Rhode Island Lease Disclosure Law 2025: Additional Fees Must Be Disclosed Alongside the Rent

The law requires that fees beyond rent be disclosed in the same section of the lease as the rent disclosure itself, with a note that additional fees may apply.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A lease that mentions fees somewhere buried in a separate addendum, disconnected from the rent terms a tenant is most likely to read closely, doesn't satisfy this specific placement requirement, even if the fee is technically written down somewhere in the document.

For a month-to-month tenancy without a written lease, the landlord has to provide a written list of all fees beyond rent, separate from the lease disclosure requirement that applies when a written lease exists.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord operating on a purely verbal month-to-month arrangement isn't exempt from disclosure simply because there's no lease document; the obligation shifts to providing that fee list in writing some other way.

Before any change to the fees disclosed for a month-to-month tenancy takes effect, the landlord has to give 30 days' notice.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord who wants to add a new fee or increase an existing one for a month-to-month tenant can't implement that change on short notice; the 30-day runway gives the tenant time to adjust or decide whether to continue the tenancy under the new terms.

The landlord has to disclose which utility costs are included in rent and which are the tenant's own responsibility.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A lease that's silent on utility responsibility, leaving the tenant to guess whether water, heat, or electricity is included in rent, doesn't meet this requirement; the allocation has to be stated explicitly, not left implied or assumed.

This utility disclosure requirement applies to both written leases and oral agreements, with written disclosure required even when no formal lease document exists.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord renting under a verbal, month-to-month arrangement still has to put the utility cost breakdown in writing for the tenant, even though the broader tenancy terms were never formalized in a lease document.

If a tenant is required to obtain renters insurance, that requirement has to be stated in the lease, or provided in writing for a tenancy without a written lease.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord who verbally tells a tenant they need renters insurance, without putting that requirement in writing somewhere, hasn't met this specific disclosure obligation, regardless of whether the tenant actually understood and complied with the verbal instruction.

If a landlord fails to comply with these disclosure requirements, the tenant can recover any fees paid for the unit that weren't disclosed as required.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

That remedy is specifically about fees, not a broader damages framework; a landlord who failed to disclose a $50 monthly amenity fee properly is exposed to having to return that fee, potentially accumulated over the full period it was charged without proper disclosure.

Since the remedy depends on whether a fee was properly disclosed, a landlord facing a tenant's claim for fee recovery needs to be able to show exactly when and how a given fee was disclosed under this statute's specific requirements.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord should keep a clear record of lease versions and any written fee notices provided to month-to-month tenants, since that documentation is what would support a defense against a fee-recovery claim.

This disclosure statute addresses fee transparency broadly; it operates alongside Rhode Island's separate prohibition on convenience fees for rent payment when no fee-free payment alternative exists.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord bringing lease practices into full compliance should treat the fee-disclosure requirements covered here and the separate convenience fee rule as 2 distinct obligations that both need to be satisfied, not a single combined item.

This law took effect January 1, 2025, and governs fee and utility disclosure going forward, meaning a landlord's existing lease templates and month-to-month fee practices need to be brought into compliance regardless of when a given tenancy originally began.

[Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-15(a)]

A landlord with long-standing tenants under older lease language that doesn't meet these disclosure standards should update the disclosure, whether through a lease amendment or a written notice for month-to-month tenancies, rather than assuming an older arrangement is grandfathered in.

The practical starting point is reviewing every lease template to confirm fees appear in the same section as the rent disclosure, utility cost responsibility is explicitly stated, and any renters insurance requirement is written down, not just communicated verbally.

For month-to-month tenancies without a written lease, building a standard written fee-list and utility-disclosure document, along with a 30-day notice process for any fee changes, brings those arrangements into compliance alongside formal leases.