Tenant advocates in Rhode Island secured several housing policy wins during the 2023 legislative session, signaling a commitment among lawmakers to enact permanent tenant protections that divert the threat of evictions and keep renters stably housed amid a worsening housing crisis in the state. After identifying housing as its top priority this year, Rhode Island’s 2023 General Assembly passed legislation in June involving the creation of a statewide rental registry, prohibitions on rental application fees, and the sealing of eviction records under certain circumstances, among several other pieces of housing-related legislation.
By enacting such protections, legislators in the state seek not only to protect tenants from the disparate impact of rising rental costs, which have increased by more than 11% over the past year, but also to keep renters stably housed amid a shortage of affordable and available rental units for the state’s lowest-income renters – a shortage that was only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on statewide eviction rates. Notably, with the passage of Senate Bill 912, Senate Bill 804, and House Bill 6329, Rhode Island becomes one of only a few states nationwide to have created not only a statewide rental registry but to have enacted legislation prohibiting landlords from charging prospective tenants application fees and allowing eviction records to be sealed from public view.
Efforts conducted by housing advocates were critical to securing protections for renter households. Before the General Assembly voted on the three major housing bills in front of the Assembly in June, tenant advocates held a “Homes for All” rally at the Rhode Island State House, urging lawmakers to focus on enacting legislation that protected renters at risk of eviction. One of the groups involved in advocating for the passage of more permanent protections for tenants was the Housing Network of Rhode Island (HNRI), a member of NLIHC’s 2022-2023 End Rental Arrears to Stop Evictions (ERASE) Cohort.
“The Homes RI coalition and our backbone organization, Housing Network of Rhode Island, are extremely encouraged that this session, our State General Assembly recognized the need for expanded tenant protections in addition to focusing on housing production and land use reforms,” said Katie West, the director of strategic initiatives at HNRI. “Among key legislative successes, we are celebrating the passage of legislation that prohibits rental application fees, establishes a statewide rental registry, and allows for the sealing of eviction records in certain circumstances. These types of policies are essential to leveling the playing field for tenants and increasing housing stability while we also undertake measures to address housing supply and affordability. The passage of these bills demonstrates that elected officials are responding to the housing crisis and helps set a foundation for a forward trajectory. We applaud our General Assembly for their leadership. Ultimately, we could not have secured these wins without the support of fellow housing advocates, and we are deeply grateful for our local partners and the national the partnership of the ERASE cohort in this work.”
As a result of the passage of Rhode Island’s rental registry bill this year, landlords will be mandated to register their property in order to protect renters from the threat of being poisoned by lead in older homes. As required by the bill, every rental property will have to register with the state’s Department of Health, and any rental unit that was built before 1978 (that is, before lead paint was outlawed) will need to be certified as safe. Any landlord who refuses to register their property or secure the necessary certification from the Department of Health will be subject to a fine of $1,000 per violation, per person.
Additionally, under the state’s application fees bill, no landlord, broker, property manager, or property owner is allowed to ask any potential tenant to pay a rental application fee. In the state, on average, rental application fees result in a total of $500 to $750 being spent on miscellaneous rental application-related costs, with prospective tenants usually applying for more than a dozen units at a time. The bill also allows for “portable” background checks, meaning that tenants will be allowed to provide their own credit and background checks to landlords who require them, as long as checks have been made within 90 days, allowing applicants to avoid having to pay for new checks every time they apply for a rental unit. The bill passed unanimously and with no debate on the House floor in April.
Rhode Island also joined 10 states, including the District of Columbia, that have enacted eviction record sealing or expungement legislation. Under Senate Bill 912, a tenant’s eviction record may be sealed by the court at least 30 days after the conclusion of the eviction case. To apply to have an eviction record sealed, a landlord or tenant must file a motion with the court. The law includes important stipulations, however. To be eligible for sealing, an eviction case must either have been dismissed, or the terms of the judgement must have been satisfied, or any money owed to the landlord, on behalf of the tenant, must have been paid back. Under the new law, a tenant is only eligible to apply to have their record sealed once every five years.
As mentioned, HNRI is a member of the 2022-2023 ERASE Cohort. The 2022-2023 ERASE Cohort is a group of 34 state and local nonprofit organizations that are conducting on-the-ground partnership development, capacity building, outreach and education, and policy reform/systems change work to promote housing stability, advance equity, and prevent evictions for renter households all over the nation. On July 27, HNRI will be featured as a panelist in NLIHC’s ERASE summer webinar series highlighting the efforts of cohort members to enact tenant protections at the state and local levels. Register for the webinar here.
Learn more about NLIHC’s ERASE project at: https://nlihc.org/erase-project