Rhode Island Rental Application Form

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   The one charge that survives Section 34-18-59 is measured by an invoice, not by any figure in the statute. Subsection (b)(2) permits a fee representing not more than the actual cost of obtaining the official state background check and/or credit report. There is no dollar ceiling to look up and nothing is indexed, because the statute never names an amount. What a Rhode Island applicant can test instead is whether the item charged for is one of the two things the subsection lists, and whether the amount matches what was actually paid for it. The section has read this way since it took effect on January 1, 2024.

2. 2

   A report the applicant already holds takes the charge to zero. Section 34-18-59(b)(1) provides that if a prospective tenant provides a required official state criminal background check or credit report issued within ninety days of the application for a rental unit, no fee for that check or report may be charged. The statute itself never uses the words reusable or portable; it is drafted as a ninety day no-fee rule, and the ninety days run from issue to the application for the unit. Note what is mandatory and what is not: the fee waiver is mandatory, while Section 34-18-59(b)(3) leaves the landlord side free to obtain an independent background check or credit report at the landlord's own expense.

3. 3

   A charged report has to be handed over. Section 34-18-59(b)(2) closes with the proviso that any prospective tenant who is charged a fee under that subsection for a background check or credit report shall be provided with a copy of the background check or credit report. This is a document-delivery duty rather than a money-back duty, and it has a practical second effect: the copy the applicant receives is itself an official report with a date on it, which the ninety day rule in (b)(1) then makes worth carrying to the next unit.

4. 4

   Chapter 34-18 contains no refund machinery for the application stage, and the structure is the reason. There is no return-the-unused-portion duty, no itemization duty and no return-if-not-screened duty. Rhode Island reaches the same result from the other end: the application fee itself is prohibited, and the only chargeable item is the actual cost of a report the landlord side actually obtained, so there is no unused portion left to argue about.

5. 5

   The actors bound are listed by name and the list is unusually long. A landlord, a lessor, a sub-lessor, a real estate broker, a property management company, and a designee each appear in Section 34-18-59(a), and the same list is repeated in (b), (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3). Reading the section as an owners-only rule understates it by five categories. One sourcing note worth stating plainly: Rhode Island's General Assembly web host refuses connections, so the chapter text here follows archived copies of the Assembly's own published pages, the most recent of them from October 2026.

6. 6

   Since July 2, 2025 the application document itself may not ask about immigration or citizenship status. Section 34-18-62(a) provides that no landlord or any agent of the landlord shall make any inquiry regarding or based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential rental property, or require that any such person make any statement, representation, or certification concerning their immigration or citizenship status. Municipalities and housing agencies may not compel a landlord to collect or report it either. The carve-outs are compliance with federal law and requesting what is necessary to verify financial qualifications or identity.

7. 7

   An eviction court file can be taken out of circulation. Section 34-18-60 lets a former tenant move to seal the record of an eviction action brought under Section 34-18-35, 34-18-36 or 34-18-38, filed at least thirty days after the appeal period expires. The court shall grant the motion and seal the record on a finding that the underlying civil action was dismissed as a result of a motion to dismiss, that the action was resolved by stipulation and the terms of the stipulation have been satisfied by the parties, that any monetary judgment against the moving party has been satisfied in full, or that the action has been dismissed for lack of prosecution after a five year period. One request per party every five years.

Rhode Island Requirements for Rental Application Form

• The Fee Prohibition, and the Six Parties It Binds

  In force since January 1, 2024. Section 34-18-59(a) provides that a landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee shall not be allowed to require or demand any prospective tenant to pay for a rental application fee. The enumeration is the operative part: the same six categories are repeated through subsection (b), so the rule follows the listing and the management arrangement rather than attaching to ownership alone. There is no amount to check and nothing is indexed, because no application fee is permitted at all.

• The One Chargeable Item, at Not More Than Actual Cost

  Section 34-18-59(b)(2) permits a fee representing not more than the actual cost of obtaining the official state background check and/or credit report, and only where the applicant did not supply a conforming recent one. Two things follow. The chargeable universe is closed to those two named items, so nothing may be billed for processing the form, for administration or for time spent. And the ceiling is an invoice rather than a figure, so the amount is testable against what the check or the report actually cost. Unchanged since the section took effect on January 1, 2024.

• A Conforming Report Issued Within Ninety Days

  Section 34-18-59(b)(1) provides that if a prospective tenant provides a required official state criminal background check or credit report issued within ninety days of the application for a rental unit, no fee for that check or report may be charged by the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee. The waiver is mandatory. Qualifying reports are an official state criminal background check from the bureau of criminal identification, the department of attorney general, the state police or the local police department where the prospective tenant resides, and/or a credit report. The statute never uses the words reusable or portable, so read it as what it is: a ninety day no-fee rule measured from the date of issue.

• A Copy of Any Check or Report the Applicant Paid For

  Section 34-18-59(b)(2) closes with the proviso that any prospective tenant who is charged a fee under that subsection for a background check or credit report shall be provided with a copy of the background check or credit report. The duty is unconditional: it does not wait for a request and it does not depend on the outcome of the application. Keep the copy. It is the only document showing what the charge actually bought, and its issue date is what the ninety day rule in subsection (b)(1) then runs on at the next unit.

• An Independent Check, at the Landlord's Own Expense

  Section 34-18-59(b)(3) provides that nothing in the section prohibits the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee from obtaining an independent background check or credit report at the landlord's own expense. This is the boundary of the ninety day rule and it is worth stating precisely. What subsection (b)(1) makes mandatory is the no-fee consequence, not reliance on the applicant's own report. A landlord who prefers a fresher report may buy one; the applicant may not be billed for it.

• No Inquiry Into Immigration or Citizenship Status

  Applies since July 2, 2025. Section 34-18-62(a) provides that no landlord or any agent of the landlord shall make any inquiry regarding or based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential rental property, or require that any of them make any statement, representation, or certification concerning their immigration or citizenship status. Subsection (c) bars municipalities and housing agencies from compelling a landlord to collect or report it. Two carve-outs are named: compliance with federal law, and requesting what is necessary to verify financial qualifications or identity. Because the bar is on the inquiry, the form itself may not ask.

• Eviction Court Files That Have Been Sealed

  Section 34-18-60 lets a former tenant move to seal the record of an eviction action brought under Section 34-18-35, 34-18-36 or 34-18-38, filed at least thirty days after the appeal period expires. Subsection (b) provides that the court shall grant the motion and seal the record upon a finding that the underlying civil action was dismissed as a result of a motion to dismiss, the action was resolved by stipulation and the terms of the stipulation have been satisfied by the parties, any monetary judgment against the moving party has been satisfied in full, or the action has been dismissed for lack of prosecution after a five year period. One request per party every five years. A sealed file is outside the public record a search can reach.

• Where the Rule Sits, and What the Chapter Does Not Cover

  Section 34-18-59 sits inside chapter 34-18, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, under the caption Fair limitation on rental application fees, and its history line records that it was added by P.L. 2023, ch. 319, Section 1 and P.L. 2023, ch. 320, Section 1, both effective January 1, 2024. Two honest limits on this page. The chapter's reach is governed by its own application and exclusion sections at Section 34-18-7 and Section 34-18-8, which are not enumerated here. And what the chapter regulates about a criminal records check is the cost of it and whether it has to be paid for twice, not what may be drawn from its contents. Separately, the General Assembly's web host refuses connections, so this text follows archived copies of the Assembly's own published pages, the chapter index from October 2026.