---
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: "HB 5222"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5222 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property", "Business & Professions", "Real Estate"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carson", "Casey", "Morin", "O'Brien", "Phillips"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-01-26"
last_action: "2017-06-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/be9860ec-616a-402b-b4a3-3241af3cda11"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "2ab6e07254f35eab806a857d56a5675109f32acc1e1e5bd9ebe2a87887dd200a"
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 HB 5222 (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. **5222** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5222.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **73–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Carson — primary (person)
- Casey — primary (person)
- Morin — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-26** 01/26/2017 Introduced, referred to House Corporations `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-02-02** 02/02/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/07/2017)
- **2017-02-07** 02/07/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-03-03** 03/03/2017 Scheduled for consideration (03/07/2017)
- **2017-03-07** 03/07/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-03-10** 03/10/2017 Placed on House Calendar (03/21/2017)
- **2017-03-21** 03/21/2017 House read and passed `passage`
- **2017-05-30** 05/30/2017 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-09** 06/09/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/13/2017)
- **2017-06-13** 06/13/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-20** 06/20/2017 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/22/2017)
- **2017-06-22** 06/22/2017 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-22** 06/22/2017 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/be9860ec-616a-402b-b4a3-3241af3cda11`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).