Kouzr
Start swiping

Rhode Island residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Rhode Island allows.

What Rhode Island law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleRhode IslandWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit1 month's rentR.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19(a)
Earliest a late fee may be chargedThe day after it is dueR.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15
Most a late fee may beNo statutory limit, but it has to be reasonableRhode Island's rent section sets neither a grace period nor a ceiling.R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15
Notice before the landlord may enter48 hoursR.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26(b)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy30 daysRhode Island wants the notice in substantially the form its own statute sets out.R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37(b)

What Rhode Island makes you disclose

Who manages and who owns
Before the tenancy begins the landlord must disclose in writing the name, address and telephone number of the person authorized to manage the premises and of an owner or someone authorized to act for the owner in accepting service of process and receiving notices and demands, and keep it current. R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Rhode Island lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Rhode Island requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island caps every deposit taken together at 1 month's rent (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19(a)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Rhode Island?

Yes. Rhode Island sets neither a grace period nor a ceiling (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15), which leaves the common-law rule: the fee has to be a reasonable estimate of what a late payment costs you, not a penalty, or a court will not enforce it. A few days' grace and a fee in the range of 5% of the rent is the shape that holds up.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Rhode Island?

48 hours for anything that is not an emergency, at a reasonable hour (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26(b)). A lease cannot shorten it, so the builder raises your figure if you enter a smaller one. Genuine emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Rhode Island?

30 days of written notice from either side (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37(b)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. Rhode Island wants the notice in substantially the form its own statute sets out.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Rhode Island read it before you rely on it.