(a)  Every contract for the purchase and sale of real estate that is or may be served by a private cesspool, shall provide that potential purchasers be permitted a ten-day (10) period, unless the parties mutually agree upon a different period of time, to conduct an inspection of a property’s on-site sewage system, before becoming obligated under the contract to purchase, to determine if a cesspool exists, and if so, whether it will be subject to the phase-out requirements as established in chapter 19.15 of Title 23.

contract signature

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.8-13

  • Closing: means the time at which real estate is transferred from seller to buyer and consideration is delivered to the seller or to a settlement agent with the intention of imminent delivery upon the recording of pertinent documents and other ministerial acts associated with settlement. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.8-1
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Real estate: means vacant land or real property and improvements consisting of a house or building containing one to four (4) dwelling units. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.8-1
  • Seller: means any individual or entity seeking to transfer title to real estate to a buyer for consideration. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.8-1
  • Transfer: means the sale or conveyance, exchange of, or option to purchase any real estate. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.8-1

(b)  Failure to include the provision required in subsection (a) in the purchase and sale agreement for real estate does not create any defect in title.

(c)  Failure to provide the results of any previous inspection of a cesspool servicing the property does not create any defect in title.

(d)  Failure to include the purchase and sale agreement provision required in subsection (a) or failure to provide previous inspection results of a cesspool servicing the property entitles the purchaser to void the purchase and sale agreement by providing notice in writing to the seller prior to the transfer of the title at closing.

History of Section.
P.L. 2007, ch. 136, § 3; P.L. 2007, ch. 233, § 3.