---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPERSONS (Requires a real estate broker to release customer or client funds in an escrow account as instructed by the parties to a failed real estate transaction, within ten (10) days of receipt of a written release.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPERSONS (Requires a real estate broker to release customer or client funds in an escrow account as instructed by the parties to a failed real estate transaction, within ten (10) days of receipt of a written release.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 168"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 168 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property", "Business & Professions", "Real Estate"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Archambault", "Jabour", "Lombardi", "Lynch Prata", "McCaffrey"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-02-01"
last_action: "2017-06-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/199d674b-1491-4b80-98e7-17c80ac41803"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "e438be56c8a45139b340ec878f78dc1902e039ea8de26d35fe1cd449e7780f19"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 168 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPERSONS (Requires a real estate broker to release customer or client funds in an escrow account as instructed by the parties to a failed real estate transaction, within ten (10) days of receipt of a written release.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **168 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0168A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **36–0** (pass) · legislature
- PASSAGE — **72–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Archambault — primary (person)
- Jabour — primary (person)
- Lombardi — primary (person)
- Lynch Prata — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-01** 02/01/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-02-03** 02/03/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/07/2017)
- **2017-02-07** 02/07/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-02-14** 02/14/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (02/16/2017)
- **2017-02-16** 02/16/2017 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2017-02-17** 02/17/2017 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-10** 05/10/2017 Committee transferred to House Corporations
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/06/2017)
- **2017-06-06** 06/06/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-09** 06/09/2017 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/14/2017)
- **2017-06-14** 06/14/2017 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-06-15** 06/15/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/21/2017)
- **2017-06-21** 06/21/2017 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-21** 06/21/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/199d674b-1491-4b80-98e7-17c80ac41803`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).