| Chapter 341 |
| 2026 -- S 2475 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 06/24/2026 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO PROPERTY -- MAINTENANCE OF PRIVATE EASEMENTS AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY |
Introduced By: Senator Louis P. DiPalma |
| Date Introduced: February 06, 2026 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 34-9.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 34-9.1 entitled |
| "Maintenance of Private Easements and Rights-Of-Way" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 34-9.1-2. Maintenance of private easement and rights-of-way. |
| (a) In the absence of an enforceable, written agreement to the contrary, the owner of any |
| residential real property that benefits from an easement or right-of-way, the purpose of which is to |
| provide access to the residential real property, shall be responsible for the cost of maintaining the |
| easement or right-of-way in good repair and the cost of repairing or restoring any damaged portion |
| of the easement or right-of-way. The maintenance shall include, but not be limited to, the removal |
| of snow from the easement or right-of-way. |
| (b) In the absence of an enforceable, written agreement, the cost of maintaining and |
| repairing or restoring the easement or right-of-way shall be shared by each owner of a benefited |
| property in proportion to the benefit received by each property; provided, that the market value or |
| assessed valuation of each such property shall not be taken into consideration in the calculation of |
| benefit received. |
| (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, any owner of |
| a benefited property or any owner of a burdened property who directly or indirectly damages any |
| portion of the easement or right-of way shall be solely responsible for repairing or restoring the |
| portion damaged by that owner. |
| (d) If any owner of a benefited or burdened property refuses to repair or restore a damaged |
| portion of an easement or right-of-way in accordance with this section, or fails, after a demand in |
| writing, to pay the owner’s proportion of the cost of maintaining or repairing or restoring the |
| easement or right-of-way in accordance with subsection (b), an action for specific performance or |
| contribution may be brought in the superior court against the owner by other owners of benefited |
| or burdened properties, either jointly or severally. |
| (e) In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this section and an agreement |
| described in subsections (a) or (b) of this section, the terms of the agreement shall control. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC004227/SUB A |
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