Court to Tenant: You’re in the Wrong Court to Sue Your Landlord

What Happened: An assisted housing tenant filed a $200,000 lawsuit in Rhode Island Superior Court against her landlord for allegedly failing to protect her family against aggressive conduct by neighborhood children, which she characterized as “racism against our religion.” She also accused the landlord of not addressing her complaints about noisy neighbors and issuing a lease violation notice against her in retaliation for complaining. The landlord moved to dismiss, claiming that the case should have been filed in the state District Court which has exclusive jurisdiction over all legal actions between landlords and tenants. The Superior Court agreed and granted the motion to dismiss.

Ruling: The appeals court upheld the decision.

Reasoning: Although it had overtones of racial and religious discrimination, the case was essentially about actions and inactions stemming from the parties’ relationship as landlord and tenant, the court reasoned. And since it didn’t have “subject matter jurisdiction” over the complaint, the Superior Court was right to grant the landlord’s motion to dismiss the case.

• Touijer v. Providence Hous. Auth., 2026 R.I. LEXIS 17, 2026 LX 30855, 2026 WL 396131