Can a Rhode Island neighbor take an abandoned building to court and get a receiver appointed?
Yes. A neighboring landowner, meaning someone who owns or is buying property within 200 feet, can file a verified petition in state court, as can the city or town or a qualifying housing nonprofit. If the owner leaves a public nuisance in place, the court can move toward appointing a receiver to do the work.
The court infers that an owner abandoned a building from serious code violations that threaten health or safety and have gone unrepaired for an unreasonable time. It also weighs whether the building is vacant, whether the grounds are kept up, whether the inside is sound, and whether vandalism has been left unrepaired.
If the court finds the building abandoned and either dangerous or in violation of minimum housing standards, it must order the owner to correct the problem.
Before naming a receiver, the court offers mortgage holders, lienholders and other interested parties, in order of priority, the chance to do the work themselves. No one can be appointed receiver without first giving the court a workable financial and construction plan for rehabilitating the property. The receiver must be a lawyer the court appoints and certifies for the role.
A receiver's mortgage, recorded with the municipality within 60 days of issuing a secured note, becomes a first lien on the property.
Even before the repairs are finished, the court can order the receiver to sell an unoccupied building once it approves an abatement plan. That sale must include a reverter in case the abatement plan isn't completed on its terms and timeline, and the buyer pays for the abatement.
Is there a faster way to clear the owner's rights to a vacant Rhode Island house sold for taxes?
Yes. When the buildings are vacant and either vandalized or not up to code, whoever holds the tax title can petition Superior Court to end the right of redemption as soon as sixty days after the tax deed is recorded.
A certificate from the local building official describing that condition counts as prima facie evidence, though the town isn't required to issue one. Whoever uses this expedited route must start substantial rehabilitation within six months of the final decree or immediately face the nonutilization penalty.
A separate route lets the tax title holder petition right away when the court finds the property abandoned. That finding can follow when the court's officer can't locate the taxpayer after an inquiry the court accepts as thorough. These abandonment cases go to the front of the court's calendar and must be heard within 30 days of filing.
When the city or town itself holds the tax title, it can foreclose redemption at any time once the court finds constructive abandonment.
How long does a Rhode Island owner have to redeem a house sold for unpaid taxes?
Until the tax title holder files to foreclose, which it can do one year after the sale.
Until that petition is filed, the owner can redeem from a private buyer by paying what the buyer paid, plus intervening taxes, interest at 1% a month, costs and a penalty. The penalty is 10% of the purchase price if the owner redeems within six months of the sale, plus another 1% for each month after that.
Is the empty Rhode Island house yours, with mortgage payments missed too? Here's how foreclosure plays out in Rhode Island.
Can a Rhode Island city charge extra tax on a vacant, abandoned building?
Every Rhode Island city and town is allowed to tax the privilege of keeping property vacant and abandoned. The rate is $10 for each $100 of the property's assessed value.
It covers a building that stays continuously unoccupied through the year being taxed, or an empty lot that is littered with trash and obviously abandoned. A city or town that uses the tax has to adopt an ordinance naming who decides which properties are vacant and abandoned.
The tax isn't imposed on property owned by an abutting neighbor or a nonprofit housing group that submits a development plan meeting the law's conditions.
Do Rhode Island cities and towns keep a list of abandoned properties?
Each city and town had to publish, by April 2, 2025, a list of properties that may qualify as abandoned, based on inspections and records. The list must be updated every year and kept at the town or city clerk's office and on the municipal website.
The last known owner of record gets notice by first-class mail when a property goes on the list. A property left off the list can still be taken to court under the abandoned property law.
How can a Rhode Island town make an owner board up, repair or demolish a vacant house?
The enforcing officer can order the owner of a building that is or has been vacant and open to meet the law's specifications for its openings, including doors and windows. The local enforcing officer can make the repairs itself when it judges that leaving them undone would endanger the public, as long as the cost won't exceed half the building's fair market value.
The cost becomes a debt the owner owes the city or town.
A dwelling that has been declared unfit, placarded and vacated, and isn't worth repairing, must be ordered demolished. If the owner doesn't demolish it in time, the enforcing officer can ask a court for an order to do the demolition.
A city or town can pass an ordinance letting its council, with the building or code enforcement office, identify houses so run-down that their preservation is in danger. If the owner skips the council's hearing or ignores its orders, the council can have the repairs made at the city's or town's expense and put a lien on the property.
How do you report a run-down vacant house in Providence, Rhode Island?
In Providence, report housing code problems to PVD311; the case goes to the Department of Inspection and Standards, and an inspector reaches out to start an investigation.
Have the exact address and a description of the problem ready when you report. Providence's code enforcement inspectors respond to complaints from neighbors as well as tenants, emergency responders and elected officials.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.