A Rhode Island eviction notice form is a legal demand for a tenant to comply with the terms of the rental agreement or else move out of the premises. Rhode Island landlords may deliver an eviction notice because of unpaid rent, lease violations, or illegal activity on the rental property.
Types of Rhode Island Eviction Notice Forms
| Notice Form | Grounds | Curable? |
| 5 Day Notice To Quit | Unpaid Rent | Yes |
| 20 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate | Lease Violation | Yes |
| 20 Day Notice To Vacate | Repeat Lease Violation | No |
| 30 Day Notice To Vacate | End of / No Lease | No |
Rhode Island 5 Day Notice To Quit
A Rhode Island 5 Day Notice To Quit evicts a tenant when the balance due is more than fifteen (15) calendar days late. The tenant must pay the past due balance, or move out within five (5) calendar days.
Rhode Island 20 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate
A Rhode Island 20 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate demands correction of a lease violation that is “curable,” i.e., the tenant gets a chance to fix the situation rather than be evicted. A curable lease violation might include failure to maintain health and safety on the rental property, interfering with the quiet enjoyment of neighbors, or refusal to allow lawful entry by the landlord.
With this form of notice, the tenant must take appropriate corrective action or move out within twenty (20) calendar days.
Rhode Island 20 Day Notice To Vacate
A Rhode Island 20 Day Notice To Vacate evicts a tenant for a repeat lease violation. A landlord may use this notice when, within a six- (6) month period, a tenant violates the lease in the same or similar way as something that constituted a previous notice of noncompliance.
Since this form of notice is for repeat violations, the tenant is not given an opportunity to take corrective action, and must move out within twenty (20) calendar days.
Rhode Island 30 Day Notice To Vacate
A Rhode Island 30 Day Notice To Vacate terminates a month-to-month lease or any periodic tenancy of more than one (1) month, but less than one (1) year, as well as an expired lease or a situation with no written lease where the tenant pays rent monthly. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least thirty (30) calendar days before the date of termination.
How To Write an Eviction Notice in Rhode Island
To help ensure the legal compliance of an eviction notice:
- Use the tenant’s full name and address
- Specify the lease violation as well as any balance due
- Specify the date of termination
- Print name and sign the notice, including the landlord’s address of record
- Note the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.
How To Calculate Expiration Date in Rhode Island
The “clock” for an eviction notice period starts “ticking” the day after the notice gets delivered (served). For example, to give at least 30 days of notice and begin court action as of June 30th, delivery of the eviction notice must be no later than May 31st.
In most jurisdictions, if the last day of a notice period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the notice period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. This is called the “next judicial day;” in other words, the next day a courthouse is open.
Rhode Island has one exception to the rules above: a notice to quit for unpaid rent is effective as soon as it’s delivered, with no next-day waiting period.
How To Serve an Eviction Notice in Rhode Island
Rhode Island landlords may deliver an eviction notice by any method which adequately informs the other party. The law recognizes these methods as having a presumption of legal validity:
- Hand delivery to the tenant
- Mailed delivery via first class mail, to the tenant’s address of record or last known residence
By default, notice is considered complete when it is received. Except with a 5 Day Notice To Quit for unpaid rent only, mailed notice extends the notice period by one (1) calendar day, to account for variable delivery times.
Sources
- 1 RI Gen L § 34-18-35
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If any part of the stipulated rent is due and in arrears for fifteen (15) days, the landlord shall send a written notice, in a form substantially similar to that provided in § 34-18-56(a), specifying the amount of the rent which is fifteen (15) days in arrears, making demand for the rent, and notifying the tenant that unless he or she cures the breach within five (5) days of the date of mailing of the notice, the rental agreement shall terminate, and the landlord shall commence an eviction action in the appropriate district court or housing court.
Source Link - 2 RI Gen L § 34-18-35
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Notifying the tenant that unless he or she cures the breach within five (5) days of the date of mailing of the notice, the rental agreement shall terminate, and the landlord shall commence an eviction action in the appropriate district court or housing court.
Source Link - 3 Rhode Island Court Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 6
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Computation. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by order of court or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default after which the designated period of time begins to run is not to be included. The last day of the period is to be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday, nor a holiday.
Source Link - 4 R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-14
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(a) (1) A person has notice of a fact if:
(i) He or she has actual knowledge of it;
(ii) He or she has received a notice or notification of it; or
(iii) From all the facts and circumstances known to him or her at the time in question he or she has reason to know that it exists.
(2) A person “knows” or “has knowledge” of a fact if he or she has actual knowledge of it.
(b) A person “notifies” or “gives” a notice or notification to another person by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it. A person “receives” a notice or notification when:
(1) It comes to his or her attention; or
(2) It is delivered in hand or sent by first class mail to him or her at a place held out by him or her as the place for receipt of the communication, or in the absence of such designation, to his or her last known place of residence.
(c) “Notice,” knowledge or a notice or notification received by an organization, is effective for a particular transaction from the time it is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that transaction, and in any event from the time it would have been brought to his or her attention if the organization had exercised reasonable diligence.
Source Link - 5 Rhode Island Court Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 6(D)
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Additional Time After Electronic Service or Service by Mail. Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon the party, and the notice or paper is served upon the party electronically or by mail, one (1) day shall be added to the prescribed period.
Source Link - 6 R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-35(a)
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If any part of the stipulated rent is due and in arrears for fifteen (15) days, the landlord shall send a written notice, in a form substantially similar to that provided in § 34-18-56(a), specifying the amount of the rent which is fifteen (15) days in arrears, making demand for the rent, and notifying the tenant that unless he or she cures the breach within five (5) days of the date of mailing of the notice, the rental agreement shall terminate, and the landlord shall commence an eviction action in the appropriate district court or housing court.
Source Link
