Home Economy Government Providence City Council passes ordinance to limit bulk purchases of property tax...

Providence City Council passes ordinance to limit bulk purchases of property tax liens

By

Christopher Allen

-

04/18/2025

CityHall-768x575-1-1-1 — THE PROVIDENCE CITY Council on Thursday approved an ordinance that limits the purchase of more than 10 titles per tax sale. / PBN FILE PHOTO/CHRIS BERGENHEIM

PROVIDENCE – The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a new ordinance limiting registered buyers to 10 property titles per tax sale. The law is part of the ongoing effort by the City Council to address what they argue has been widespread housing displacement by large corporations and other real estate investors. The ban was

Already a Subscriber? Log in

To Continue Reading This Article

Become a Providence Business News subscriber and get immediate access to all of our premier content and much more.

Learn More and Become a Subscriber

Critical RI business news and analysis updated daily.
1 year of print (26 issues).
Unlimited access to all subscriber only content on our website, on any device.
Free email alerts.
Annual Book of Lists Print Edition.
All special issues produced during subscription term.

Click Here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article

PBN Branded Content

Primary Care and RI Healthcare Crisis: South County Health is Working to Address, But Rhode Island Needs Systemic Solutions

Rhode Island’s healthcare system is at a breaking point, affecting patients, providers, and hospitals statewide…

Learn More

No posts to display

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

PROVIDENCE – The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a new ordinance limiting registered buyers to 10 property titles per tax sale. The law is part of the ongoing effort by the City Council to address what they argue has been widespread housing displacement by large corporations and other real estate investors.

The ban was introduced by Council President Rachel Miller to combat the "manipulation of the housing market by bad actors," according to a council press release. She first sought to ban online tax sales to make it more difficult for out-of-state private interests to mass purchase the city's limited housing stock.

The approved ordinance states that tax sales "facilitate a process arduous to navigate for those whose tax arrearages have been sold and lack sufficient means to repay them" and "generally have been condemned as a means of dispossession, particularly to elderly, impoverished, and nonwhite homeowners." Though not an outright sale of the property, if real estate taxes become delinquent municipalities are allowed by state law to offer a third party the city’s lien in exchange for payment of the tax and interest. During the March 31 meeting of the Ordinance Committee, Miller said the intent was to respond to what has been a documented "change and shift in who owns property in the city" from "individual owners into corporations.” While state law mandates that cities publish upcoming tax sales, Ordinance Committee Chairman Pedro Espinal said he wants to explore firming up the communication process between the tax collection department and residents who are past-due on their bills. He said he once had to warn a neighbor who was behind on his taxes and wasn't aware of the upcoming sale. A recent report by Redfin showed Providence was the least affordable metro in the country for renters and that the city had the nation’s largest year-over-year increase in average rents. The original ordinance was amended to take out the prohibition of online tax sale before going before the full council because the city's tax collector wasn't available to weight in, Miller said. Given that tax sales typically occur in late May, Miller said the council will pursue additional amendments to prevent the same operator from skirting the new rule by using multiple LLCs. Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.