In February 2024, several REALTORS® have reported a new twist to real estate scams. Different lead generation services have sent the contact information for a seller who wants to list his or her property for sale. How do you know if this seller is the true owner of the property or a scammer who wants to defraud a buyer of hundreds of thousands of dollars?
In 2023, the Rhode Island General Assembly approved a new law that would require owners of rental property to register with a new Department of Health registry that was intended to be created by September 1, 2024 subject to funding with a filing deadline of October 1, 2024. Governor McKee has filed legislation as part of his budget to postpone and change the filing requirements.
Do you or your clients manage or have an ownership interest in a corporation, limited liability company or other business entity or plan to form one? If so, you’ll need to comply with new federal reporting requirements.
Warwick, R.I. – February 15, 2024 – The rate of decline in year-over-year home sales that plagued 2023 showed marked improvement in January, falling just 4.3% compared to the double-digit drops in sales activity recorded throughout each month last year.
Warwick, R.I. – January 30, 2024 – Data released today by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors relayed the severity of Rhode Island’s stalled housing market in 2023. The number of single-family homes sold in the state last year plummeted to the lowest level in a dozen years. 7409 homes were sold in 2023, a 22.5% drop from 2022, and a 33% decline from 2019, the year before the market surged due to the pandemic.
A number of new lead laws went into effect in 2023. Most recently, the Rhode Island legal exemption for owner-occupied two- and three-family properties was eliminated as of January 1, 2024. Those properties along with single-family dwellings, such as homes and condominiums, and multi-unit dwellings built before 1978 now must comply with lead mitigation laws. Share this one-page fact sheet from the Rhode Island Department of Health with customers and clients.
Warwick, R.I. – January 22, 2024 – In December, Rhode Island’s median sale price of single-family homes jumped 9.5% from 12 months earlier, more than twice the level of year-over-year appreciation seen at the end of 2022. Last fall’s high interest rates kept sales activity suppressed, while the continued shortfall of inventory kept prices elevated. The Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported a December median sale price of $427,000.
Are you renewing your real estate license or changing brokerages? Make sure that you’re covered by errors and omissions insurance.
Rhode Island law requires all real estate licensees to document that they are covered by an errors and omissions insurance policy. The policy can be either an individual policy and/or a principal broker’s blanket policy.
As a reminder, starting on January 1, 2024, real estate licensees who are working as independent contractors are required to register once per year with the RI Department of Labor and Training or when switching brokerages. The intent of the law is to prevent misclassification of workers as independent contractors for purposes of workers’ compensation.
The Office of Housing and Community Development is in the process of updating the Landlord Tenant Handbook as a result of legislation which is now law, that the Rhode Island Association of Realtors filed. The Office has posted a draft that was created by the RI Center for Justice and is accepting public comments.