Bill
HB 5954
Providence would be empowered to enact local rent control and tenant protections, including rent caps, just‑cause evictions, relocation payments, and enforcement mechanisms.
Status: Introduced Feb 28, 2025; referred to House Municipal Government & Housing. Scheduled hearing Mar 28, 2025. Committee recommended measure be held for further study (Apr 2, 2025).
Purpose
- Establishes state authorization for the City of Providence to adopt a local rent-control framework and related tenant protections in response to an identified housing emergency (lack of low‑cost rental housing, displacement, homelessness, rent burden).
What the bill would do (key provisions)
- Adds a new chapter to Title 34 (Property): Chapter 18.3 — “Rent Control in the City of Providence” (sections 34-18.3-1 to 34-18.3-3).
- Grants Providence the power to adopt ordinances regulating rent in multi‑family housing and to design a local program that may include:
- A city rental registry, tenant petition/complaint processes, escrow for rent when long‑standing violations exist, and public nuisance charges for outstanding violations.
- Vacancy control, relocation assistance requirements paid by landlords, incentives for compliant landlords, limits on new building permits where violations exist, and other enforcement tools.
- Annual maximum rent increases:
- The city may set an annual maximum percentage rent increase for covered units based on a “rent affordability index.”
- For covered units, landlords may not increase gross rent in any 12‑month period by more than the city‑set percentage applied to the lowest gross rental rate charged to that tenant during the prior 12 months.
- Initial rents for new tenancies are exempt from the cap; limits apply to subsequent increases.
- Fair return and adjustments:
- The city may adopt fair‑return standards allowing adjustments for maintenance, capital costs, or rapid property tax increases.
- Administrative provisions:
- City may require tenant notifications and rental registration and may create/appoint an administrator or board to implement and enforce local rules.
Just‑cause eviction protections (section 34-18.3-2)
- The city may enact ordinance(s) requiring that landlords only recover possession for specified “just cause” reasons, including:
- Nonpayment of rent; material lease violations after notice and failure to cure; nuisance or substantial damage; illegal use; refusal to execute a renewal at a lawful rent; refusal of reasonable access for repairs/inspection/showings; unapproved subtenants; owner move‑in (with required relocation payment); or other just cause consistent with the chapter.
- City may include exemptions in its ordinance.
Condominium/cooperative conversions (section 34-18.3-3)
- The city may regulate conversions to condos or co‑ops, including tenant notification, relocation plans and payments, permits, and fees (provisions truncated in the available text but grant regulatory authority).
Exemptions (examples listed)
- The bill allows the city to exempt certain housing types, including:
- Owner‑occupied properties with six or fewer units;
- Hotels/motels/transient lodging;
- Nonprofit hospitals, religious facilities, licensed care facilities for the elderly;
- Dormitories owned by institutions of higher education;
- Units where tenant shares kitchen/bath with owner living on site;
- Units with permanent certificates of occupancy less than 15 years created by new construction, additions, or conversions;
- Units where rent is a fixed percentage of income (vouchers, public housing, project‑based vouchers) or otherwise exempted by federal/state law.
Who would be affected
- Tenants and landlords of multi‑family rental units in the City of Providence (with specified exemptions).
- City government — gains authority to create detailed rules, registries, boards, enforcement mechanisms, and to set the annual allowable increase.
- Housing services, enforcement agencies, and potentially developers and property investors due to new regulatory requirements.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Tenant protections: could limit rent spikes, reduce displacement, and strengthen eviction safeguards.
- Landlord/market effects: could constrain revenue growth for landlords, influence maintenance/investment decisions, and affect housing supply and conversion economics.
- Administrative burden: city implementation would require rulemaking, enforcement capacity, registries, and potential legal challenges over “fair return” and scope.
- Local discretion: the bill authorizes — but does not itself establish — specific rent caps, relocation amounts, vacancy control rules, or enforcement procedures; those specifics would be set by Providence ordinances under the authority the bill creates.
Legislative timeline (selected)
- Feb 28, 2025 — Introduced by Rep. Enrique George Sanchez; referred to House Municipal Government & Housing.
- Mar 28, 2025 — Scheduled for hearing/consideration.
- Apr 2, 2025 — Committee recommended measure be held for further study.
Note: The bill creates enabling state law allowing Providence to enact and tailor rent‑control and tenant‑protection ordinances; detailed rules and dollar amounts would be adopted later at the municipal level if the bill is enacted.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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