Rhode Island HOA Fining Authority

Section 1: Overview — Fining authority in Rhode Island

Rhode Island fines condominium unit owners under a state Condominium Act, but it leaves planned-community fining to recorded covenants, and its appeals run straight to the state's highest court. The Rhode Island Condominium Act — R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-36.1 — governs condominiums, and it is the state's enactment of the uniform condominium framework. As the Rhode Island Supreme Court put it in Song v. Lemoine, "In 1982 the General Assembly adopted Rhode Island's version of the Uniform Condominium Act, which applied to any condominium created in Rhode Island after July 1, 1982."^1,2 Rhode Island has no comprehensive planned-community or HOA statute, so a non-condominium association draws its authority to fine from its recorded declaration (CC&Rs); where the association is incorporated, the Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act (Chapter 7-6) supplies only corporate formalities.³ The operative limit therefore depends on property type: the Condominium Act measures a condominium fine, while the recorded covenants measure a planned-community fine. One question matters most downstream — whether an unpaid fine can become a lien and force a sale of the home. For condominiums, the Act answers yes, and Section 3C lays out the mechanics. One structural point governs how any court reviews a fine dispute: Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court. The Superior Court hears trial-level disputes, and appeals go straight to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.⁴ This page assumes the statute-selection framework covered on our Governing Statute page and focuses on fining mechanics. The Quick-Reference table below summarizes those mechanics for both tracks.

Section 2: Quick-Reference Fining Mechanics Table

This table summarizes Rhode Island's fining mechanics at a glance. The Condominiums column reflects the Rhode Island Condominium Act (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-36.1) — chiefly the powers provision at § 34-36.1-3.02(a)(11), the enforcement provision at § 34-36.1-3.20, the lien provision at § 34-36.1-3.16, and the foreclosure provision at § 34-36.1-3.21. The Planned Communities column reflects the CC&R-derived framework that applies where no condominium statute governs. The detailed discussion that follows sources every value, using Rhode Island's own section numbers. Where no statutory rule exists, the cell reads "CC&R-derived; no statute" or "Set by declaration" rather than stating a number.

Condominiums column reflects the Rhode Island Condominium Act (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-36.1); Planned Communities are CC&R-derived. Appeals are heard directly by the Rhode Island Supreme Court (no intermediate appellate court). Last verified: July 14, 2026.

Section 3: Fining mechanics in detail

3A. Source and outer limits of fining authority

The condominium track runs on the Rhode Island Condominium Act. Section 34-36.1-3.02(a)(11) empowers a unit owners' association to impose late charges and, "after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations of the association as provided in § 34-36.1-3.20."⁵ Section 34-36.1-3.20 supplies the operative detail: an executive board "may impose and assess fines against a unit owner as a method of enforcing the association's declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations."⁶ The Act took effect July 1, 1982 and reaches condominiums created after that date. A pre-1982 condominium may voluntarily accept the Act, and § 34-36.1-1.02(a)(2) makes an enumerated list of sections apply to pre-1982 condominiums for events after July 1, 1982 — a list that expressly includes § 34-36.1-3.20 and § 34-36.1-3.02(a)(11)–(17).¹ Older condominiums that have not opted in otherwise remain under the Condominium Ownership Act (the Horizontal Property Act), Chapter 34-36.⁷ The Rhode Island Supreme Court reads the 1982 Act protectively: the Act "as a whole contains a strong consumer protection flavor," a characterization the Court drew from America Condominium Association, Inc. v. IDC, Inc., 844 A.2d 117, 128 (R.I. 2004).² Rhode Island adopted the uniform framework for condominiums only, and it uses its own section numbers; the uniform act's planned-community features — deemed-rejection ratification, statutory fining templates, and statutory super-priority liens — are not part of Rhode Island planned-community law.

The planned-community track has no statutory fining authority. A Rhode Island homeowners association that is not a condominium draws its power to fine from its recorded declaration. Where the association is incorporated, the Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act (Chapter 7-6) supplies corporate formalities — board action, meetings, recordkeeping — but it confers no power to fine members.³ The condominium fine standard is both "reasonable" and capped: § 34-36.1-3.20 caps daily fines at $100 for residential condominiums and $500 for commercial condominiums, caps other fines at $500 residential and $1,000 commercial, and voids any declaration, bylaw, or rule that "purports to establish a maximum fine or daily fine."⁶ For planned communities, the declaration sets the fine and any ceiling, subject to common-law reasonableness.

3B. The required fining procedure

For condominiums, the statutory predicate is notice and an opportunity to be heard before a fine is imposed. Section 34-36.1-3.20(a) states that "notice and the opportunity for a hearing must be provided to an alleged violator before a fine is imposed and assessed."⁶ The Act does not fix a day-count: it sets no minimum notice period, no cure period, and no deadline for requesting or scheduling a hearing. It does specify the forum — hearings "shall be before the executive board or a person designated by the executive board" — and it requires that a hearing decision "must include costs in all cases and reasonable attorney's fees, if the prevailing party is represented by a member of the Rhode Island Bar," with those fees and costs also becoming a lien on the unit.⁶ Section 34-36.1-3.20 expressly permits daily fines for continuing violations, within the caps.⁶

For planned communities, procedure comes from the recorded covenants. No statutory notice period, cure period, or hearing deadline applies unless the declaration sets one; the common-law expectation is reasonable notice and an opportunity to respond before a fine is imposed.

The practical implication is direct: a Rhode Island condominium fine stands or falls on compliance with the § 34-36.1-3.20 procedure, while a planned-community fine turns on the recorded covenants and common-law fairness. A challenge to either lands in the Rhode Island Superior Court, with appeal directly to the Rhode Island Supreme Court; there is no intermediate appellate court and no state administrative body that adjudicates association fine disputes.⁴ The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation licenses real estate brokers, but it does not regulate condominium or homeowners associations, and Rhode Island does not require community association managers to hold a state license.⁸

3C. Enforcement of unpaid fines: assessments, liens, and foreclosure

This subsection carries the highest stakes. For condominiums, the association's statutory lien secures fines. Section 34-36.1-3.20(a) states that "all fines shall be a lien on the unit charged," and § 34-36.1-3.16(a) gives the association a lien "for any assessment levied against that unit or fines imposed against its unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due."^6,9 Unless the declaration provides otherwise, fines — along with late charges, interest, and attorney's fees charged under § 34-36.1-3.02(a)(10)–(12) — "are enforceable as assessments under this section."⁹ A fine that is a lien can support foreclosure: § 34-36.1-3.21(a)(1) lets the association sell a unit at public auction on a default in "any assessment, fine, or any other charge which is a lien on the unit," a non-judicial power-of-sale process with statutory notice and publication requirements.¹⁰ A fine-only balance therefore can, in principle, reach foreclosure — which sets Rhode Island apart from states that bar foreclosure on fine-only debt.

Read the priority terms precisely. The condominium lien primes a prior-recorded first mortgage only to the extent of the common expense assessments due during the six months immediately preceding foreclosure, plus collection attorney's fees up to $2,500 and foreclosure costs up to $5,000 — a $7,500 aggregate.⁹ That six-month window measures common expense assessments under the periodic budget; it does not extend the super-priority to fines. Fines remain within the lien and stay collectible as assessments, but they are not part of the amount that primes the first mortgage. The lien lapses if the association does not begin enforcement within six years.⁹

For planned communities, no statutory assessment lien exists. A lien and any foreclosure right arise only if the recorded declaration creates them; the Nonprofit Corporation Act supplies none. On suspension of rights, the Condominium Act does not authorize an association to suspend a unit owner's voting rights or common-element or amenity use as a penalty; the enumerated powers in § 34-36.1-3.02 and the enforcement provision in § 34-36.1-3.20 provide for fines and liens, not suspensions.^5,6 Any suspension remedy must come from the governing documents, and for planned communities it is entirely declaration-derived.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent rulings

C. Active legislative debates

The 2025 session produced several targeted condominium amendments effective June 24, 2025. Senate Bill S0507 (Chapter 178) now requires an association to give unit owners at least 30 days' notice before it raises the master property-insurance deductible, and a companion law set condominium meeting-procedure and electronic-meeting rules. None of them proposed a comprehensive planned-community or HOA statute or a general planned-community fining regime. The recurring pattern is incremental amendment of Chapter 34-36.1 rather than any new statutory framework for non-condominium associations.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Rhode Island sits in the uniform-law camp for condominiums and the covenant-primary camp for everything else. Its Condominium Act belongs to the same UCIOA family as the statutes in Nevada, Connecticut, Colorado, and Minnesota, and like those states Rhode Island uses its own section numbers rather than the uniform act's — a Rhode Island citation always points to Chapter 34-36.1, never to a model section. What sets Rhode Island apart is the sharp condominium/planned-community divide: a condominium fine is a statutory creature with caps, a mandatory notice-and-hearing predicate, a lien, and a power-of-sale remedy, while a planned-community fine is whatever the recorded declaration makes it, with no statutory lien. The state's court structure also shapes review: because Rhode Island has no intermediate appellate court, an appealed fine dispute travels from the Superior Court directly to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, which shortens the appellate path relative to most states.

HOA Weekly updates its Rhode Island Fining Authority coverage quarterly as the General Assembly and the Rhode Island Supreme Court act. Federal frameworks also reach Rhode Island associations regardless of the state rules — notably the FDCPA, which can govern third-party collection of fines, along with the FHA, ADA, SCRA, and OTARD; a forthcoming federal-law analysis will cover each of them in depth.

Recommendations

• For condominium boards and managers, build the fine workflow around § 34-36.1-3.20 first, not the bylaws: issue written notice of the alleged violation, offer a hearing before the executive board or its designee, and document each step before the fine posts. A contested fine changes the posture — once an owner disputes, treat the file as litigation-bound, because review runs straight to the Superior Court and then the Supreme Court.
• Keep fine amounts inside the statutory caps ($100/day residential, $500/day commercial; $500 and $1,000 non-daily), and do not rely on any bylaw or rule that states a maximum, because § 34-36.1-3.20(d) voids such caps. If a community's documents contain a fine ceiling, flag it for amendment.
• When you collect, separate the fine ledger from the common-expense ledger. Fines are a lien and are foreclosable, but they do not enjoy the six-month priority over a prior first mortgage; when pursuing the priority amount at a foreclosure sale, itemize common expense assessments (up to six months) plus the $2,500 and $5,000 fee/cost caps, and exclude fines from that priority figure.
• For planned communities, treat the recorded declaration as the sole source of fining, lien, and suspension authority. Before fining, confirm the declaration grants the power, sets a procedure, and — if a lien or foreclosure is contemplated — expressly creates that remedy. Absent declaration language, no statutory fallback exists. Enactment of a Rhode Island planned-community or HOA statute would change this; none is pending, so monitor Chapter 34-36.1 amendments and any standalone HOA bill each session.
• Do not assume a suspension remedy for condominiums. If a board wants to suspend voting or amenity use, verify express governing-document authority; the Act supplies none, and a statute-based suspension would not survive review.

Caveats

• The § 34-36.1-3.20 dollar caps and the § 34-36.1-3.16 priority figures ($2,500 / $5,000 / $7,500 aggregate) are current as of the versions verified on the Rhode Island General Assembly server; because the legislature has amended these amounts repeatedly since 1982, confirm the live statute text before you rely on a specific number in a filing.
• The 2025 chapter numbers for the paired condominium bills (S0508 = Chapter 180; H5586 = Chapter 179) come from the enacted House companion (Chapter 179, verified directly) and a legislative wrap-up naming both chapters; editors who need an exact Senate-chapter citation should confirm the Senate chapter text on the General Assembly public-laws page.
• Song v. Lemoine concerns special-meeting notice, not a fine; this page includes it for its consumer-protection canon and its statute-and-declaration-control rule, which bear on how a court would construe a contested fine — not because it holds on fine enforceability.
• The absence of a Rhode Island HOA regulator and of a manager-licensing requirement reflects the current statutory landscape; future legislation could change both.

1. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-1.02 (Applicability) ↩ ↩
2. Song v. Lemoine, No. 2024-34-Appeal (R.I. May 19, 2025) (quoting America Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. IDC, Inc., 844 A.2d 117, 128 (R.I. 2004), and Town Houses at Bonnet Shores Condominium Ass'n v. Langlois, 45 A.3d 577, 582 (R.I. 2012)) ↩ ↩ ↩
3. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-6 (Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩ ↩
4. Rhode Island Judiciary, Supreme Court (court of last resort; no intermediate appellate court) ↩ ↩
5. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.02 (Powers of unit owners' association) ↩ ↩
6. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.20 (Enforcement of declaration, by-laws and rules) ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
7. R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 34-36 (Condominium Ownership Act / Horizontal Property Act) ↩
8. Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation ↩
9. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.16 (Lien for assessments) ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
10. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-3.21 (Foreclosure of condominium lien) ↩
11. 2025 R.I. Pub. Laws ch. 179 (H5586; companion to S0508/ch. 180), amending R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-36.1-1.02 and 34-36.1-2.19 ↩