No — Rhode Island does not require condominium associations or HOAs to obtain reserve studies or maintain minimum reserve funding, and 2026 bills that would have mandated reserve studies (a proposed § 34-36.1-3.22, H 7851/S 2692) failed: the Senate passed S 2692 as amended, but both bills died when the House Committee on Corporations never scheduled a vote before adjournment. Rhode Island's Condominium Act does go further than most New England states at the sales stage: the budget in a declarant's public offering statement must include "an annual amount to establish a sufficient reserve" for roofs, exterior surfaces, roadways, and other deteriorating components, with life-span itemization (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-4.03(a)(5)).
Verified against the statute 2026-07-06
The Rhode Island Condominium Act (ch. 34-36.1, enacted by P.L. 1982, ch. 329) applies to condominiums created after it took effect in 1982; earlier condominiums fall under the older Condominium Ownership Act (ch. 34-36). Rhode Island has no planned-community act, so non-condo HOAs face no statutory reserve provisions.
No statutory cycle. The 2026 reserve-study mandate bills (H 7851/S 2692) failed — S 2692 passed the Senate as amended but died in the House Committee on Corporations at adjournment. Instead the General Assembly created a 16-member study commission on the Condominium Act (H 8008/S 2906, approved June 2026), due to report by December 31, 2027 — a mandate remains possible in a future session.
No ongoing minimum funding for established associations. While a declarant is offering units, however, the public offering statement's budget must include an annual amount to establish a "sufficient reserve" for enumerated components (roof shingles, exterior wood, roadways, decks) with itemized life-spans and per-unit costs (§ 34-36.1-4.03(a)(5)(i)-(ii)) — after declarant sales end, no statute forces the association to keep funding it.
On resale, the certificate under § 34-36.1-4.09 must disclose the amount of any capital-expenditure reserves, project-designated portions, and capital expenditures anticipated for the current and two succeeding fiscal years. For new units, the offering-statement budget must show the reserve line items and component life-span itemization described in § 34-36.1-4.03(a)(5).
The budget in the public offering statement "must include" an annual amount to establish a sufficient reserve for exterior painting/staining, roof shingle replacement, roadway resurfacing, exterior wooden decks, mulch, and other deteriorating items, plus an itemization of each item's life-span and expense stated as annual and monthly sums per unit.
Empowers the association to "adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and collect assessments for common expenses" — a discretionary power, not a funding mandate.
The resale certificate must state any capital expenditures anticipated for the current and two next fiscal years and "the amount of any reserves for capital expenditures" with project-designated portions; the association's certificate fee is capped at $125 and late delivery carries a $100–$500 civil penalty.
Adversarially re-verified July 2026: fetched R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-36.1-4.03, 34-36.1-3.02, and 34-36.1-4.09 from webserver.rilegislature.gov and confirmed the "sufficient reserve" budget language, the $125 fee cap, 10-day deadline, and $100–$500 penalty verbatim. Confirmed via CAI's 2026 RI end-of-session report that H 7851/S 2692 (reserve studies) died in the House Committee on Corporations after S 2692 passed the Senate, and that the H 8008/S 2906 study commission (report due December 31, 2027) was approved in June 2026. Informational only — not legal advice. Confirm with the primary source and a community-association attorney licensed in Rhode Island. Report an issue.
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