Selling a house in Rhode Island: the paperwork

Every document a Rhode Island sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows which part that usually is.

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13 documents · 7 questions · about a 9 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

4documents are usually yours to produce

out of 13 a Rhode Island sale commonly touches

Narrow this to your own sale.

7 quick questions about the home, the title and its history. Every answer takes something off the list or explains why it stays on. Nothing is saved, and you can stop anywhere.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

RI Real Estate Sales Disclosure formOn your list if you inherited the home, or it's in probate.
Lead disclosure + EPA/RI pamphlet (pre-1978)
Cesspool/OWTS inspection report
Private well testOn your list if there's a well or a septic system.

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

CRMC documentation (coastal)On your list if the home is on the water or in a flood zone.

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Deed (warranty)
Title examination for marketability
Closing conduct
Conveyance tax remittance
Recording of deed
Payoff statements
HOA/condo resale docsOn your list if the home is in an HOA, a condo or a co-op.
Purchase & sale agreement (with disclosure acknowledgment)

The same paperwork, in a Room.

Every one of these filed under whoever sent it, with every version kept, beside the dates and people of your own Rhode Island sale.

Your Rhode Island paperwork, in a Room

RI Real Estate Sales Disclosure formUsually yours
Lead disclosure + EPA/RI pamphlet (pre-1978)Usually yours
Cesspool/OWTS inspection reportUsually yours
Private well testUsually yours

A Room files each one under whoever sent it, and keeps every version. The 4 marked "usually yours" are the ones you can fill in on screen.

The rest of what Rhode Island asks.

How a sale generally runs there, what catches people out, and the whole of the research with its citations kept.

How Rhode Island generally runs a sale.

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

Closing structure — ATTORNEY-INVOLVED (deed drafting & title exam require an attorney; the closing itself may be conducted by a non-attorney title agent with disclosure): Controlling authority: *In re Paplauskas*, 228 A.3d 43 (R.I. 2020) (May 29, 2020; consolidated with *In re Balkun* and *In re SouthCoast Title and Escrow*, Nos. 2018-161, -162, -163-M.P.).
Marital property: NOT community property. Dower/curtesy abolished. No general spousal-joinder for individually-titled property.
Homestead: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-26-4.1: $500,000 homestead exemption in land and buildings. CREDITOR exemption only — one per principal residence per family (no doubling), automatic, does not restrict co...
Standard deed: Warranty deed; statutory conveyance forms under R.I. Gen. Laws Title 34, Ch. 34-11. Attorney must draft or review the deed per *Paplauskas*.
Disclosure regime — STATUTORY: Real Estate Sales Disclosure Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 5-20.8-1 through 5-20.8-13. § 5-20.8-2(a): "As soon as practicable, but in any event no later than prior to signing any agreement to trans...
Remedy for non-delivery: VERIFY — statutory penalty differs across code sections/versions. § 5-20.8-5 sets maximum civil penalty of $1,000 per occurrence for failure to include the acknowledgment;
Transfer tax — R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1: MAJOR 2025 CHANGE. Effective October 1, 2025, Tier 1 rate increased from $2.30 to $3.75 per $500 of consideration per RI Division of Taxation Notice 2025-05 / Advisory 2025-13.
RON status: RON permanent in RI. Governor McKee signed the RON law June 30, 2022, effective immediately.
Recording act: VERIFY — generally treated as race-notice; recording under Title 34, Ch. 34-11 (form/effect) and 34-13 (recording). § 34-11-1 (conveyances in writing and recorded);
Recording office — TOWN CLERK / CITY CLERK: All 39 RI municipalities. No county recorder. RI has adopted URPERA (electronic recording).
Local overlays: CRMC coastal jurisdiction; Cesspool Act point-of-sale; OWTS/septic inspection; lead-paint overlays; fire-district and sewer/water liens.

Other things Rhode Island asks about.

These come up in Rhode Island and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

RI-2. Has a licensed RI attorney been engaged to draft/review the deed and examine title (*Paplauskas*)?
RI-3. Is the property served by a cesspool within 200 feet of tidal waters / a public drinking-water resource (Cesspool Act trigger)?
RI-5. Pre-1978 construction (RI Lead Hazard Mitigation Act + § 5-20.8-11 lead inspection ten-day period)?
RI-7. Will consideration exceed the current Tier 2 threshold ($824,000 for 2026)?
RI-8. Fire-district, sewer, water, or lighting-district liens/assessments?

Before you rely on any of this.

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The whole Rhode Island reference.

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

ALWAYS-Required Documents

RI Real Estate Sales Disclosure form, pre-agreement with signed buyer receipt — [SELLER].
Deed (warranty), drafted or reviewed by RI attorney — [ATTORNEY].
Title/marketability examination by attorney — [ATTORNEY].
Conveyance tax under § 44-25-1 — [TITLE/ESCROW]/[ATTORNEY].
Federal + RI lead disclosure (pre-1978) — [SELLER].
Recorded deed at town/city clerk — [TOWN/CITY CLERK].
Purchase & sale agreement acknowledgment of disclosure delivery (§ 5-20.8-5) — [ATTORNEY]/[BUYER].

SOMETIMES-Required Documents (Triggered)

Cesspool inspection / § 5-20.8-13 sewage-system disclosure — cesspool-served; 10-day buyer inspection right; Cesspool Act (Ch. 23-19.15) point-of-sale replacement for high-risk cesspools within 200 ft of tidal waters or public drinking-water/surface-water supply.
Lead inspection ten-day period (§ 5-20.8-11) — pre-1978, 1–4 family.
Private well testing (§ 5-20.8-12).
CRMC assent/documentation — coastal.
Condominium resale documents — Title 34, Ch. 34-36.1.
Power of attorney (limited, closing-specific) — non-attorney may prepare per Paplauskas.
Residency affidavit — non-attorney may prepare.
FIRPTA affidavit — foreign seller.
Right-to-farm notification — where a farm is in the municipality.

Prescribed-Language Items (Substance Over Form)

Disclosure-form top notice (§ 5-20.8-2). Must appear conspicuously at the top: "Prior to the signing of an agreement to transfer real estate (vacant land or real property and improvements consisting of a house or building containing one to four (4) dwelling units), the seller is providing the buyer with this written disclosure of all deficient conditions of which the seller has knowledge. This is not a warranty by seller that no other defective conditions exist, which there may or may not be. Buyer should estimate the cost of repair or replacement of deficient conditions prior to submitting an offer on this real estate. Buyer is advised however not to rely solely upon the representation of seller made in this disclosure, but to conduct any inspections or investigations which buyer deems to be necessary to protect his or her best interest."
Cesspool notice (§ 5-20.8-2 / Ch. 23-19.15). "Potential purchasers of real estate in the state of Rhode Island are hereby notified that many properties in the state are still serviced by cesspools as defined in [Chapter 23-19.15]…" plus § 5-20.8-13 ten-day inspection right.
Agreement acknowledgment (§ 5-20.8-5). "Every agreement for the purchase and sale of residential real estate located in the state shall contain an acknowledgement that a completed real estate disclosure form has been provided to the buyer by the seller."
RON certificate. "The notarial act utilized communication technology."
Federal + RI lead warning statement — EPA "Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home" plus "What You Should Know about the Rhode Island Lead Law" insert.

Local / Municipal Overlays

Cesspool Act point-of-sale (Ch. 23-19.15). Inspection obligations for cesspools within 200 ft of shoreline/tidal area or public drinking-water supply; spouse/parent/child/full-sibling transfers excepted.
CRMC coastal jurisdiction.
Municipal property-tax homestead exemptions vary (unrelated to § 9-26-4.1 creditor homestead).
Fire-district, sewer, water, lighting-district assessments/liens.
Recording fees under § 34-13-7 and name-printing surcharge under § 34-11-1.1.

Post-Closing Obligations

Recording at town/city clerk.
Conveyance tax remittance (grantor default; state $0.95 per collection).
Payoff/discharge of prior mortgages.
1099-S reporting.
Retention of signed disclosure form.

Federal Overlays (Cross-Reference)

FinCEN RRE Rule — effective March 1, 2026; VACATED March 19, 2026 (Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, E.D. Tex.); FinCEN appealed May 11, 2026; circuit split with Fidelity National Financial, Inc. v. Bessent (M.D. Fla.). TREAT AS SUSPENDED.
Federal lead-based paint disclosure (Title X); layered with RI Lead Hazard Mitigation Act (Ch. 42-128.1) and Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (Ch. 23-24.6, § 23-24.6-16).
FIRPTA (26 U.S.C. § 1445).
1099-S reporting.

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