It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 23-28.35-1 and 23-28.35-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-28.35 entitled "Fire Detection System in Existing Residential Occupancies" are hereby amended to read as follows:
23-28.35-1. Installation of smoke detectors required. -- All
{ADD occupied residential properties ADD} {DEL existing one, two (2) and three
(3) family dwellings constructed before June 1976, and all DEL} {ADD and
occupied ADD} existing apartment dwellings not required to have a fire
alarm system in accordance with 23-28.25 shall, at the responsibility
of the seller before title to the property is transferred as a result
of a sale, be equipped with a smoke detector system listed and/or
approved by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. Factory Mutual, or some
other nationally recognized testing laboratory approved by the state
fire marshal and installed according to the standards set forth below.
{DEL23-28.35-8. Title. -- DEL} {DEL Failure to comply with the
provisions of this chapter shall not effect the validity of the
transfer of title to the real estate. DEL}
{ADD 23-28.35-8. Effect on title and liability. -- ADD} {ADD The recording clerk of any city or town may refuse to accept for recording instruments of transfer which do not comply with this chapter, but failure of any record instrument to comply with this chapter shall not effect the validity of said transfer or impose any liability upon the city or town in which said instrument is recorded. ADD}
SECTION 2. Chapter 23-28.35 of the General Laws entitled "Fire detection system in existing residential occupancies" is hereby amended by adding the following sections:
{ADD 23-28.35-13. Affidavit of compliance. -- ADD} {ADD The grantor in any instrument being recorded to transfer title to any real property located within the state of Rhode Island, shall:
(a) contemporaneously with the recording of said instrument, record a copy of a smoke detector certificate dated not more than sixty (60) days prior to the date of said instrument (23-28.35-4), or
(b) certify, in the instrument being recorded, or in a certificate to be recorded contemporaneously with said instrument, that either 23-28.35-1 has been complied with, or that compliance with said section is not required because the transfer is exempted in 23-28.35-14. ADD}
{ADD 23-28.35-14. Exempt transfers. -- ADD} {ADD Transfers of real property are exempt from compliance with 23-28.35-1 if:
(a) the property being transferred does not contain residential dwellings, or
(b) a certificate of use and occupancy (23-27.3-120) has been issued for the property being transferred within six (6) months of the date of this instrument, or
(c) the property being transferred is required to have a fire alarm system in accordance with this chapter, or
(d) the property being transferred is uninhabitable without the issuance of a certificate of use and occupancy (23-28.3-120), or
(e) the property is being transferred pursuant to a foreclosure sale, a tax sale, as a redemption of a tax sale, or in lieu of foreclosure, or
(f) the property is being transferred by operation of law, or pursuant to an order of any United States Court, or any superior or family court of the state of Rhode Island. ADD}
{ADD 23-28.35-15. Contents of affidavit. -- ADD} {ADD An affidavit of all individuals signing instruments to transfer real property satisfies this chapter if it contains the following representations:
(a) The undersigned hereby certify that grantor has complied with the requirements of the smoke detector law, as evidenced by the copy of the smoke detector certificate attached hereto, or
(b) The undersigned hereby certify that the real property being conveyed by this instrument had working smoke detectors, as required by the smoke detector law, within fourteen (14) days of the date of this instrument, and an inspection pursuant to 23-28.35-4 has been requested, or
(c) The undersigned hereby certify that this transfer is exempt from the smoke detector law as provided in section 23-28.35-14. ADD}
{ADD 23-28.35-9. Title. -- ADD} {ADD This act shall be known as the smoke detector law. ADD}
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and shall apply to all real estate transfers for which documents are recorded on or after October 1, 1997.
