---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT (Requires a landlord to obtain and have in full force and effect a general liability policy of at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for those persons injured on the premises due to the negligence of the landlord.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT (Requires a landlord to obtain and have in full force and effect a general liability policy of at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for those persons injured on the premises due to the negligence of the landlord.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 718"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 718 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Health & Safety", "Human Services", "Insurance", "Landlord & Tenant", "Property"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["McCaffrey"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-03-26"
last_action: "2021-07-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4e71289d-e099-4b60-9309-3b196b83016e"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "7384421f30327a31b6f923bb55e2e7651178464f76775b753f2ea93a35a26f53"
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 718 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT (Requires a landlord to obtain and have in full force and effect a general liability policy of at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for those persons injured on the premises due to the negligence of the landlord.)

## Version chain

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

1. **718 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0718A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **55–8** (pass) · upper
- TENANT ACT — **34–4** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- McCaffrey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-23** 04/23/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/29/2021)
- **2021-04-29** 04/29/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-05-28** 05/28/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/03/2021)
- **2021-06-03** 06/03/2021 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-04** 06/04/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/08/2021)
- **2021-06-08** 06/08/2021 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2021-06-10** 06/10/2021 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/25/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/28/2021)
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-02** 07/02/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-07** 07/07/2021 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/4e71289d-e099-4b60-9309-3b196b83016e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).