1) How long does it take to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent in Rhode Island?
In order to begin the process of evicting a residential tenant in Rhode Island (RI) for non-payment of rent, the tenant must be more than 15 days late and then a five-day demand notice must be sent to the tenant. After the five days, you are entitled to file a complaint for eviction of the tenant for non-payment of rent and the court date will be nine days thereafter. If the ninth day falls on a weekend or holiday, then it will carry over to the next business day. After attending court to get the tenant out, it will take a minimum of five days to evict the tenant up to a potential of a month or longer (if there is an appeal).
2) Is it legal to do a self-help eviction in Rhode Island?
No. Under Rhode Island law it is illegal for a landlord to do a self-help eviction. The landlord must go through the proper legal channels in order to evict a tenant from the premises. In the event that a landlord does an unlawful eviction, the tenant is entitled to collect damages against the landlord.
3) How long does it take to evict a month-to-month tenant?
In order to evict a month-to-month tenant, you are required to send a thirty-day notice to terminate the tenancy pursuant to Rhode Island law. After the thirty-day period has expired, then the landlord is allowed to file a complaint for eviction. This type of eviction is a lengthy process because you must not only wait the thirty days, but the tenant has a minimum of twenty days to answer and after that it takes a minimum of ten days before you can get a court date. After that court date, it takes a minimum of 5 days up to a month or longer to get the tenant out (depending on whether or not there is an appeal).
4) My tenant has a lease but is violating the lease and causing problems. What do I do?
Pursuant to Rhode Island law you can send them a notice asking them to terminate the offending behavior within 20 days. If they do not terminate the offending behavior, then you are able to file an eviction against them. These types of evictions are lengthy and you must prove that you sent the notice and that the tenant did not comply with the notice after receiving the notice. If the tenant is a month-to-month tenant, then it is better to terminate the offending tenant's tenancy rather than go through the above-described process.
David Slepkow is a Rhode Island RI lawyer who has handled landlord tenant matters and evictions on behalf of both landlords and tenant for ten years. Please go to http://www.slepkowlaw.com for more information or to contact attorney David Slepkow.
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