Rhode Island Real Estate Lawyer Blog

Rhode Island property owners are required to pay taxes and utility bills to the state and municipality where the property is located. Failure to keep up to date on due tax and utility obligations can ultimately result in a property owner losing possession and ownership of their property. In the event that the state or…

The State of Rhode Island and its municipalities routinely perform widespread property valuations on private property in the state to determine the property tax burdens of property owners. In the tax years after a valuation is completed, property owners are required to pay taxes based on the updated amounts until another valuation is complete. Tax…

Until 1978, many homes and businesses were constructed or renovated with paint containing lead. Lead is an element that has been found to cause many health problems, especially in children. In children, lead can impair brain development, as well as renal function and the nervous system. Considering these risks, the U.S. federal government banned the…

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island recently issued a decision in which the court terminated a mother’s parental rights to her son. The mother had her son in 2017 when she was seventeen years old. The mother planned to live with her stepfather who had a history of physical or sexual abuse against a child…

It is not uncommon for private businesses to allow land adjacent to their property to be used by customers for parking or other purposes. Often, months or years can pass before the rightful owner of a piece of property realizes that an adjacent property owner is using it for their own purpose. A recently published…

As property values increase in coastal Rhode Island and residents of other states purchase beachside homes as retirement or vacation properties, the long-standing conflicts over public beach access in the state will continue to worsen. Wealthy landowners and developers of luxury properties have a financial incentive to restrict public access to beaches in order to…

The laws of trespass are generally understood to apply to people who enter or remain on a piece of personal property without the consent of the owner or the legal right to do so. From a legal standpoint, the theory of trespass is much broader. Trespass to land is generally understood to entail a wrongful…

Across the United States, municipalities, states, and even the federal government have the right to seize the property of private citizens under some circumstances. Although the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure of their property, government actors have carved out a range of “reasonable” seizures that are permitted…

Jurisdictions across the United States have different laws and traditions concerning how property is divided during a divorce. Generally, judges are not required to follow any strict formula for property division; however, the guidelines and laws offer factors for courts to consider in awarding property to each spouse. Rhode Island courts divide marital property using…

Although trespassing is against the law in Rhode Island, adverse possession is legal a loophole that allows individuals to secure an ownership interest in a piece of property after a certain amount of time has passed. To avoid this issue, landowners should familiarize themselves with the basics of adverse possession claims in Rhode Island so…