Rule 66.Receivers.

Subdivision (a) keeps the appointment lean: ordinarily one receiver, and unless special exigencies appear, a receiver who is a resident of this state.

Subdivision (b) sets a high bar for a temporary receiver appointed without the other side present. The applicant must make a written showing under oath, with a certificate from the applicant's attorney, satisfactory to the court, that the application is made in good faith to protect a business, property or assets, that the facts justify a receiver, and that a temporary appointment is desirable to hold the status quo until the hearing on a permanent one. Even then the court may call in the interested parties or their attorneys for consultation, or set the matter down as early as practicable on whatever notice it orders. If one judicial officer denies the request, it cannot be renewed before another unless circumstances have materially changed, and the officer who denied it notes that in the case file.

Subdivision (d) turns the appointment into a calendar. The decree naming a permanent receiver has to fix four dates: when the inventory is filed, when statements of assets and financial condition are filed, when reports on creditors, debtors and claimants are filed, and the deadline for creditors and claimants to file their claims. A temporary receivership that runs past thirty days requires a decree covering the same ground. Under subdivision (e) the receiver reports every thirty days unless the court orders otherwise, with recommendations on continuing the business or disposing of the assets, and on application duly made the court may order those reports sealed, to be opened and inspected only on application to the court.

Creditors work on the clock set by subdivision (f). A claim statement goes to the receiver before the day certain fixed in the appointment decree and must give the address, the nature and amount of the claim, any security or lien, and any claim to preference or priority. The receiver then files a report recommending allowance or disallowance and notifies each creditor of the filing, the hearing, and what the report recommends for that creditor's claim. The remaining subdivisions police the rest. Except for cause shown, the court will not approve outside counsel for a receiver who belongs to the Rhode Island bar, and will not approve more than one attorney or firm. Fees come only after a hearing on notice, and may be cut or refused for unexplained failures to obey court orders. The clerk has a duty to inform the court when a temporary receiver fails to file the reports the court has called for. The court orders the business continued only when the complaint or petition contains a prayer to that effect, or on written application by a party in interest and upon cause shown, and notice of the receivership must say that continuance is sought. And the case cannot be dismissed except by order of the court.