(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.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-17

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Corporate unit: means a city or town, as the case may be, delegated with the powers to provide for the enforcement of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Dwelling: means any enclosed space which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants; provided, that "temporary housing" as defined in this section, shall not be regarded as a dwelling. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Enforcing officer: means the official charged with the administration and enforcement of this chapter, or the officer's authorized representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Occupant: means any person, over one year of age, living, sleeping, cooking, or eating in, or actually having possession of, a dwelling unit or a rooming unit, and/or structure, except that in dwelling units a guest will not be considered an occupant. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Operator: means any person who has charge, care, or control of a building, or part thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Owner: means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:

    (a)  Has legal title to any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or

    (b)  Has charge, care, or control of any dwelling, dwelling unit, or structure as owner or agent of the owner, or an executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian of the estate of the owner. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5

  • Person: means and includes any individual, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Premises: means a platted lot or part of a platted lot or unplatted lot or parcel of land, or plot of land, either occupied or unoccupied by any dwelling or non dwelling structure, and includes any building, accessory structure, or other structure on that land. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Rooming unit: means any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking or eating purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • Structure: means all structures used or intended to be used for commercial, business, or industrial use or occupancy. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-24.3-5
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9

(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 to seek a hearing in the manner provided by this chapter, or after 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.

History of Section.
P.L. 1970, ch. 325, § 1; P.L. 1972, ch. 118, § 7; P.L. 1985, ch. 223, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 128, § 1; P.L. 2000, ch. 72, § 1.