Warwick, RI Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)
Key Facts
- Registration authority
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-57, § 26-42
- Who must register
- Any owner leasing residential property in city
- Filed with
- City clerk, sworn written statement
- Required detail
- Name, home address, phone, plat/lot numbers
- Recorded in
- City's land evidence records
Summary
Warwick requires every person, corporation or other entity that owns and leases residential property in the city to file a sworn registration with the city clerk listing their name, home address, zip code, phone number and every rented property's street address, plat and lot number.
Pursuant to Section 34-18-57 of the Rhode Island Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, all persons, corporations, organizations, associations or other legal entities owning and leasing residential property in the City of Warwick shall register their names, home addresses, including zip code and telephone numbers with the city clerk. The registration shall be in the form of a sworn written statement containing the foregoing information as well as the street addresses (including assessor's plat and lot numbers) of all properties owned by said person, corporation, organization, association or other legal entity, which shall be recorded as an instrument in the city's land evidence records.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 26-42, adopted under Ord. No. O-08-24 in 2008, implements Section 34-18-57 of the Rhode Island Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at the local level. It requires every person, corporation, organization, association or other legal entity that owns and leases residential property in Warwick to register with the city clerk: their name, home address including zip code, and telephone number. The registration must take the form of a sworn written statement, and it must list the street address of every property the landlord owns, including the assessor's plat and lot number, so the filing can be recorded as an instrument in the city's land evidence records, tying the registration permanently to the property's chain of title.
The requirement sits in Chapter 26's minimum housing standards code, alongside the absentee landlord provisions and the public nuisance task force created by Sec. 26-41, which brings the minimum housing chief, police chief, fire chief, planning director, city solicitor and ward council member together to work with owners on abating chronic problem properties. Chapter 26's general enforcement tools apply to this article: the director can issue a written notice of violation under Sec. 26-63 specifying the problem and a deadline to fix it, and an unanswered notice automatically becomes a compliance order under Sec. 26-64, appealable to the housing board of review as set out in Chapter 6, Article VI.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 26-42 doesn't state its own fine schedule; noncompliance falls under Chapter 26's general enforcement path. A written notice of violation under Sec. 26-63 gives the landlord a deadline to register, and an unanswered notice automatically becomes a compliance order under Sec. 26-64, which the landlord can appeal to the housing board of review under Chapter 6, Article VI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do landlords have to register rental property with the City of Warwick?
Where does Warwick's landlord registration requirement come from?
What happens if a landlord ignores the registration requirement?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Warwick
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