New Hampshire Lease Agreement

Required Landlord Disclosures (4)

1. Lead-based paint and hazards: Landlords who own homes built before 1978 must include a lead-based paint and hazard disclosure form and an EPA Pamphlet.

2. Move-in Checklist: New Hampshire landlords must give their tenants a written list of any rental unit conditions requiring corrections or repairs within 5 days of occupancy (540-A:6-I-c).

3. Security Deposits: New Hampshire landlords must provide a written notice regarding security deposits that includes the amount and financial institution where the deposit is stored, as well as the account number, interest rate, and account records after one year of tenancy (upon request). The first two requirements are waived for security deposits paid via check (540-A:6-I-b+IV).

4. Methamphetamine Production: If the rental unit has been the site of methamphetamine production, New Hampshire landlords must give their tenant written notice if the Department of Environmental Services deems the cleanup doesn’t meet remediation standards (477:4-g).

Security Deposit Regulations

Maximum Security Deposit Amount: New Hampshire landlords can charge a maximum security deposit of $100 or one month’s rent, whichever is greater (540-A:6-I-a).

Receipt of Deposit: New Hampshire state law does not require a deposit receipt if the tenant pays with a check. In all other cases, landlords must provide a receipt of the deposit stating the total amount and the financial institution where the security deposit is held (540-A:6-I-b+c).

Interest: After holding a security deposit for one year or longer, New Hampshire landlords must pay their tenant interest on the deposit equal to the standard interest rate of the financial institution holding the deposit. Interest begins the first day the landlord receives the security deposit (540-A:6-IV-a).

Deduction Tracking: New Hampshire state law requires landlords to provide a written, itemized list of any damages, unpaid taxes, or rent that landlords deduct from the security deposit. Each line item should include evidence such as receipts of materials, labor estimates, or invoices for repair work (540-A:7-I+II).

Returning a Tenant’s Security Deposit: In New Hampshire, landlords must return security deposits within 30 days of the tenancy’s termination (540-A:7-I).

Landlord’s Access to Property

Advance Notice: New Hampshire landlords must obtain consent from their tenants to access a property, but no laws or regulations establish a mandatory notice period (540-A:3-IV). Standard practice is 24–48 hours.

Immediate Access: In emergencies, including but not limited to rodent or insect infestations such as bedbugs, New Hampshire landlords can enter their properties immediately and without the consent of their tenants (540-A:3-V-d).

Landlord Harassment: New Hampshire has a general prohibition against landlords violating their tenant’s “right to quiet enjoyment of his tenancy.” Repeated illegal entries may qualify as harassment, allowing the tenant to break their lease early (540-A:2).

Rent Payment Laws

Grace Period: No New Hampshire laws establish a grace period, though landlords can voluntarily include one in their lease agreements.

Late Rent Fees: New Hampshire has no laws setting a maximum late rent fee. Landlords can set late rent fees at their discretion as long as the lease agreement includes them.

Tenant’s Right to Withhold Rent: New Hampshire tenants can deduct their utility payments from their rent if the landlord initially agreed to pay and maintain those utilities and failed to do so (540:2-VI).

Breach of Rental Agreement

Missed Rent Payment: New Hampshire landlords can issue a 7-day pay or quit eviction notice to tenants who miss their rent payment. If there are three missed rent payment violations within 12 months, tenants lose the right to pay within 7 days to cancel the eviction (540:3 and 540:9).

Lease Violation: If a tenant violates their lease agreement, landlords in New Hampshire can issue a 30-day eviction notice. If the lease violation is due to non-payment of rent, substantial damage to the property, or behavior that negatively affects the health or safety of the landlord or other tenants, a 7-day eviction notice can be issued instead (540:3).

Self-Help Evictions: Self-help evictions are illegal in New Hampshire, and landlords should not attempt them. Examples include lockouts and shutting off utilities (540-A:3-I+II).

Lease Abandonment: In New Hampshire, tenants are considered to have abandoned a rental property if any two conditions are met: tenants have given written notice of abandonment, removed their personal possessions, returned all keys, or not paid rent for more than 91 days. In such cases, tenants may forfeit their security deposit for owed rent and/or be held liable for any additional rent not covered by the security deposit (540-A:4-XII).

Ending a Lease

Month-to-Month: New Hampshire landlords can only terminate a month-to-month lease with “good cause,” such as a lease violation that allows the landlord to issue a 7—or 30-day eviction notice (540:3). Tenants can terminate a month-to-month lease with 30 days’ notice (540:11).

Fixed-Term: New Hampshire tenants can legally break a fixed-term lease early for several reasons, including military service orders (540:11-a), landlord harassment (540-A:2), or landlord failure to maintain health and safety standards (48-A:14).

Property Abandonment: New Hampshire laws require landlords to store tenant’s possessions for 7 days after the tenant leaves the property, whether voluntarily or through eviction. Tenants must be able to claim their possessions during those 7 days free of charge, after which landlords can dispose of them at will (5:40-A3-VII).

Renewing a Lease

Required Renewals: New Hampshire requires landlords to renew leases unless there is “good cause” to deny the renewal. Good cause can include tenant lease violations or the tenant refusing a rent increase, as long as the landlord provides 30 days’ notice (540:2-II).

Required Notice: As an extension of New Hampshire’s prohibition on landlords denying lease renewals without “good cause,” there is no required notice period related to renewals.

Rent Control & Stabilization

New Hampshire has no laws or regulations establishing rent control or stabilization.