Security Deposit Alternative in Rhode Island
Rhode Island caps security at one month's rent however you name it, and the clock starts at whichever comes last of the tenancy ending, possession coming back, or the resident giving you a forwarding address. From there you have 20 days to deliver the balance with a written itemization. Get it wrong and the resident recovers twice the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney fees.
What Rhode Island law says about security deposits
Read from the Rhode Island statute on 2026-09-11. Deposit rules change, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Confirm the current text with your own counsel before you change a lease.
Can you require it of every Rhode Island resident?
Rhode Island has no statute written for a monthly fee charged instead of a deposit. Section 34-18-19 caps security at one month's rent “however denominated”, which makes the test what a charge does rather than what it is called, and it lists what may come out of the deposit: unpaid accrued rent, reasonable cleaning, reasonable trash disposal, and physical damage beyond ordinary wear. There is one carve-out worth knowing. On a furnished unit where the furniture's replacement value at signing is $5,000 or more, you may take a separate furniture deposit of up to another month's rent, refunded on the same terms.
Rules differ by state and by city, and subsidized housing is its own question. This is general information for property managers, not legal advice. Get a written opinion before you make the fee a condition of tenancy anywhere.
How the program works in Rhode Island
The mechanics are the same in every state Beagle operates in. The program is designed to comply with applicable state and local regulations, and the rate is set by the deposit amount rather than by geography, so a Rhode Island property and one two states over are quoted the same way.
The resident chooses at signing
Instead of producing the full deposit, the resident pays a smaller non-refundable monthly fee that is billed with rent. Nothing is held, so nothing has to be returned.
The property keeps its protection
Damage beyond normal wear is reimbursed up to the deposit amount the unit would otherwise have required, so what you can recover does not shrink.
Move-out stops being a negotiation
A claim is filed against the program rather than deducted from money you are holding, which takes the itemised-deduction letter and the dispute that follows it off your team's desk.
You earn on every resident who takes it
You set an administrative fee on top of the premium, up to $5 per unit per month, and keep it.
Rhode Island security deposit alternative FAQs
The cap reaches security “however denominated”, so the question is whether money is being held as security rather than what the lease calls it. A recurring non-refundable fee holds nothing, but Rhode Island has no statute written for the arrangement, so the lease language is where the legal review is worth spending and a required version deserves its own opinion.
See it on your Rhode Island units
Run the program against your own unit count, or walk through it with our team. No upfront fees, no onboarding charges, no long-term contracts.