Title 5, Title 5 and Professions

(a) Any person acting as a broker or as a salesperson without first obtaining a license is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for a term no…

(a) The department of business regulation is authorized to conduct, hold, or assist in conducting or holding, real estate clinics, meetings, courses, or institutes, and to incur the necessary expenses limited by connection therewith, which are open to all licensees. (b) The depar…

(a) The division of professional regulation is authorized and empowered to formulate rules and regulations relative to the establishment and operation of schools, courses of study, instruction, grades and grading systems, and related matters. The division and the council on posts…

(a) Neither the term “real estate broker” nor “real estate salesperson” is held to include: (1) Any person, partnership, association, or corporation, who or that, as a bona fide owner, lessee, or lessor, performs any of the previously stated acts as to property owned, or leased b…

(a) It is unlawful for any school to offer courses or to conduct classes of instruction in real estate subjects without first procuring a permit; or having obtained a permit, to represent that its students are assured of passing examinations given by the division of professional …

Except as provided in this chapter, no person shall maintain an action in any court of this state for the recovery of a commission, fee, or compensation for any act done, the doing of which is prohibited under this chapter to other than licensed brokers, unless that person was li…

If any provision of this chapter is held invalid, that provision is deemed to be excised from this chapter and its invalidity does not affect any of the other provisions of this chapter. If the application of any provision of this chapter to any person or circumstance is held inv…

(a) All holders of real estate brokers’ and salespersons’ licenses issued by the state department of business regulation shall, as a condition of retaining that license, carry and maintain errors and omissions insurance covering all business activities contemplated. (b) Licensees…

(a) Escrow. (1) Escrow accounts. (i) Each real estate firm shall maintain an escrow account under the supervision of the broker qualified to do business in the name and on behalf of the corporate, partnership, or association licensee. All those funds paid to a salesperson or paid…

No person, firm, or corporation shall have an ownership interest in a real estate brokerage firm nor participate in the operation of the real estate brokerage firm unless the person, firm, or corporation holds a valid real estate broker’s license, issued pursuant to the provision…

If the department of business regulation has reason to believe that any person, firm, corporation, or association is conducting any activities requiring licensure under this chapter without obtaining a license, or who after the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license condu…

(a) Applicants applying for the first time for a license to act as a real estate broker or real estate salesperson shall file with the director an application for the license upon a printed or electronic form as determined by the director that, together with any additional inform…

(a) The director shall require any applicant for a real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license to submit to and pass a written examination to show the applicant’s knowledge of the state statutes and the rules and regulations relating to real property, deeds, mortgages, leases, …

(a)(1) The department of business regulation shall establish and maintain a real estate recovery account from which any person aggrieved by an act, representation, transaction, or conduct of a licensed real estate broker or real estate salesperson, upon the grounds of fraud, misr…

(a) If the director is satisfied that the applicant is competent and trustworthy and is reasonably familiar with the statutes and law relating to real estate, he or she shall issue to the applicant a license to act as a real estate broker or a real estate salesperson. The directo…

Each resident licensed real estate broker must maintain a fixed office within this state. All business records relating to real estate transactions and to the management of that office must be kept on the premises of the fixed office location. The original license as real estate …

The real estate broker’s license issued to any corporation, partnership, or association shall designate the name of the one principal active officer of the corporation, partnership, or association for whom that license is valid and every other active broker or salesperson of that…

In the event of the death of a licensed real estate broker who is the sole proprietor of a real estate business, the director shall, upon application by his or her legal representative, issue, without examination, a temporary license to that legal representative, or to an individ…

(a) The way that consumers buy, sell, rent, exchange, and otherwise transfer real estate has changed over the years. The purpose of this legislation is to provide consumers with choice. (b) This chapter is intended to abrogate the common law of agency relative to relationships in…

If a seller, buyer, landlord, or tenant and principal broker elect to enter into a client representation contract, the contract shall meet the following requirements: (1) Be an express, written contract; (2) Include terms of compensation; (3) Describe all services and limitations…

The payment or promise of payment or compensation to a licensee does not create an agency relationship between any licensee and buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord.

The director shall issue reasonable rules and regulations with the consent of the majority of the Rhode Island real estate commission governing the relationships of licensed real estate brokers and salespersons. These rules and regulations shall be designed to implement the laws …

(a) Each violation of this chapter by a licensee shall constitute a violation of law pursuant to chapter 20.5 of this title and the regulations promulgated thereunder and may subject the licensee to disciplinary action. (b) Failure to provide the mandatory relationship disclosure…

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Affiliated licensee” means a licensed real estate salesperson or real estate broker as defined in § 5-20.5-1 associated with a particular principal broker. (2) “Brokerage” means a principal broke…

(a) It shall be presumed that all licensees in a real estate transaction are transaction facilitators unless the licensee obtains the informed, written consent of a buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord with an executed mandatory relationship disclosure to represent that person as a…

(a) A transaction facilitator owes the following duties to a customer: (1) To perform agreed-upon ministerial acts timely and competently; (2) To perform these acts with honesty, good faith, reasonable skill, and care; (3) To properly account for money or property placed in the c…

(a) If an affiliated licensee is appointed by the principal broker or his or her designee to represent a buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord in a real estate transaction and obtains the written consent of a buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord with an executed, mandatory relationshi…

(a) A licensee may assist both the buyer client and the seller client or tenant client and landlord client in the same transaction only as a neutral dual facilitator. (b) The dual facilitator relationship between the licensee and buyer and seller, or between the licensee and tena…

(a) Unless otherwise authorized in subsection (b), a licensee may not disclose the confidential information of: (i) A client, in the case of a designated client representative; or (ii) A customer, in the case of a dual facilitator or transaction coordinator; or (iii) Any represen…

(a) The Rhode Island real estate commission shall approve a mandatory relationship disclosure that conforms to the requirements of this section. (b) A licensee shall provide a prospective buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord in a real estate transaction with a copy of the mandatory…

(a) A licensee shall not act as a designated client representative until the licensee has complied with § 5-20.6-8. (b) Each principal broker shall keep a receipt of the executed, mandatory relationship disclosure in accordance with § 5-20.5-8(b).

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Rhode Island Real Estate Appraiser Certification Act.”

(a) An original certification as a state-certified real estate appraiser or licensing as a state-licensed appraiser shall not be issued to any person who does not possess the requisite experience in real property appraisal as required by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the …

The term of a certificate or license issued pursuant to this chapter is two (2) years from the date of issuance. The expiration date of the certificate or license shall appear on the certificate or license and no other notice of its expiration need be given to the holder of the l…

(a) A certificate or license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall bear the signature of the chairperson of the board and a certificate number assigned by the director. (b) Prior to the issuance of any trainee license, the trainee shall provide to the department…

(a) The term “state-certified real estate appraiser” may only be used to refer to individuals who hold the certificate and may not be used following or immediately in connection with the name or signature of a firm, partnership, corporation, or group; or in any manner that it mig…

(a) Each state-certified and licensed real estate appraiser shall advise the director of the address of his or her principal place of business and all other addresses at which he or she is currently engaged in the business of preparing real property appraisal reports. (b) Wheneve…

(a) The director is empowered and directed to establish a fee schedule for the application, review, examination, and reexamination of applicants for certification and licensing and for the issuance and renewal of certificates and for late fees; provided, that the annual fee for a…

(a) Every applicant for certification or licensing under this chapter who is not a resident of this state shall submit, with the application for certification or licensing, an irrevocable consent that service of process upon the applicant may be made by delivery of the process to…

(a) As a prerequisite to certificate or license renewal, a state-certified or licensed real estate appraiser shall present evidence satisfactory to the director of having met the continuing education requirements of this section. (b) The basic continuing education requirement for…

(a) A state-certified or licensed real estate appraiser shall retain for five (5) years originals or true copies of all written contracts engaging his or her services for real property appraisal work, and all reports and supporting data assembled and formulated by the appraiser i…

A state-certified or licensed real estate appraiser must comply with the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice promulgated by the appraisal standard board of the Appraisal Foundation.

When used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise: (1) “Appraisal” or “real estate appraisal” means an analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of specified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate. An appraisa…

(a) The director of the department of business regulation may, upon his or her own motion or by recommendation of the board, and shall, upon the verified complaint, in writing, of any person setting forth a cause under this section, ascertain the facts and, if warranted, hold a h…

(a) Any person upon conviction of acting or representing themselves to be a state-certified or licensed real estate appraiser or performing the duties of a certified or licensed real estate appraiser as defined within this chapter without first obtaining a certification or licens…

(a) Before refusing to issue a certificate or license or suspending or revoking a certificate or license on its own motion, the director shall notify the applicant of his or her intended action and the grounds for the action. The applicant may, within twenty (20) days, file with …