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Rhode Island · RI

Sell your land in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is one of a small number of states whose seller disclosure law reaches bare ground by name. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-1 defines real estate to include vacant land, and § 5-20.8-2 requires the written disclosure before any agreement to transfer is signed. Skipping it is not an option.

Tax sale type
Tax lien
Redemption period
1 year
Rate on redemption
10% plus 1% per month (22% max)
Closings handled by
Partial attorney

Figures describe Rhode Island generally. Counties administer their own sales and their own calendars — your county treasurer is the only source for a payoff figure or a sale date you can act on.

Local detail

What actually matters about land in Rhode Island

Vacant land is named in the statute

Most states exempt bare ground from seller disclosure. Rhode Island wrote it in. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-1 defines real estate as vacant land or real property and improvements consisting of a house or building containing one to four dwelling units, and defines deficient conditions to include land restrictions and any defect or unsound condition of which the seller has knowledge. Section 5-20.8-2 requires a written disclosure to the buyer and to each agent, delivered as soon as practicable and in any event before any agreement to transfer is signed, on a form approved by the Rhode Island real estate commission. The agent withholds offers until the buyer signs a receipt.

CRMC jurisdiction runs 200 feet inland

The Coastal Resources Management Council, created under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 46-23, is not a shoreline agency in the narrow sense. Its jurisdiction runs from three nautical miles offshore to 200 feet inland of the most inland coastal feature — beaches, dunes, coastal wetlands, cliffs, rocky shores and manmade shorelines all count as features, and the inland edge of one can sit well back from the water. Development within that contiguous area needs a Council Assent. The threshold drops further for larger projects: subdivisions of six or more units, and facilities creating 40,000 square feet, trigger review when any portion reaches the feature or its 200-foot area.

Classification defers tax until the use changes

The Farm, Forest and Open Space Act sits at R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 44-27 and lets a municipality assess qualifying land at its use value instead of market value, with the classification applied for through the local assessor and forest management plans reviewed by the Department of Environmental Management. R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-39 imposes the land use change tax when the land is put to another use or the owner voluntarily withdraws: 10 percent of fair market value during the first six years of classification, dropping one point a year after that, and nothing after the fifteenth year. The trigger is the change of use, not the sale itself.

Thirty-nine municipalities write their own rules

Rhode Island has 39 cities and towns, and its five counties carry no governmental functions. Zoning comes from municipal ordinances adopted under the Rhode Island Zoning Enabling Act of 1991, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 45-24, which requires each ordinance to conform to the town's comprehensive plan. In the smallest state in the country, that produces minimum lot sizes, frontage rules and setbacks that vary sharply from one town line to the next, and a lot that is legal in one town may be unbuildable in the next. Delinquent taxes are collected by the municipal collector through a tax sale under chapter 44-9, with foreclosure of redemption petitioned in Superior Court.

Questions

Selling land in Rhode Island

Do I have to give a disclosure for vacant Rhode Island land?

Yes — Rhode Island is one of the few states whose disclosure law names vacant land. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-1 defines real estate as vacant land or real property improved by a house or building of one to four dwelling units. Section 5-20.8-2 requires written disclosure of all deficient conditions of which you have actual knowledge, delivered to the buyer and each agent as soon as practicable and no later than before any agreement to transfer is signed. The real estate commission approves the form.

Is my inland parcel subject to CRMC review?

It can be — the Coastal Resources Management Council's jurisdiction reaches 200 feet inland of the most inland coastal feature, not 200 feet from the water. Under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 46-23, coastal features include beaches, dunes, coastal wetlands, cliffs, rocky shores and manmade shorelines, and the inland boundary of a coastal wetland can sit a long way back from open water. Development in that contiguous area requires a Council Assent. Larger subdivisions and projects creating 40,000 square feet face review at lower thresholds.

What does it cost to leave Farm, Forest and Open Space?

The land use change tax, and how much depends on how long the classification has run. R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-39 charges 10 percent of fair market value if the use changes or the owner withdraws during the first six years of classification, then reduces by roughly a point a year, with no tax owed after the end of the fifteenth year. Selling alone does not trigger it; converting the land or withdrawing the classification does. A buyer who keeps the qualifying use can apply to continue it with the assessor.

Sources for the figures above

These are secondary references, accurate enough to orient you and not a substitute for the statute or your county. Tax procedure changes; nothing here is legal advice.

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