| Chapter 437 |
| 2024 -- H 7465 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED Enacted 06/29/2024 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT |
Introduced By: Representatives Vella-Wilkinson, Perez, Casimiro, Hull, Lima, Fellela, J. Lombardi, and Batista |
| Date Introduced: February 02, 2024 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Sections 42-63.1-2 and 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 |
| entitled "Tourism and Development" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 42-63.1-2. Definitions. |
| For the purposes of this chapter: |
| (1) “Consideration” means the monetary charge for the use of space devoted to transient |
| lodging accommodations. |
| (2) “Corporation” means the Rhode Island commerce corporation. |
| (3) “District” means the regional tourism districts set forth in § 42-63.1-5. |
| (45) “Hotel” means any facility offering a minimum of one (1) room for which the public |
| may, for a consideration, obtain transient lodging accommodations. The term “hotel” shall include |
| hotels, motels, tourist homes, tourist camps, lodging houses, and inns. The term “hotel” shall also |
| include houses, condominiums, or other residential dwelling units, regardless of the number of |
| rooms, which are used and/or advertised for rent for occupancy. The term “hotel” shall not include |
| schools, hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, and chronic care centers. |
| (54) “Hosting platform” means any electronic or operating system in which a person or |
| entity provides a means through which an owner may offer a residential unit for “tourist or |
| transient” use. This service is usually, though not necessarily, provided through an online or web- |
| based system which generally allows an owner to advertise the residential unit through a hosted |
| website and provides a means for a person or entity to arrange, or otherwise facilitate reservations |
| for, tourist or transient use in exchange for payment, whether the person or entity pays rent directly |
| to the owner or to the hosting platform. All hosting platforms are required to collect and remit the |
| tax owed under this section. |
| (6) “Occupancy” means a person, firm, or corporation’s use of space for transient lodging |
| accommodations not to exceed thirty (30) days. Excluded from “occupancy” is the use of space for |
| which the occupant has a written lease for the space, which lease covers a rental period of twelve |
| (12) months or more. Furthermore, any house, condominium, or other residential dwelling rented, |
| for which the occupant has a documented arrangement for the space covering a rental period of |
| more than thirty (30) consecutive days or for one calendar month is excluded from the definition |
| of occupancy. |
| (79) “Tax” means the hotel tax imposed by § 44-18-36.1(a). |
| (87) “Owner” means any person who owns real property and is the owner of record. Owner |
| shall also include a lessee where the lessee is offering a residential unit for “tourist or transient” |
| use. |
| (98) “Residential unit” means a room or rooms, including a condominium or a room or a |
| dwelling unit that forms part of a single, joint, or shared tenant arrangement, in any building, or |
| portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let, or hired out to be occupied for non- |
| commercial use. |
| (1011) “Tour operator” means a person that derives a majority of his or hertheir or its |
| revenue by providing tour operator packages. |
| (1112) “Tour operator packages” means travel packages that include the services of a tour |
| guide and where the itinerary encompasses five (5) or more consecutive days. |
| (1210) “Tourist or transient” means any use of a residential unit for occupancy for less than |
| a thirty (30) consecutive day term of tenancy, or occupancy for less than thirty (30) consecutive |
| days of a residential unit leased or owned by a business entity, whether on a short-term or long- |
| termsterm basis, including any occupancy by employeeemployees or guests of a business entity |
| for less than thirty (30) consecutive days where payment for the residential unit is contracted for or |
| paid by the business entity. |
| 42-63.1-14. Offering residential units through a hosting platform. |
| (a) For any rental property offered for tourist or transient use on a hosting platform that |
| collects and remits applicable sales and hotel taxes in compliance with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44- |
| 18-18, and 44-18-36.1, cities, towns, or municipalities shall not prohibit the owner from offering |
| the unit for tourist or transient use through such hosting platform, or prohibit such hosting platform |
| from providing a person or entity the means to rent, pay for, or otherwise reserve a residential unit |
| for tourist or transient use. A hosting platform shall comply with the requirement imposed upon |
| room resellers in §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i) and 44-18-36.1 in order for the prohibition of this section to |
| apply. The division of taxation shall at the request of a city, town, or municipality confirm whether |
| a hosting platform is registered in compliance with § 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i). |
| (b) Any short-term rental property listed for rent on the website of any third-party hosting |
| platform that conducts business in Rhode Island shall be registered with the department of business |
| regulation. The registration shall provide the information necessary to identify the property |
| pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “short-term rental” |
| means a person, firm, or corporation’s utilization, for transient lodging accommodations, not to |
| exceed thirty (30) nights at a time. |
| (c) The department of business regulation shall contact all hosting platforms that list |
| property in Rhode Island on their website for rent and that submit hotel taxes to the division of |
| taxation and/or the city of Newport and shall provide notice of the registration requirement, |
| pursuant to this section, instructing the hosting platforms to notify their listed properties to register |
| with the department of business regulation annually by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines |
| pursuant to § 42-63.1-14.1. Provided further, renewals of registrations pursuant to this section shall |
| become due for renewal on the anniversary date of the original registration. |
| (d) The state registration pursuant to this section shall include: |
| (1) The principal place of business of the owner, or if outside the state, the agent for service |
| of process or property manager for the owner; |
| (2) The phone number of the owner of the property and/or property manager; |
| (3) The email address of the property owner and/or property manager; |
| (4) The address of the rental property; |
| (5) The number of rooms for rent at the property; |
| (6) Whether the registrant rents or owns; and |
| (7) Intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space). |
| (e) The assigned registration number shall consist of numeric and alpha characters, the |
| alpha characters shall correspond to the city/town where the property is located and shall be uniform |
| for the remaining properties in said city/town. |
| (f) The department of business regulation shall notify all hosting platforms to contact all |
| listed properties by December 31, 2021, to ensure compliance with this section Registration forms |
| and/or any registration materials required by the department shall be completed prior to a listing by |
| a hosting platform. The registration number shall be valid for the year during which it is assigned, |
| and if the a listed properties are property is not duly registered after six (6) months the expiration |
| of the annual registration period, the hosting platform shall remove the property listing from its |
| website within fourteen (14) days of notification from the department. |
| (g) The department of business regulation shall promulgate rules and regulations to |
| correspond with and enforce this section and § 42-63.1-14.1 and may charge a registration fee to |
| property owners registering with the department pursuant to this section. |
| (h) The department of business regulation shall create an online database to store all |
| registered short-term rental units, and each unit shall have an online identification number in said |
| database to correspond with subsection (e) of this section. |
| (i) Any owner of the property who or that fails to register with the department of business |
| regulation as prescribed herein and lists the property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform |
| website shall be subject to a civil fine as follows: |
| (1) Two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first thirty (30) days of non- |
| compliancenoncompliance; |
| (2) Five hundred dollars ($500) for between thirty-one (31) and sixty (60) days of non- |
| compliancenoncompliance; and |
| (3) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for more than sixty (60) days of non- |
| compliancenoncompliance. |
| (j) Notwithstanding any other law or provision to the contrary, no person shall list any |
| residence for short-term rental for tourist or transient use without the property’s current, valid |
| registration number, and its expiration date, which hosting platforms shall require to be displayed |
| on the listing advertisement. Any hosting platform that offers short-term rental of residential |
| property for tourist or transient use without requiring the owner to display the current, valid |
| registration number of a property, and its expiration date, shall be subject to a civil fine of two |
| hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day per violation, with each property listing constituting a separate |
| violation. |
| (k) A hosting platform shall provide to the department of business regulation, on a quarterly |
| basis, an electronic report, in a format determined by the department of business regulation, of the |
| listings maintained, authorized, facilitated, or advertised by the hosting platform within the state |
| for the applicable reporting period. The report shall include a breakdown of the municipality where |
| the listings are located, whether the listing is for a room or a whole unit, the total number of short- |
| term rentals listed on the platform,, the registration number of each short-term rental listed on the |
| platform, the URL link of each short-term rental listed on the platform, and shall include the number |
| of nights each unit was reported as occupied during the applicable reporting period. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 30, 2025. |
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| LC004721/SUB A/2 |
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