Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 34-13 - Recording of Instruments
Section 34-13-1. - Instruments eligible for recording.

§ 34-13-1. Instruments eligible for recording.
Any of the following instruments shall be recorded or filed by the town clerk or recorder of deeds, in the manner prescribed by law, on request of any person and on payment of the lawful fees therefor:
(1) Letters of attorney.
(2) All contracts for sale of land.
(3) Bonds for title or covenants or powers concerning lands, tenements and hereditaments.
(4) All notices to be filed under the provisions of § 9-4-9.
(5) All notices and process to be filed under other statutory provisions, and all decrees in equity and judgments at law affecting the title to land.
(6) All instruments evidencing or relating to a security interest in personal property or fixtures that may be filed pursuant to chapter 9 of title 6A.
(7) All instruments required by statute to be recorded, including deeds, mortgages and transfers and discharges thereof, leases or memoranda thereof, and transfers and cancellations thereof, and the covenants, conditions, agreements and powers therein contained.
(8) Instruments of defeasance.
(9) Instruments (excepting wills) creating trusts.
(10) All instruments and notices, affecting, or purporting to affect, the title to land or any interest therein or giving or terminating the right to sever any building or part thereof or fixture, when signed and acknowledged as required for deeds.
(11) All affidavits as to family facts, including dates of birth, marriage, and death, which relate or purport to relate to title to land.
(12) All affidavits as to bounds and monuments of land.
(13) All certificates of the secretary of state as to change of corporate name.
(14) All original linen and/or original mylar maps, plats, surveys, and drawings, whether or not attached to, or a part of, another recordable instrument, Provided, however, That those requiring the approval of any council; commission, officer, or other body by law shall not be recorded without such approval.
All survey plans received for recording shall be drawn on archival mylar or linen, those of which shall not exceed a size of 24″ x 36″ and shall be recorded as originally drafted. Said plans shall contain as a minimum all items set forth in the “Procedural and Technical Standards for the practice of Land Surveying in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” as adopted by the Rhode Island Board of Registration of Professional Land Surveyors effective April 1, 1994 and any amendments or modifications thereof. Further, all plans must be able to be reproduced so that the contents of said plans are legible.
Indexes of survey plans shall be maintained indicating (a) the title of the plan; and (b) the street(s) or road(s) on which the subject property abuts. Such plans shall include a separate listing, in or attached to the legend on the plan, of all streets and roads on which the subject property abuts.
(15) All declarations of restrictions and covenants in connection with a plat of record or to be recorded or with a tract or parcel of land which is to be subdivided.
(16) Statements of covenants, conditions, and powers of sale which are intended to be incorporated in mortgages by reference.
History of Section.G.L. 1896, ch. 202, § 6; C.P.A. 1905, § 1139; G.L. 1909, ch. 253, § 6; G.L. 1923, ch. 297, § 6; G.L. 1938, ch. 435, § 5; G.L. 1956, § 34-13-1; P.L. 1956, ch. 3750, § 1; P.L. 1960, ch. 147, § 3; P.L. 1981, ch. 380, § 2; P.L. 1992, ch. 318, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 303, § 1.