Rhode Island Landlord Question - Mailbox

[Account Closed]

In short, the question is: is a landlord in Rhode Island required to provide a post office box or a location to receive mail on the property?  If so, where could I find support for such a requirement in the Rhode Island code of laws/statutes/etc.?  If possible, the chapter, section, line number etc. would be great!

For more detail, my wife and I live on a property that is owned by the non-profit my wife works for. We live here for free and do not have a signed lease as us living here is contingent on my wife's employment with the non-profit, so we are governed by state law regarding our lease. We were told to have all of our mail sent to the non-profit's main address for our personal use (others do the same who do not live on the property). I have a single investment property in Missouri in which I have all of my mail for my LLC sent to our Rhode Island address. Today, the executive director told my wife that I would need to send my LLC mail to a post office box due to "gm and legal issues." As a result, I want to see if Rhode Island laws require a landlord to provide on-property mailing services.

For what its worth, the cost of a post office box would be worth the cost of free housing for us.  I am going to get a post office box, but I would like to know if the executive director is allowed to do this.

[Anthony Thompson]

@Account Closed it’s obviously a question best directed to an attorney, but I’m not aware of any such requirement in the law.

Feel free to comb through the RI Landlord Tenant Handbook (or the laws themselves) in case you want to try to find one yourself.

I looked at the Landlord to maintain premises section, which seemed like the most likely location for such a requirement, but didn’t see it there.

The laws do have a few broad catch-all type sections such as “Comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes affecting health and safety” on that page and Landlord's duty regarding compliance with zoning and minimum housing laws so you could certainly call the Building Department for the city/town and ask there if there’s such a mail receptacle requirement.

I do know there are properties in rural areas of RI that don’t have mail receptacles even on SFs though (folks there get their mail at the closest post office instead), so I’m leaning toward thinking there’s no such requirement.

Depending on where you live, a PO box or (even better) private mail box like at the UPS store, can be really helpful for 1) receiving packages (no worries about doorstep theft and there’s always someone who can sign), and 2) as a way to send out direct mail pieces, and have an address to receive rent payments from tenants, without giving out your home address.

So I think it’s worth looking into such services if you can afford it, especially if you own or plan to own rental property.