Title 5
Businesses and Professions

Chapter 20.5
Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-1

§ 5-20.5-1. Definitions.

When used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise:

(1) “Associate broker” means any licensed real estate broker employed or engaged as an independent contractor by or on behalf of a licensed real estate broker to do or deal in any activity as included or comprehended by the definitions of a real estate broker in subsection (5) of this section, for compensation or otherwise.

(2) “Director” means the director of business regulation for the state.

(3) “Opinion of value” means an analysis, opinion, or conclusion prepared by a person licensed under this chapter, in the ordinary course of his or her business relating to the price of specified interests in or aspects of identified real estate or identified real property or by comparison to other real property currently or recently sold in the marketplace for the purpose of listing, purchase, or sale, excluding an appraisal prepared by a person licensed under the provisions of chapter 20.7 of this title, that conforms to the standards adopted by the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice (“USPAP”).

(4) “Real estate,” as used in this chapter, includes leaseholds as well as any and every interest or estate in land, whether corporeal or incorporeal, freehold or non-freehold, and whether the property is situated in this state or elsewhere.

(5) “Real estate broker”:

(i) Within the meaning of this chapter, includes all persons, partnerships, associations, and corporations, foreign and domestic, who or that:

(A) For a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, or with the intention or expectation of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, lists, sells, purchases, exchanges, rents, leases, prepares an opinion of value, or auctions any real estate, or the improvements on real estate including options or who negotiates or attempts to negotiate any such activity;

(B) Advertises or holds himself or herself, itself, or themselves out as engaged in those activities;

(C) Directs or assists in the procuring of a purchaser or prospect calculated or intended to result in a real estate transaction.

(ii) Also includes any person, partnership, association, or corporation employed by or on behalf of the owner or owners of lots, or other parcels of real estate, at a stated salary, or upon a fee, commission or otherwise, to sell that real estate, or any parts, in lots or other parcels, and who or that sells, exchanges or leases, or offers or attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, or lease of any such lot or parcel of real estate.

(6) “Real estate salesperson” means and includes any person employed or engaged as an independent contractor by or on behalf of a licensed real estate broker to do or deal in any activity as included or comprehended by the definitions of a real estate broker in subsection (5) of this section, for compensation or otherwise.

History of Section.
P.L. 1973, ch. 215, § 2; P.L. 1989, ch. 141, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 266, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 115, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 68, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 158, § 1.