Title 34, Title 34 Title 34

Whenever any description of real estate is required under the provisions of this chapter, it shall be deemed sufficient to describe the real estate by metes and bounds description and street address, or by recitation of the taxing authority’s assessor’s plat and lot designation a…

This chapter may be cited as the “Rhode Island Mechanics’ Lien Law.”

If any part or parts of this chapter shall be held to be unconstitutional, that unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity of the remaining parts of this chapter. The general assembly hereby declares that it would have enacted the remaining parts of this chapter if it had …

(a) Except as provided in § 34-28-7, any and all liens claimed or that could be claimed under §§ 34-28-1, 34-28-2 or 34-28-3 shall be void and wholly lost to any person claiming under those sections unless the person shall, before or within two hundred (200) days after the doing …

No person contracting directly with either the owner of the land, lessee, or tenant of the land, or owner of less than the fee simple, other than material suppliers, as those terms are referred to in §§ 34-28-1, 34-28-2, 34-28-3, shall be entitled to claim a lien under this chapt…

Every town clerk and every recorder of deeds, as the case may be, shall, on payment of a fee of eight dollars ($8.00) for each notice of intention, record the notices of intention provided for in § 34-28-4, whether in the form therein provided or not, in a book to be kept by him …

The lien, under §§ 34-28-1, 34-28-2 or 34-28-3, of any architect or engineer, or of any immediate or mediate subcontractor thereto, for work done in connection with the construction, erection, alteration, or reparation, the result of which is used therein, shall be valid and enfo…

A notice of intention may be mailed and filed under § 34-28-4 against one or more contiguous parcels of land or parcels of land separated only by a public or private way, provided such parcels are owned, or occupied as lessee or tenant, by the same person or persons, and in such …

A notice of lien recorded in the land evidence records pursuant to § 34-28-4 shall be effective for two hundred (200) days prior to the date of filing. A notice of lien shall be effective as to any retainage earned but not paid, for work furnished pursuant to § 34-28-1 et. seq., …

The terms used in this chapter shall be construed as follows, unless other meaning is clearly apparent from the language or context, or unless such construction is inconsistent with the manifest intention of the legislature: (1) “Debtor” means all persons, partnerships, and corpo…

All processors shall be entitled to a lien upon the property of others which may come or may have come into their possession, for the entire indebtedness of the persons, partnership, or corporation for whose account, and to create which indebtedness work and labor was performed o…

The lien created hereby shall be paramount to the title, lien, interest, or incumbrance of any owner or owners, as herein defined, unless the owner or owners shall have notified the processor by registered or certified mail of the interest of the owner or owners prior to the time…

The lien shall not be waived, merged, suspended, or impaired by the recovery of any judgment or the taking of any bill or note for the money due for such work, labor, or materials, and such lien may be enforced as though the judgment had not been recovered or the bill or note tak…

When any processor may have a lien upon the goods and property of others that may have come into their possession, and the amount due shall remain due and unpaid either in whole or in part, for two (2) months after the lien becomes due and payable, it shall be lawful for the proc…

The lien hereby created is in addition to any lien created by contract. Any contractual lien may be enforced by the same procedure as is provided in this chapter for the statutory lien, insofar as the contract does not provide otherwise.

In case, for any reason, any section, part of section, clause or provision of this chapter shall be questioned in any court or determined to be unconstitutional or invalid, the clause or provision shall not in any way affect any other section, part of section, clause or provision…

Every jeweler, watchmaker, or silversmith who shall alter, repair, or do any work on any article of personal property at the request of the owner or legal possessor thereof shall have a lien upon and may retain the possession of the article until the charges for the alteration, r…

If the charge or charges remain unpaid for a period of one year or more any jeweler, watchmaker, or silversmith may sell the article at private or public sale, and the proceeds, after first paying the expense of sale, shall be applied in payment of the charge or charges, and the …

(a) Before the sale is held, notice in writing must be given to the person from whom the article to be sold was received, of the amount due for such alteration, repair, or other work, and the time and place of sale; if the residence of the person is known the notice must be maile…

Every launderer or cleanser who shall launder, cleanse or store any article of apparel or other personal property at the request of the owner or legal possessor thereof shall have a lien on and may retain the possession of the article until the charges for such laundering, cleans…

If the charge or charges remain unpaid for a period of at least six (6) months the launderer or cleanser may sell the article at private or public sale or may dispose of the article in any other manner. After the six-months period has expired the owner and/or legal possessor of t…

No person shall attach or cause a lien to be levied upon any motor vehicle for money due for repairs to the motor vehicle in an amount exceeding an authorization signed by the owner indicating the cost of the repairs.

Every hotelkeeper or innkeeper shall be entitled to a lien upon, and may detain, the baggage, goods, chattels, and property of a guest brought upon his or her premises for the proper charges due from the guest on account of his or her accommodation, board and lodging and for all …

Any hotelkeeper or innkeeper who shall have a lien for accommodation, board and lodging or extras upon any baggage, goods, chattels, or property as provided in § 34-33-1, or who, for a period of six (6) months shall have in his or her custody any unclaimed trunk, box, valise, pac…

It shall be the duty of the recorder of deeds or the city or town clerk, having custody of the land records, in the several cities and towns in this state, to receive, file and index any and all notices of liens in favor of the United States for taxes due the United States, and o…

Whoever has a lien for money due him or her on account of work and labor, care and diligence, or money expended on or about personal property or for storage of personal property or has a lien therefor on account by reason of any contract expressed or implied, if the money is not …

Upon filing the complaint, the clerk of the court shall issue a citation to the owner of the property to appear before the court at a time and place designated, to show cause why such lien should not be allowed and enforced by the court for the amount claimed.

The citation shall contain the substance of the complaint and shall be served on the owner by a deputy sheriff, at least ten (10) days before the return day of the citation, by leaving an attested copy at the last and usual place of abode of the owner, or by reading the same in h…

If the owner of the property is unknown, the complaint may be filed thirty (30) days after the money becomes due, and a citation may issue “to the unknown owner,” describing the property. In that case, or if the residence of the owner is unknown, the citation may be served by pub…

If the owner makes default at the time appointed, or if, upon a hearing of the parties, it appears that a lien exists upon the property, and that the property ought to be sold for the satisfaction of the debt, the court may make an order for that purpose, and the property may be …

This chapter shall not limit or restrict the right of any party having a lien upon property to hold or dispose of the property in any other manner authorized by law, or by contract of parties.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Condominium Ownership Act”.

The owner or developer of a condominium project shall, prior to the conveyance of any unit, record a declaration containing covenants, conditions, and restrictions relating to the project, which shall be enforceable equitable servitudes where reasonable, and shall run with the la…

Deeds of units shall include the following particulars: (1) A description of the land as provided in § 34-36-10, including the book and page or entry number and date of recording of the declaration. (2) The unit number of the unit and any other data necessary for its proper ident…

(a) The declaration, any amendment, any instrument by which the provisions of this chapter may be waived, and every instrument affecting the property or any unit shall be entitled to be recorded. Neither the declaration nor any amendment thereof shall be valid unless recorded. (b…

(a) Simultaneously with the recording of the declaration there shall be recorded a standard size, original linen/mylar (21" X 31") record of survey map, as defined in § 34-36-3(15), with 6¼" X 1½" recording information block, which map shall be made by a registered land surveyor …

Every deed, lease, mortgage, or other instrument may legally describe a unit by its identifying number or symbol as designated in the declaration or as shown on the record of survey map, and every description shall be deemed good and sufficient for all purposes, and shall be deem…

The administration of every property shall be governed by bylaws, which may either be embodied in the declaration or in a separate instrument, a true copy of which shall be appended to and recorded with the declaration. No modification or amendment of the declaration or bylaws sh…

The bylaws may provide for the following: (1) The establishment of a management committee, the number of persons constituting the committee and the method of selecting the members of the committee; the powers and duties of the management committee; and whether or not the manageme…

The manager or management committee shall keep detailed, accurate records in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the common areas and facilities, specifying and itemizing the maintenance and repair expenses of the common areas and facilities and any ot…

At the time of the first conveyance of each unit, every mortgage and other lien affecting the unit, including the percentage of undivided interest of the unit in the common areas and facilities, shall have been paid and satisfied of record, or the unit being conveyed and its perc…

(a) Subsequent to recording the declaration as provided in this chapter, and while the property remains subject to this chapter, no lien shall thereafter arise or be effective against the property. During the period liens or encumbrances shall arise or be created only against eac…

This chapter shall be applicable only to property which the sole owner or all the owners submit to the provisions of the chapter by duly executing and recording a declaration as provided in the chapter.

(a) It shall be the duty of every unit owner to pay his or her proportionate share of the common expenses. Payment shall be in amounts and at such times as determined by the management committee in accordance with the terms of the declaration or the bylaws. (b) The amount of comm…

In the event any person shall acquire, through foreclosure, exercise of power of sale, or other enforcement of any lien, or by tax deed, the interest of any unit owner, the interest acquired shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter and to the covenants, conditions, …

(a) All of the unit owners may remove a property from the provisions of this chapter by an instrument duly recorded to that effect, provided that the holders of all liens affecting any of the units consent or agree by instruments duly recorded, that their liens be transferred to …