Students and Narragansett landlords made the trip to the Rhode Island State House to voice their concerns about a bill with the potential to change the process of renting properties to students on April 6.

House Bill 8363, introduced by Rep. Anthony J. Simone, would give municipalities the choice to require property owners to obtain a special license to operate a dwelling as student housing, if passed. A municipality may also require additional inspection requirements, enforcement procedures, administrative appeals and annual or periodic licensing or registration requirements. 

Discussion centered around the municipalities of Narragansett and Providence, which serve as off-campus housing hubs for the University of Rhode Island and Providence College, respectively. 

Students renting from Narragansett Properties received an email on April 6 asking students to attend the hearing in URI gear to display their disagreement with the bill. 

Aubrey Wood, a first-year URI student from Maine, described her difficulties getting on-campus housing to the committee. 

“Most people, a lot of my peers, are still stuck trying to find housing off-campus,” Wood said. “If the bill is limiting housing, I just don’t understand where these people are going to look.”

Landlords from the organization Narragansett 2100 expressed concerns that the passage of the bill would restrict access to off-campus housing, worsening the housing shortage. 

“The power to license is the power to destroy,” Henry Monti, a Narragansett landlord who rents to students, said. “You’ve seen that in Narragansett with short-term rentals.” 

Monti also brought attention to the economic benefits of housing off-campus students, citing a recent report that URI generates $2 billion annually for the state economy. 

“We don’t need an extra hurdle for students to find affordable housing within the state,” Mark Desisto, another Narragansett 2100 landlord, said. 

Fees associated with additional licenses and inspections would be passed onto to students, according to Shannon Russell, a Providence landlord who rents to students from Providence College. 

“That means higher rents for students, and many of them and their families are already stretched thin by tuition, books, transportation and rising housing costs,” Russell said. 

New dorm construction on the URI campus is addressing the housing shortage, according to Rep. Kathleen Fogarty. 

Three new buildings are in the process of construction on Flagg Road, set to open by Fall 2027, according to Rhody Today. The buildings would provide just over 1,100 new beds in apartment-style dorms. 

Rep. Fogarty, a South Kingstown resident, disagreed with the idea that landlords might be discouraged from renting to students, though she clarified she is not yet for or against the bill.

“[The bill] is not going to impair anybody from renting their properties,” Rep. Fogarty said. “I know [Narragansett 2100 landlords] are from the rental agencies, you’re not going to lose any business in Narragansett, I can assure you that.”

Rep. Lauren Carson, who also said she was neither for nor against the bill, raised the argument that additional inspections municipalities may require are comparable to dorm inspections. 

“We are already required to meet every state and municipal housing, building and fire code, many of which include inspections and fees,” Russell said. “Adding yet another layer of licensing does not make housing safer.”

The precedent potentially set by the bill to regulate individual groups of renters in the state was also brought up by both Russell and Rep. Richard Fascia. 

“Let’s just say [Russell] didn’t rent those homes to students,” Rep. Fascia said. “But you rented them to say, a pedophile, a convicted pedophile, you wouldn’t be penalized for that. You wouldn’t have to have a licence.”

Fascia also raised concern that the bill states no maximum licensing fees. 

The Rhode Island Committee on Municipal Government and Housing recommended the bill be held for further study.