Kingstown Mobile Home Park v. Strashnick, 774 A.2d 847 (2001)

Citation: Kingstown Mobile Home Park v. Strashnick, 774 A.2d 847 (2001)
Parent Document: Kingstown Mobile Home Park v. Strashnick, 774 A.2d 847 (2001)
Jurisdiction: Rhode Island (state)
Effective Date: 2001-06-26
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1515698/kingstown-mobile-home-park-v-st... ↗

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Fourth, under conventional rules of statutory interpretation, "when apparently inconsistent statutory provisions are questioned, every attempt should be made to construe and apply them so as toavoid the inconsistency * * *." Brennan v. Kirby, 529 A.2d 633, 637 (R.I.1987). Thus, "[w]herever a general provision shall be in conflict with a special provision relating to the same or to a similar subject, the two (2) provisions shall be construed, if possible, so that effect may be given to both * * *." G.L. 1956 § 43-3-26. Accordingly, I would hold that only when a provision of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act expressly conflicts with a provision of the more specific legislation addressing mobile and manufactured home parks would the latter take precedence, but only if effect cannot be given to both provisions. But nowhere in the latter act is there any conflict with those sections of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act that allow for termination of periodic tenancies and for evictions of tenants who unlawfully hold over after such terminations. Indeed, § 31-44-2(b) seems to expressly contemplate such terminations when it provides for a minimum period of "not less than sixty (60) days" for a tenant to be notified "to remove from the premises." This specific provision would take precedence over the conflicting portion of § 34-18-37(b), which allows a landlord to "terminate a month-to-month tenancy or any periodic tenancy for more than a month or less than a year by a written notice" that is delivered to the tenant "at least thirty (30) days before the date specified in the notice." But it would not prohibit a mobile-home-park owner from terminating a periodic tenancy for a reason other than one enumerated in § 31-44-2(a). Thus, while the Act provides mobile-home tenants with greater protection from nonrenewals and terminations of periodic tenancies than other tenants enjoy, it does not go so far as to preclude such terminations except for one of the six "limitations" listed in § 31-44-2(a). This reading construes the two provisions "so that effect may be given to both." Section 43-3-26.

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