---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING (Requires the secretary of housing to create a consumer guide of landlord-tenant laws to be updated annually.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING (Requires the secretary of housing to create a consumer guide of landlord-tenant laws to be updated annually.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 5204"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5204 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Consumer Affairs", "Education", "Housing", "Landlord & Tenant", "State Affairs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Abney", "Azzinaro", "Batista", "Biah", "Diaz", "Edwards", "Noret", "Perez", "Slater", "Vella-Wilkinson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-19"
last_action: "2023-06-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e72e3bf7-3578-4a67-a75c-4b6b4523e95a"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "e2c7f0a559cd3a61f88db47e0da2ecbbe7f46c81584d47e6b3d01a44e2654b0d"
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 5204 (2023) — AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING (Requires the secretary of housing to create a consumer guide of landlord-tenant laws to be updated annually.)

## Version chain

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

1. **5204 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText23/HouseText23/H5204A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Abney — primary (person)
- Azzinaro — primary (person)
- Batista — primary (person)
- Biah — primary (person)
- Diaz — primary (person)
- Edwards — primary (person)
- Noret — primary (person)
- Perez — primary (person)
- Slater — primary (person)
- Vella-Wilkinson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-19** 01/19/2023 Introduced, referred to House Municipal Government & Housing `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-03** 03/03/2023 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/07/2023)
- **2023-03-07** 03/07/2023 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2023-05-19** 05/19/2023 Scheduled for consideration (05/25/2023)
- **2023-05-19** 05/19/2023 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2023-05-25** 05/25/2023 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-26** 05/26/2023 Placed on House Calendar (05/30/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-05-30** 05/30/2023 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2023-06-06** 06/06/2023 Referred to Senate Housing and Municipal Government `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-06** 06/06/2023 Scheduled for consideration (06/08/2023)
- **2023-06-08** 06/08/2023 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-06-15** 06/15/2023 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/15/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-06-15** 06/15/2023 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2023-06-15** 06/15/2023 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-20** 06/20/2023 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/e72e3bf7-3578-4a67-a75c-4b6b4523e95a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).