How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Rhode Island?

No more than one month's rent. The cap comes from R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, and the lease repeats it in the deposit clause.

What does a Rhode Island landlord have to disclose with the lease?

Beyond the federal lead paint disclosure for a building built before 1978, the Rhode Island checklist has four items: name, address and phone number of the manager and of the owner or the agent for notices and service of process; any outstanding housing code violation notice for the Premises; and the name and address of a Rhode Island agent when the Landlord lives out of state. The other one are on the checklist in the document. Each one names its statute and the landlord initials it in the document.

Which Rhode Island statutes does this lease cite?

R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26 and R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20, read on October 23, 2026. They print in the document footer so a reader can check each clause against the statute in a minute.

Should a lawyer look at this Rhode Island lease before I use it?

It is a general form, not legal advice, and it does not claim to comply with any law. The clauses state what the Rhode Island statute requires and name the statute. A lawyer who works with Rhode Island landlords can tell you whether the form fits your property, your city and the terms you want to add, which is worth the hour before signing a lease for a large rent or a long term.

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Rhode Island Residential Lease Agreement

A plain-language lease for a house or apartment in Rhode Island. The deposit, notice, entry and disclosure clauses follow Rhode Island statute, cited in the document. Download the blank PDF or e-sign it online; electronic signatures are recognized under the federal ESIGN Act and state UETA laws.

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Page one of the Rhode Island Residential Lease Agreement — Page 1 of the PDF. Tinted boxes are the placed fields, one color per role.

Rhode Island rules in this lease

Security deposit cap: No more than one month's rent
Deposit return: Within 20 days after the latest of the tenancy ending, the Tenant delivering possession, or the Tenant giving a forwarding address, the Landlord returns the deposit with a written notice itemizing any deductions for unpaid rent, cleaning, trash removal and damage beyond ordinary wear.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy: Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with written notice given at least 30 days before the date named in the notice.
Landlord entry: The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters only at reasonable times, and needs no notice in an emergency, when notice is impracticable, or to protect the Premises when the Tenant has been away more than seven days.
Disclosures: 5 items, listed below with the section that requires each one
Statutes: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20. Read the Rhode Island statute
Rules read on: 2026-10-23

A general form, not legal advice, and not a claim that it complies with any law. Rules change and vary by city. Check the statute cited here, or ask a lawyer, before you rely on it.

What is different in Rhode Island

Pick Rhode Island and four parts of this lease change: the security deposit clause, the notice clause for a month-to-month tenancy, the entry clause and the disclosures checklist, each rewritten from the Rhode Island statute. The rest of the document reads the same in every state.

Start with the deposit. Rhode Island caps it at one month's rent. The statute does not say where the money is kept, so the lease leaves that to the landlord, but its return rule, quoted in full below, says when and how the deposit comes back, and requires an itemized statement of anything kept, turns on the tenant's forwarding address and leaves ordinary wear out of the deductions.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy works the same from both sides in Rhode Island. Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with written notice given at least 30 days before the date named in the notice.

Rhode Island also speaks to when a landlord may come in. The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters only at reasonable times, and needs no notice in an emergency, when notice is impracticable, or to protect the Premises when the Tenant has been away more than seven days.

The disclosures checklist carries four Rhode Island items on top of the federal lead paint notice, among them lead hazard control information for housing built before 1978, each with the section that requires it and a line for the landlord's initials.

This row notes no city or county overlay for Rhode Island; if the property is in a city with its own rental ordinance, check it before signing. The state clauses follow four sections of Rhode Island law, read on October 23, 2026 and listed in the Statutes row above; the same citations print in the footer of the PDF.

Read the Rhode Island clauses

The wording below is what prints in the PDF for Rhode Island, word for word, under the headings Security deposit, Entry, Ending the lease and default, and Disclosures.

Security deposit

Within 20 days after the latest of the tenancy ending, the Tenant delivering possession, or the Tenant giving a forwarding address, the Landlord returns the deposit with a written notice itemizing any deductions for unpaid rent, cleaning, trash removal and damage beyond ordinary wear. The deposit may not exceed one month's rent.

Entry

The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters only at reasonable times, and needs no notice in an emergency, when notice is impracticable, or to protect the Premises when the Tenant has been away more than seven days.

Ending the lease and default

Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with written notice given at least 30 days before the date named in the notice. If rent is unpaid or a term is broken, the Landlord gives the written notice Rhode Island law requires before ending the tenancy, and the Tenant is responsible for rent through the end of the term unless the Premises is re-rented sooner.

Disclosures the Landlord initials

Lead-based paint and hazards, for a building built before 1978, with the EPA pamphlet (42 U.S.C. 4852d)
Name, address and phone number of the manager and of the owner or the agent for notices and service of process (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20)
Any outstanding housing code violation notice for the Premises (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-22.1)
The name and address of a Rhode Island agent when the Landlord lives out of state (R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-22.3)
Lead hazard control information for housing built before 1978 (R.I. Gen. Laws 42-128.1-8)

Footer of the PDF: Rhode Island clauses follow R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20 as read on 2026-10-23.

Rhode Island lease questions

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Rhode Island?: No more than one month's rent. The cap comes from R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, and the lease repeats it in the deposit clause.
When does the security deposit come back in Rhode Island?: Within 20 days after the latest of the tenancy ending, the Tenant delivering possession, or the Tenant giving a forwarding address, the Landlord returns the deposit with a written notice itemizing any deductions for unpaid rent, cleaning, trash removal and damage beyond ordinary wear.
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Rhode Island?: Either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with written notice given at least 30 days before the date named in the notice.
How much notice does a Rhode Island landlord give before entering?: The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters only at reasonable times, and needs no notice in an emergency, when notice is impracticable, or to protect the Premises when the Tenant has been away more than seven days.
What does a Rhode Island landlord have to disclose with the lease?: Beyond the federal lead paint disclosure for a building built before 1978, the Rhode Island checklist has four items: name, address and phone number of the manager and of the owner or the agent for notices and service of process; any outstanding housing code violation notice for the Premises; and the name and address of a Rhode Island agent when the Landlord lives out of state. The other one are on the checklist in the document. Each one names its statute and the landlord initials it in the document.
Which Rhode Island statutes does this lease cite?: R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-19, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-37, R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-26 and R.I. Gen. Laws 34-18-20, read on October 23, 2026. They print in the document footer so a reader can check each clause against the statute in a minute.
Should a lawyer look at this Rhode Island lease before I use it?: It is a general form, not legal advice, and it does not claim to comply with any law. The clauses state what the Rhode Island statute requires and name the statute. A lawyer who works with Rhode Island landlords can tell you whether the form fits your property, your city and the terms you want to add, which is worth the hour before signing a lease for a large rent or a long term.

Who this is for. A Rhode Island lease is one half of a landlord's paperwork; proving a notice was received is the other. Both are covered at free e-signatures for landlords.

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