Rhode Island General Laws Title 44. Taxation § 44-9-8.1. Taking for taxes

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 44-9-8, upon a determination that the property is necessary for redevelopment, revitalization, or municipal purposes by the redevelopment agency of a municipality or, if there is no redevelopment agency and the city or town council makes that determination, then the municipality may take the land for the city or town.

(b) If a tax on land is not paid within fourteen (14) days after demand for the tax and remains unpaid at the date of taking, the collector may take the land for the city or town, first giving fourteen (14) days' notice of his or her intention to exercise the power of taking, the notice may be served in the manner required by law for the service of civil cases or may be published. The notice shall contain a substantially accurate description of the lots or divisions of land to be sold, which shall be furnished to the collector by the assessors upon demand of the collector, the amount of tax assessed on each, and the names of all owners known to the collector. The notice of the sale of the undivided real estate of a deceased person assessed to his or her heirs or devisees or assessed in general terms to his or her estate shall contain the names of all the heirs or devisees interested in the real estate, if the probate records of the county where the land lies disclose their identity. The collector shall also, fourteen (14) days before the taking, post a conforming notice in two (2) or more convenient and public places.

(c) Whenever the collector of taxes of a city or town shall have taken land in the city or town he or she may, in the name and on behalf of the city or town, take immediate possession of the land and, until the tax title acquired is redeemed, collect the rent and other income from the land, this rent and income, after the payment of all necessary expenses in the care, repair, and management of the land shall be applied on account of the taxes, assessments, rates, charges, interest, and costs due the city or town on the land, with any balance remaining being paid to the person entitled to this rent and income.

(d) Upon petition of any person having a right to redeem the tax title, the superior court for the county where the land lies, if it adjudges justice and the circumstances warrant, may, upon any terms that it deems equitable, enjoin a taking of possession under this section or command the surrender of a possession taken. A city or town must designate a detailed purpose and plan for any land it takes at a tax sale within one year, or that land will be offered at the next tax sale.

(e) Neither the city or town nor any of its officers, agents or employees is liable or accountable to the owner or to any other person having an interest in the land for failure to collect rent or other income from the land; and neither the city or town nor any of its officers, agents, or employees is liable for injury or damage caused by the possession of land under this section to the land or to the person or property of any person.