Rhode Island Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, rent increase notice, the 5-day demand and the eviction timeline in Rhode Island, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Rhode Island packs almost every rental rule into one chapter, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-18. It is short, it is strict on deadlines, and the General Assembly has been adding to it. Rent increase notice doubled in 2024. Convenience fees on rent were banned in 2025. A statewide rental registry now gates your right to evict for nonpayment.

Here is what a small landlord in Rhode Island has to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is one month's rent. You cannot demand or receive more than one month's periodic rent as a security deposit (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-19(a)).

You have 20 days to return it. The clock runs from the termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, whichever happens last. With the money goes an itemized written notice of every deduction (§ 34-18-19(b)).

You can deduct three things. Unpaid rent, the reasonable cost of cleaning and rubbish removal, and damage beyond normal wear and tear. Nothing else (§ 34-18-19(b)).

Furnished units get a second deposit. If the replacement value of the furniture you supply tops $5,000, you may take a separate furniture deposit of up to one month's rent, returnable on the same 20-day clock (§ 34-18-19(c)).

The penalty is double. Withhold a deposit in bad faith and the tenant can recover the amount wrongfully withheld plus damages equal to twice that amount, plus reasonable attorney fees (§ 34-18-19(d)).

You cannot write around it. A rental agreement that waives the deposit rules does not hold, and a buyer who takes over the building takes over the deposit obligations (§ 34-18-19(e), (f)).

Rhode Island does not require you to hold a tenant deposit in a separate escrow account, and it does not require you to pay interest on it. Keep it separate anyway. It makes the 20-day accounting simple.

Late fees and other charges

Chapter 34-18 sets no late fee cap and no statutory grace period on rent. Your lease sets the fee. Two newer rules shape how you charge it.

Every fee beyond rent belongs in the lease, next to the rent. If a fee is not disclosed there, the tenant can recover what they paid. On a month-to-month arrangement with no written lease, a change to any fee needs 30 days' written notice (§ 34-18-15).

No convenience fees on rent payments. You cannot charge a tenant a convenience fee to make a rent payment, and the ban took effect January 1, 2025 (§ 34-18-61).

No application fees. You cannot charge a prospective tenant a rental application fee. If they hand you a credit or background report dated within 90 days, you use that at no charge. If they do not, you may recover only your actual cost of pulling the report, and you owe them a copy. That rule took effect January 1, 2024 (§ 34-18-59).

Separately, rent has to sit 15 days in arrears before you can start the nonpayment process, so treat 15 days as the practical floor no matter what your late fee says (§ 34-18-35).

Rent increases

Sixty days' written notice. A rent increase on a residential tenancy needs at least 60 days' notice before the effective date (§ 34-18-16.1).

One hundred twenty days for tenants over 62. Month-to-month tenants older than 62 get 120 days' notice. Those numbers came from P.L. 2024, ch. 243 and ch. 244, effective June 24, 2024, and they replaced the old 30 and 60 day periods (§ 34-18-16.1).

Rhode Island has no rent control and no statute capping the size of an increase. The notice period is the whole of the rule.

Entering the unit

Two days' notice, at reasonable times. Outside an emergency, you give at least two days' notice before entering for inspection, repairs or showings, and the tenant cannot unreasonably refuse (§ 34-18-26). You may enter without notice in an emergency, or if the tenant has been gone more than seven days and the property needs protecting.

Abuse the right and the tenant can get an injunction, actual damages and attorney fees (§ 34-18-45).

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Written notice, in a form substantially like the one at § 34-18-56(c).

Week-to-week, 10 days
Month-to-month or any period over a month and under a year, 30 days
Year-to-year, three months before the occupation year ends

Either side can use these (§ 34-18-37).

When rent isn't paid

Wait 15 days. Any part of the rent has to be due and in arrears for 15 days before you act (§ 34-18-35(a)).
Mail the demand. Send written notice demanding the full amount owed and stating that the tenancy ends if it is not paid within five days of mailing.
File on day six at the earliest. A complaint for eviction for nonpayment cannot be filed before the sixth day after mailing (§ 34-18-35(b)).

A tenant who pays everything owed before you file kills the case. At the hearing, a tenant who did not get one of these demand notices in the previous six months can still stop the eviction by paying the full arrears plus court costs (§ 34-18-35(c)).

Check the registry first. You cannot commence a nonpayment eviction without showing you are compliant with the statewide rental registry at the time of filing (§ 34-18-58).

The eviction process

Filing goes to the district court for the division where the property sits.

Nonpayment. Five-day demand, then the complaint (§ 34-18-35).
Lease violation. A written notice of noncompliance that specifies the breach and gives 20 days from mailing to cure, with termination no sooner than 21 days out. Fix it in time and the tenancy continues. No cure period applies to certain health and safety code violations (§ 34-18-36).
Holdover. After a proper termination notice expires, you file for possession (§ 34-18-38).
Appeal window. Either side has five days from entry of judgment to claim an appeal to superior court (§ 9-12-10.1).
Execution. If nobody appeals and the judgment is unpaid, execution issues on the sixth day after judgment, and it goes to the division of sheriffs or a certified constable. It stays good for a year (§ 34-18-48).

Two things to stay far away from. You cannot take possession yourself or shut off heat, water, hot water, electricity or gas to force a tenant out (§ 34-18-44). And you cannot retaliate. If the tenant complained to a code agency or to you within the previous six months, the court presumes a rent increase, a service cut or an eviction is retaliation (§ 34-18-46).

Repairs and habitability

You comply with building and housing codes, keep the place fit to live in, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, supply running water and reasonable hot water at all times, and provide heat from October 1 to May 1. You supply rubbish receptacles and arrange removal (§ 34-18-22).

You carry general liability insurance of at least $100,000 for people injured on the premises through your negligence, and you show proof to the tenant at lease signing and at every renewal. That requirement took effect January 1, 2022 (§ 34-18-22).

A tenant who gives you written notice of a health and safety breach can end the tenancy if you do not fix it in 20 days, and can recover actual damages (§ 34-18-28). Cut off heat, water or utilities and the tenant can buy the service and deduct the cost, claim the drop in rental value, or move to substitute housing and stop paying rent (§ 34-18-31).

The short version

Deposit cap of one month's rent, returned in 20 days with an itemized statement
Bad faith withholding costs you twice the amount plus attorney fees
No late fee cap in the statute, but no eviction until rent is 15 days late
No convenience fees on rent, no application fees
60 days' notice for a rent increase, 120 days if the tenant is over 62
Two days' notice to enter, 30 days to end a month-to-month
Five-day demand, file on day six, execution on the sixth day after judgment
Register in the statewide rental registry before you file for nonpayment

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 20-day deposit clock, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a Rhode Island judge would ask for, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or town may add rules. Talk to a Rhode Island attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.