You may have seen that I sent out a message saying that the Rhode Island Department of Health had extended the deadline for the Rhode Island Rental Property Lead registry. I was wrong. I'm so sorry! I owe everybody an apology.
I am Sandy Warner with Warner Realty Group. The Rhode Island Department of Health has NOT extended the September 30 registry deadline for the rental owner registration.
Judah Boulet, the Program Manager for Lead Poisoning Prevention at the Rhode Island Department of Health states as follows:
" I wanted to clarify something as there was apparently some miscommunication as a very incorrect message was publicized by Newport Realtors based on information from a lead inspection company.
The deadline for the registry is still OCTOBER 1. There has not been any extension of the deadline for landlords to register!
While the deadline to register is October 1, we understand that it will take time to educate landlords of their responsibilities and for landlords to get lead certificates. We will work with landlords to help bring them into compliance prior to issuing any fines. I am not a judge, so I am not able to determine how the courts would handle provision G of the Rental Registry Law especially since the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act has been in effect since 2005, and landlords without lead certificates have not been in compliance with this statute.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 34-18-35, a landlord or any agent of a landlord may not commence an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in any court of competent jurisdiction, unless, at the time the action is commenced, the landlord is in compliance with the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section. A landlord must present the court with evidence of compliance with subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section at the time of filing an action to evict for nonpayment of rent in order to proceed with the civil action. We will be implementing a full advertising campaign- Radio and TV in next few weeks, full social media in coming months to help educate landlords of these requirements.
ISo it sounds like they're going to be working with you. He's absolutely right. This has been a statute for 20 plus years, but especially with my clients, I've always been honest that there's, I've never seen any compliance with this. I've never seen anyone ask for copies of these certificates. So now there is appetite for compliance, so we need to get really serious about getting this done. That being said, I have spoken with lots of agents. I have spoken with all of my clients in our office. Sue Curran has taken over trying to get all of our clients registered, and we currently have appointments going out into mid-December with the various lead inspectors that we're working with.
So we know there's just no time and a couple of our properties are going to have to get some work done. And when we're talking to local painters, they're also telling us that they're completely backed up. So here's my advice, keep calling, keep doing the best you can to get yourself on a lead inspection appointment. Document what you have been doing. In the meantime, walk around the exterior of your house and look for any peeling paint anywhere. Focus on maybe exposed foundational issues that may have had paint or ping on them. Focus on window trim. If you're a wooden house with clapboard, anywhere that you've got peeling paint, get that closed up. Some of the lead inspectors, probably a lot of them, if you have peeling paint on your property, they're not even going to come inside. So get that done. Focus on any areas inside, especially if you have one of these older homes.