TITLE 45

Towns and cities

CHAPTER 45-24.3

Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code

SECTION 45-24.3-17



   § 45-24.3-17  Notice of violation. –

(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.



   (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.)