About Ray

Education & License

Law degree from Suffolk University Boston Massachusetts 1985 including study of law at Saint Edmund Hall, Oxford University England.
Rhode Island law license since 1985

Condo Homeowner & Board Member

Ray lived in a Condo from 1986 to 1993 in Smithfield RI. He was appointed to be the first unit owner Board member by the Developer in 1986 and was elected as the first unit owner President of the Association in 1987.

Office Team – Amanda Fecteau

Amanda Fecteau has been Ray’s legal secretary since 2010. Amanda is skilled and has experience supporting all areas of the Condo Association law practice. Ray and his clients are fortunate to have Amanda as a team member.

Client Testimonials

“I am an actively involved President of a HOA. We have recently been challenged by events which brought us to focus on the language of our Declaration Amendments. We found that the language of our Declaration wasn’t protective enough of the interests of the HOA treasury and the Unit owners. Our property manager referred the Board to Attorney Ray Harrison for Condo Law advice. His experience as a longstanding advocate in Condominium Law along with his expertise in Insurance Reform Amendments was exactly what we needed. We now feel confident that we have better protected our HOA treasury and Unit owners, and as we move forward, we will be certain to turn to Ray for professional guidance we know we can trust.”

“Ray and I bought Tamarac condos from the developer and we both served on the executive board in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ray was the first association president we elected and I also served as president later. When the cost of private trash pick up went sky high, Ray came up with the idea for the Smithfield Condominium Association and lead the political battle to include residential condo associations in the Town trash pick up program. Since the Town agreed to our request in 1988 all owners have been paying lower condo fees. Ray is the original Rhode Island Condo Crusader.

Ray also had good ideas to improve our association from within. He quickly recognized that we had no reserve funding in our budget. The developer had advertised artificially low monthly condo fees to help sell units. Ray created a reserve study and persuaded the unit owners in budget meetings that we needed reserves. As a result the association was able to stain all condo buildings regularly and pay for all reserve expenses with no special assessments while we were board members. Because of his leadership ability he was able to accomplish a lot for us at our condo and for all the condos in Smithfield.”

We always seem to have plenty of challenging issues in our condo on Newport Harbor. It's great to have Ray to turn to because while solving a problem he educates us so that we can do our best to avoid the problem in the future. His objectives are harmony among unit owners and safeguarding the association treasury which are achieved by running the association lawfully and prudently. He's done it all and helps all of us.

“I have been practicing law in RI for decades with a concentration in Residential and Commercial Real Estate. I have known Ray Harrison for many years and have relied upon him for advice dealing with Condominium Law in RI and it’s practical application to real time situations. I recommend Ray without hesitation to all associations that look to me for the best referral available. Ray has authored many important sections of the RI Condominium Act and is the go-to Condominium attorney for professionals as well as associations. As President of my 91 unit condominium association I rely on Ray for advice and written legal opinions needed to properly manage our beautiful development in Western Cranston.”

“The Declaration of our condo developer stated that development rights were good for 10 years but the developer wanted to keep building units after the rights expired. Our condo road construction was still not finished by the developer after 10 years and cars were being damaged driving into big potholes. We had to take the developer to court and by following Ray's advice we were able to settle our case receiving payment for development rights and the cost of completing the paving of condo roads and parking areas. Ray was able to explain everything about our rights so we could understand what we were entitled to and he was there for us all the way until the end of the process.”

Smithfield Condominium Association

His volunteer service began when he founded the Smithfield Condo Association in 1987 because residential Condos were not included in the Town trash pick-up program. Ray led the effort to persuade the Town Council to end discrimination against taxpaying Condo owners. In 1988 Smithfield became the first municipality in our State to include residential Condos in Town trash pick-up services. Since then Ray has helped Condos in other Cities and Towns eliminate the expense of private trash pick-up by political action.

Volunteer Activism at the State House

Ray has been active at the General Assembly since the 1980s writing and advocating for pro-Condo legislation. He began as an individual activist and in 1993 he founded and has served as President of the Rhode Island Condominium Association Inc., a nonprofit corporation that continues to be the voice of Rhode Island Condominium communities at the State House. All of his efforts have been as an unpaid advocate.

Condo Fee Collection Law

As an Association President and active Condo Association attorney, he knew firsthand that Condo fee payment was necessary to pay the many Association bills. In the 1980s our Associations had a lien for assessments but no powerful and efficient way to enforce the lien. Condo Boards would have to wait and hope to collect delinquent Condo fees when a unit was sold. Ray wrote and worked towards the creation of the Condominium lien foreclosure State Law in 1991 which continues to help Condo Boards pay the bills by collecting delinquent assessments in an efficient and timely manner.

Condo Fee Lien & Expenses Law

After we had the law that allowed collection, Associations needed help with collection expenses. Ray wrote and worked towards the creation of State Laws to include attorney fees and costs in the Association lien so that those expenses could be added to the delinquent Condo fees to be collected. Because originally the Association lien was valid for only 2 years, he wrote and worked towards the creation of the State Law to extend the time period to 6 years.

Developer Self-Serving Use of Power

Originally many Developers who controlled Associations, usually until 80% of units were sold, would not pay Condo fees on the units they owned. Ray wrote and worked towards creation of the State Law to require the Developers to pay their fair share of Association expenses by paying Condo fees like all other unit owners.

Condo Rule Enforcement

Executive Boards have the responsibility to enforce the Declaration, Bylaws, and Rules but had no power to do so in the 1980s. Ray wrote and worked towards creation of the Rule Enforcement State Law in 1991 which continues to allow Boards to conduct hearings and impose fines for violations in a fair manner.

Rhode Island Condominium Association Inc.

Since 1993 Ray, as the President of RICA, has written legislation to benefit the quality of life for Condo residents and property values for unit owners. Property insurance coverage and costs, Developer issues, Association financial well-being and Association meetings in the digital age are some agenda objectives of RICA, the voice of our Condominium communities at the State House.