require more information, than is required by this section or the requirements of chapter 128.1 of title 42.

(k) The DOH shall promptly issue any lead inspection documentation requested by a landlord to evidence compliance with this section and the requirements of chapter 128.1 of title 42. This documentation shall include, but is not limited to, the issuance of any lead conformance renewals based on visual affidavit, and such renewals shall be issued no more than seven (7) days after submission by the landlord to the DOH. If the DOH, after receiving a visual affidavit for renewal, fails to issue a renewal certificate within seven (7) days, the landlord shall keep evidence of the submission, until the DOH issues the renewal and said affidavit so submitted shall be considered prima facie evidence of the landlord’s compliance with this section and not liable for any fines hereunder.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.