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Foreclosure mediation in Rhode Island

Rhode Island requires a free mediation conference before a lender can foreclose on your owner-occupied home under the power of sale. The law was reenacted as § 34-27-9 in June 2024 with no end date, and RIHousing provides mediation under it today. The lender must send you notice, a HUD-approved counseling agency coordinates the conference, and the lender cannot record a foreclosure deed until the coordinator certifies the law was followed.

Ask for help in Rhode Island Free HUD counselor: (800) 569-4287

Reviewed against Rhode Island law and official sources on October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.

How foreclosure mediation works in Rhode Island, step by step

  1. Who qualifies

    Defaults after May 16, 2013

    It covers a first-lien consumer mortgage on an owner-occupied home with one to four units that is your primary residence. An heir or devisee who lives there and holds title, or whose estate representative is appointed, also counts. Reverse mortgages are excluded.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(c)(7), (c)(9), (k), (o)

  2. How it starts: the lender's notice

    Within 120 days after default, or the lender pays penalties

    Before starting a power of sale foreclosure, the lender must mail you a notice, in English, Portuguese and Spanish, saying it cannot foreclose without first mediating. If it is late, it owes $1,000 a month until it sends the notice. You do not file anything or pay anything to start.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(d), (e)

  3. Respond to the coordinator

    The conference must happen within 60 days of the notice

    A coordinator from a Rhode Island HUD-approved counseling agency chosen by the lender sets a time, in person or by phone. If you do not answer after two tries, or do not cooperate, the lender gets a certificate to go ahead.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(f), (g)

  4. Bring your financial papers

    Before and at the conference

    You must provide all needed financial and job information and fill out the loan applications the coordinator asks for. RIHousing's homeowner page lists what goes in a financial information package and can be reached at 401-457-1130.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(f)

  5. Who attends and what good faith means

    At the conference

    The lender must send an agent with authority to agree to a workout. Good faith includes answering information requests on time and, if it rejects your proposal, giving its reasons in writing and offering a written alternative that leaves you better off than the current mortgage.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(c)(3)

  6. What can come out of it

    After the conference

    A deal is put in writing and signed by both sides; if it gives you a net financial benefit, the coordinator issues a Certificate of Eligible Workout Agreement. If you later break that workout, the lender can foreclose within 12 months without a new mediation.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(i), (j)

  7. No agreement, or the lender skips the rules

    Before the foreclosure deed is recorded

    If the lender made a good-faith effort but no deal is reached, it gets a certificate and can foreclose. A foreclosure done without complying is voidable, but you must sue in superior court and record a lis pendens within one year from the first published foreclosure notice.

    R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9(h), (m), (p)

The program in Rhode Island

Foreclosure mediation

Program available

Mediation is required before a power of sale foreclosure of a home loan. The conference is free to the homeowner and run by a mediation coordinator at a HUD-approved counseling agency chosen by the lender. The lender must make a good-faith effort to reach a workout. If it forecloses without following the law, the foreclosure is voidable. The requirement does not apply to reverse mortgages or to defaults dated on or before May 16, 2013. A lender headquartered in Rhode Island, or one that runs full-service mortgage operations only from Rhode Island offices where local staff can approve loan workouts, is treated as meeting the law without a conference if its foreclosure deed certifies compliance. The law was reenacted as § 34-27-9 on June 26, 2024, and the current text has no expiration date.

Official program page

Common questions in Rhode Island

Does Rhode Island foreclosure mediation cover my second mortgage?

No. The law defines a mortgage for this purpose as an individual consumer first-lien mortgage on an owner-occupied one to four unit home that is your primary residence. A second mortgage lender is not required to mediate under § 34-27-9.

I inherited my parent's Rhode Island home. Can I get foreclosure mediation?

Yes, if you live in the home as your primary residence and either hold record title or an estate representative has been appointed with authority to take part. The lender's notice to the property address counts as notice to heirs and devisees too.

How long do I have to challenge a Rhode Island foreclosure that skipped mediation?

One year from the date the first notice of foreclosure was published. You must file a complaint in superior court in the county where the home is and record a notice of lis pendens in the city or town land records within the same short window. A coordinator's certificate creates a presumption that the notice rules were met, so talk to a lawyer quickly.

Step by step

More on foreclosure in Rhode Island

Understand the process

What is happening and how much time there is.

Weigh your options

What can stop it, and what happens if it goes ahead.

Get help now

Who to call, and what to do when a sale is scheduled.

Also in Rhode Island

Foreclosure mediation (this page)Property tax foreclosure Claim surplus funds Deficiency judgments Letters you may get

Back to the Rhode Island overview

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Sources for this page

  1. R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-13, Limitation of actions generally
  2. R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-17, Contracts under seal and judgments
  3. R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-26-4, Property exempt from attachment
  4. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-9, Mediation conference
  5. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-4, Publication of notice under power of sale
  6. R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-27, index (shows §§ 34-27-3.1 and 34-27-3.2 repealed in 2024)
  7. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-22, Statutory power of sale
  8. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-7, Notice to tenants
  9. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-79-3, Foreclosure consultant contract
  10. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-79-4, Foreclosure consultant violations
  11. RIHousing: HAF-RI closing to new applications
  12. RIHousing: Homeowner assistance programs
  13. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-38.2, Just cause needed for eviction of foreclosed residential property tenants
  14. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-18-37, Termination of periodic tenancy