Published 2026-09-25 · 25 min read

New Hampshire Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

Quick answer - New Hampshire: For most New Hampshire rentals (restricted property), landlords can terminate only for a reason listed in RSA 540:2, II. Deposits cap at one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater, are held in trust, and must be returned with itemization within 30 days; eviction notice is 30 days, or 7 for specified grounds.

New Hampshire splits its rental law across RSA 540 (Actions Against Tenants — termination grounds, eviction notices, and the possessory action), RSA 540-A (Prohibited Practices and Security Deposits), the minimum housing standards in RSA 48-A:14, and the housing provisions of the Law Against Discrimination, RSA 354-A. The state's defining feature is one most out-of-state guides get backwards: for restricted property — most residential rentals — a landlord may terminate a tenancy only for a reason listed in RSA 540:2, II. There is no general no-cause termination for restricted property, and there never was in the current text. What looks like a no-cause route is paragraph II(e), "other good cause," which the statute itself defines to include a legitimate business or economic reason (RSA 540:2, V). A second, genuinely no-fault ground — expiration of a lease of 12 months or longer — was added by the 2025 Legislature and took effect July 1, 2026 (RSA 540:2, II(i)). This guide states the current law, verified against the official text published by the New Hampshire General Court.

Corrections and completions to start, because the previous version of this page got several load-bearing rules wrong. First, "no-cause 30-day terminations" are deleted as a general rule: they exist only for nonrestricted property as RSA 540:1-a, I defines it — single-family houses where the owner owns no more than 3, rental units in an owner-occupied building of 4 or fewer units, and single-family houses acquired through foreclosure. Every other residential landlord needs an RSA 540:2, II ground. Second, the pay-and-stay right was misstated: RSA 540:9 does not expire at the end of the notice period — a possessory action based solely on nonpayment must be dismissed if the tenant pays, at any time before the hearing on the merits, all rent due through payment plus other lawful lease charges, $15 in liquidated damages, and any filing fee and service charges, in guaranteed funds; the limit is 3 uses of the section in a 12-month period, not three notices. Third, the deposit penalty is not a single "double damages for willful noncompliance" rule: RSA 540-A:8, I(a) deems a violation of RSA 540-A:6, I, II, or III a Consumer Protection Act violation (RSA 358-A:2), while RSA 540-A:8, I(b) imposes the double formula — twice the deposit plus interest due, less payments made and lawful charges — for violations of RSA 540-A:6, IV (interest) or RSA 540-A:7 (return), with no willfulness qualifier in the text. Fourth, the abandonment cite was materially incomplete: the test lives in RSA 540-A:4, XII(b) — an affirmative defense built on a rebuttable presumption requiring a written property abandonment notice (left at the premises and sent by certified mail) plus at least 2 of 4 conditions, one being rent unpaid for more than 91 days with agency-verification conditions attached. Fifth, the mitigation cite was wrong outright: RSA 540-A:3, VII is the 7-day storage duty; no mitigation section appears in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A, and the old statutory mitigation claim is removed below. Sixth, the $25 bad-check cap could not be verified in RSA 540, RSA 540-A, or RSA 354-A and is removed; the verified text instead contains a non-electronic payment duty (RSA 540-A:3, X) and an application-fee disclosure and refund rule (RSA 540-A:3, VIII), both omitted before. Seventh, the week-to-week claim was wrong: RSA 540:3, II sets 30 days for all residential tenancies, with 7 days only for the grounds in RSA 540:2, II(a), (b), (d), and (h); the rent-period rule in RSA 540:3, I is the nonresidential rule. Eighth, the demand for rent may be made prior to or simultaneously with the eviction notice (RSA 540:4). Ninth, the discrimination cites were wrong: the owner-occupied exemption is RSA 354-A:15, II (not RSA 354-A:13, which voids discriminatory restrictive covenants), and sexual orientation does not appear in the opening list of RSA 354-A:10**, although RSA 354-A:8 protects it as a civil right and RSA 354-A:10, VI includes it in the advertising ban.

Disclaimer: this is general information, not legal advice. New Hampshire eviction practice runs through the Circuit Court's District Division with court-supplied forms; consult a New Hampshire landlord-tenant attorney for your situation.

New Hampshire's $100-or-one-month deposit cap, interest-after-a-year rule, and restricted-property good-cause system don't match most other states — keep all 50 straight in one file. The 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) ($29) puts all 50 states' deposit caps, return deadlines, damage multipliers, and entry-notice rules in one searchable spreadsheet so you can compare and comply without re-reading statutes.

At a glance

When the clocks actually start

New Hampshire's clocks are calendar-day clocks, and each runs from a different event — termination of the tenancy for deposits, service of the notice for evictions, and receipt of the tenant's written notice for the habitability defense. Three worked examples, weekday-verified:

Deposit accounting. The tenancy terminates on Monday, March 2, 2026. RSA 540-A:7, I requires return of the deposit and any interest due within 30 days from the termination of the tenancy — 30 days after March 2 is Wednesday, April 1, 2026. On $1,800 rent with an $1,800 deposit held for more than a year, documented deductions of $350 for tenant-caused damage (supported by a receipt) and $200 in unpaid lawful charges leave a balance of $1,250 plus interest due by April 1. Use our Security Deposit Deadline Finder.

Nonpayment. Rent of $1,800 is due Sunday, March 1, 2026 and is not paid. The landlord makes a demand for rent on Monday, March 2, 2026 (any time after the rent is due, before or with the eviction notice — RSA 540:4) and serves the 7-day eviction notice the same day under RSA 540:3, II and RSA 540:2, II(a). Seven days after March 2 is Monday, March 9, 2026 — the notice period has run at the end of that day, and only then may the landlord file the possessory action. The notice itself must tell the tenant of the RSA 540:9 right to avoid the eviction by payment (RSA 540:3, IV). To run these same dates for your own case — demand, 7-day notice, and the first safe filing day — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

Rent increase. The landlord serves written notice of the amount and effective date of an increase on Monday, March 2, 2026. RSA 540:2, IV requires that notice at least 30 days prior to the effective date — 30 days after March 2 is Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the earliest effective date this notice supports. Serve it on March 3 and an April 1 effective date is defective.

How much can a New Hampshire landlord charge as a security deposit? (RSA 540-A:6)

The deposit subdivision has its own definitions, and they decide who is covered before any dollar rule is reached.

• Who counts as a "landlord" here (RSA 540-A:5, I). A person who rents a single-family residence and owns no other rental property, and a person who rents units in an owner-occupied building of 5 units or less, are not "landlords" for purposes of RSA 540-A:5 to 540-A:8 — except that a unit occupied by a person 60 years of age or older remains covered. Note the number: the deposit exemption runs to 5 units, while the RSA 540 good-cause exemption for owner-occupied buildings runs to 4. The same small building can be exempt from the deposit subdivision and fully subject to good-cause law for its younger tenants.
• What counts as a deposit (RSA 540-A:5, II). "Security deposit" means all funds in excess of the monthly rent transferred from the tenant to the landlord for any purpose. Labels do not control: money taken for damage, cleaning, or a pet is a security deposit, counts against the cap, and is governed by the return and penalty rules. The subdivision also covers manufactured-housing park space regulated by RSA 205-A (RSA 540-A:5, I, III).
• Cap — one month or $100 (RSA 540-A:6, I(a)). A landlord shall not demand or receive a security deposit in excess of one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater. On an $1,800 unit the cap is $1,800; the $100 figure matters only on very cheap rentals. A lease requiring quarterly or less frequent rent payments is permitted, but the deposit received in addition to the initial rent payment still may not exceed the equivalent of one month's rent.
• The signed receipt and the 5-day list (RSA 540-A:6, I(b)–(c)). On receiving a deposit, the landlord must forthwith deliver a signed receipt stating the amount and specifying where the deposit (or its bond) will be held, and must notify the tenant that conditions in need of repair or correction should be noted on the receipt or given to the landlord in writing within 5 days of occupancy. No receipt is required when the deposit is furnished by personal check, bank check, or a government or nonprofit-agency check — but the 5-day written-list notice must be given regardless. The old page framed the 5-day notice as part of the receipt; the notice duty survives the check exception.
• Trust holding, pooling, and the bond alternative (RSA 540-A:6, II). Deposits continue to be the money of the tenant, are held in trust, and shall not be mingled with the landlord's personal moneys or become the landlord's asset until RSA 540-A:7 is complied with. The landlord may pool all deposits in a single trust account at a New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association, or credit union. Alternatively, a bond written by a New Hampshire company and posted with the city or town clerk, equal to the total value of deposits held on property in that city or town, exempts the landlord from the trust-account paragraphs.
• Transfers (RSA 540-A:6, III). On a conveyance, assignment, foreclosure receivership, or foreclosure sale, the deposit (with interest due) must be turned over to the grantee, assignee, receiver, or purchaser at delivery of the deed or instrument or within 5 days thereafter (or within 5 days after a receiver qualifies), with notice to the tenant by registered or certified mail naming the new holder and address. A landlord who turns the deposit over as required is relieved of liability; the transferee becomes responsible for return. Paragraph III(d) preserves a contrary landlord-tenant agreement — the one stated exception to the anti-waiver rule in RSA 540-A:8, III.
• Interest after one year (RSA 540-A:6, IV(a)). A landlord who holds a deposit for one year or longer shall pay interest at the rate paid on regular savings accounts in the New Hampshire institution in which it is deposited, commencing from the date the landlord receives the deposit (or September 13, 1977, if later). Accrual runs from day one; the duty to pay attaches once the holding period reaches a year. On a pooled account, the actual interest earned is paid proportionately. On an $1,800 deposit held 2 years at a 0.50% savings rate, the interest is roughly $18 — small money, but it sits inside the double-damages formula below, so track it per tenant from receipt.
• The tenant's information and draw rights (RSA 540-A:6, IV(b)–(c)). On request, the landlord must provide the institution's name, the account number, the amount on deposit, and the interest rate, and allow examination of the deposit records. The tenant may also request the accrued interest every 3 years, 30 days before the expiration of that year's tenancy, payable within 15 days after that year's tenancy expires — the one stated exception to RSA 540-A:7's return-at-termination rule. Both duties were omitted from the old page.

Return, itemization, and what may be deducted (RSA 540-A:7)

Except as RSA 540-A:6, IV(c) provides, the landlord must return the deposit and pay the interest due, if any, within 30 days from the termination of the tenancy (RSA 540-A:7, I). Two deduction tracks, each with its own itemization duty:

1. Damage (paragraph I). The landlord may deduct the costs of repair of damages to the premises, excluding reasonable wear and tear, and must provide a written, itemized list indicating with particularity the nature of any repair necessary and satisfactory evidence that the repair has been or will be completed — which may include receipts for purchased repair materials and labor estimates, bills, or invoices showing actual or estimated cost. "Cleaning: $200" with no backup is not an itemization under this paragraph.

2. Money claims (paragraph II). The landlord may also deduct the tenant's lease-required share of any increase in real estate taxes levied against the property and becoming due during the lease term, unpaid rent, and other lawful charges due under the lease that remain unpaid — with a written, itemized list stating with particularity the period for which each claim is made.

Photo-document every unit at move-in and move-out, and build the receipt file as the work happens; see our move-in/move-out inspection checklist and deductions guide.

What noncompliance costs (RSA 540-A:8)

RSA 540-A:8, I splits violations into two tracks, and the split — not a generic "double damages" label — is what a landlord needs to know:

• Track (a) — holding and cap violations. A landlord who does not comply with RSA 540-A:6, I, II, or III (cap, receipt, trust holding and pooling, bond, transfers) shall be deemed to have violated RSA 358-A:2, the Consumer Protection Act's unfair-practices provision. The tenant's remedies then run through RSA 358-A — including the RSA 358-A:10 remedies that RSA 540-A:4, IX(a) expressly incorporates for RSA 540-A:2 and RSA 540-A:3 violations (actual damages, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees, with each day a violation continues after a temporary order counting as a separate violation).
• Track (b) — interest and return violations. A landlord who does not comply with RSA 540-A:6, IV or RSA 540-A:7 is liable in damages equal to twice the sum of the amount of the security deposit plus any interest due, less any payments made and any charges owing for damages, unpaid rent, or share of real estate taxes as specified in RSA 540-A:7. The paragraph states liability for noncompliance; it does not condition liability on willfulness, and this page does not add that word. Worked example on the figures above: twice ($1,800 deposit + $18 interest) is $3,636; less the $550 in lawful charges ($350 damage + $200 unpaid charges), the track-(b) exposure is $3,086 — measured on the full deposit, not on the $1,250 balance that was late.
• The forwarding-address shield and the 6-month rule (paragraph II). The landlord is not liable and forfeits no rights where the failure to comply is due to the tenant's failure to notify the landlord of the tenant's new address upon termination of the tenancy. Deposits plus interest that remain unclaimed after 6 months from termination become the landlord's property, free and clear of any claim of the tenant, absent fraud. Ask for the forwarding address in writing at the walkthrough anyway — the shield protects a landlord who cannot pay, not one who did not try.
• No waiver (paragraph III). Any lease provision purporting to waive the tenant's rights under the deposit subdivision is void, except as RSA 540-A:6, III(d) provides. RSA 540:28 does the same work for Chapter 540 rights generally.

When is rent due in New Hampshire, and what fees are allowed? (RSA 540:1)

• Rent payable on demand by default (RSA 540:1). Every tenancy is deemed to be at will, with rent payable upon demand, unless a different contract is shown. The lease — not a state due-date statute — sets the due date, grace period, and late-fee terms in New Hampshire.
• No rent cap in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A. Neither chapter caps rent or the size of an increase, and no local rent-control regime was found in the chapters verified for this guide; what the statute regulates is the notice that makes an increase enforceable against a sitting tenant, below.
• The 30-day increase notice (RSA 540:2, IV). There is no freestanding "rent increase" section; the rule lives inside the good-cause paragraph. A tenant's refusal to agree to a change in the existing rental agreement calling for an increase in rent is itself good cause for eviction under RSA 540:2, II(e) — provided the landlord gave the tenant written notice of the amount and effective date of the increase at least 30 days before its effective date. The practical consequence runs both ways: give the 30-day written notice and a refusal supports a II(e) termination; skip it and the increase fight has no statutory ground under this paragraph. See how to raise rent legally.
• Late fees: lease-driven, no statutory cap found. No late-fee cap or mandatory grace period appears in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A as verified for this guide. State the fee plainly in the agreement and keep it defensible as a reasonable estimate of the cost of late payment; do not copy a percentage cap from another state's guide into a New Hampshire lease.
• Bad-check fees: the old page's $25 cap is removed. No $25 returned-check cap — and no returned-check fee provision of any kind — appears in RSA 540, RSA 540-A, or RSA 354-A as verified today. Dishonored-check liability in New Hampshire is governed outside the landlord-tenant chapters (including the bad-check provisions of RSA 638:4); a landlord who wants a returned-payment charge should put a lawful, reasonable charge in the lease and take advice on its enforceability rather than rely on a $25 figure no verified statute states.
• At least one non-electronic way to pay (RSA 540-A:3, X). A landlord shall not require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay any amount due under a residential lease, renewal, or extension solely via electronic funds transfer, including automatic recurring transfers, and shall allow at least one other non-electronic form of payment. A portal-only or autopay-only lease violates this paragraph on its face. RSA 540-A:4, IX(d) expressly excludes paragraph X from the Consumer Protection Act remedy track of RSA 540-A:4, IX(a) — a carve-out worth knowing before anyone threatens treble exposure over a payment-method dispute.
• Application fees (RSA 540-A:3, VIII). Before collecting any fee as part of a rental application or renewal, the landlord must clearly disclose in writing the amount of the fee and the requirement for a satisfactory criminal background and credit check, if any. If the fee is collected but the unit is not rented to that applicant, the landlord must return any amount beyond the actual cost of the documented background check, credit check, and reasonable administrative costs within 30 days of receipt. The paragraph does not require the landlord to run a check, and does not prohibit renting to an applicant who does not pass one. A landlord who violates paragraph VIII is subject only to returning all monies provided by the applicant, plus court costs (RSA 540-A:4, IX(f)).
• No withholding or repair-and-deduct statute in the verified chapters. Tenants have no freestanding statutory right in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A to withhold rent or to repair and deduct; the habitability remedy is the court defense in RSA 540:13-d, stated in full below. A lease clause promising a repair-and-deduct right the statute does not contain misstates the tenant's position and the landlord's.

The rental agreement itself (RSA 540:28, 540-A:8, III)

• Default tenancy (RSA 540:1). Absent a different contract, the tenancy is at will and rent is payable on demand. A written agreement is what converts New Hampshire's defaults into your due dates, fees, and duties — and for restricted property it does not convert the RSA 540:2, II ground list into a menu you can expand: termination still requires a statutory ground.
• Waiver is void both ways it is attempted. No lease or rental agreement, oral or written, may contain a provision by which the tenant waives rights under Chapter 540 (RSA 540:28), and a waiver of deposit-subdivision rights is void under RSA 540-A:8, III (subject to the RSA 540-A:6, III(d) transfer-agreement exception). A clause shortening an RSA 540:3 notice period, waiving the RSA 540:9 payment right, or waiving the RSA 540-A:7 itemization duty is unenforceable paper.
• Who must file an agent for service (RSA 540:1-b). An owner of restricted property must, within 30 days of becoming owner, file a statement with the town or city clerk where the property sits naming a person within New Hampshire authorized to accept service of process, with address and telephone number (an out-of-state owner must likewise designate an in-state agent; manufactured housing parks are excepted). A municipality may fine non-filing up to $100 (RSA 540:1-c). Small restricted-property owners miss this duty most often.
• Entity representatives in court (RSA 540:30). A person of good character who is a member or employee of an LLC, corporation, or partnership with 5 or fewer members may represent the entity in Circuit Court matters under Chapter 540 with proper written authorization — a fresh authorization for each appearance. Draft the rest of the lease with our lease agreement guide.

Required disclosures and paperwork duties

• Deposit paperwork: the signed receipt and 5-day repair-list notice (RSA 540-A:6, I(b)–(c)), the institution, account number, amount, and rate on request (RSA 540-A:6, IV(b)), and the transfer notice by registered or certified mail (RSA 540-A:6, III(b)) — all stated in the deposit section above.
• Application-fee disclosure in writing before collection (RSA 540-A:3, VIII), above.
• Eviction-notice contents: the eviction notice must state with specificity the reason for the eviction (RSA 540:3, III), and a nonpayment notice must inform the tenant of the right, if any, to avoid the eviction by payment of arrears and liquidated damages under RSA 540:9 (RSA 540:3, IV). The District Division supplies demand-for-rent and eviction-notice forms, and a valid notice must include the same information those forms request even if the landlord uses its own form (RSA 540:5, II).
• Lead in drinking water (RSA 540-A:3-a). Where a child tests positive for lead above the RSA 130-A:5, I standards, the Department of Health and Human Services tests the unit's water; if lead exceeds the EPA action level, the landlord must notify the tenant or prospective tenant and install an NSF/ANSI-certified lead-reducing filter on the kitchen faucet, maintained and replaced per the standards, unless the lead source has been removed and the water retests below the action level as verified by the department.
• Victim-verification confidentiality (RSA 540:2, VII(e); RSA 540:11-b, II). Written verification that a tenant or household member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking must be kept in strict confidence and disclosed only with the victim's written consent, where relevant and reasonably necessary for an eviction proceeding or housing-assistance hearing, or as otherwise required by law.
• Lead-based paint (federal): the federal disclosure law (42 U.S.C. § 4852d) requires the disclosure form, known-hazard disclosure, and EPA pamphlet for most pre-1978 housing before the tenant is bound. New Hampshire adds its own lead-abatement termination grounds at RSA 540:2, II(d) and (f), below.

What habitability standards must New Hampshire landlords meet? (RSA 48-A:14)

New Hampshire states its minimum fitness standards in RSA 48-A:14, which by its terms applies to a landlord (as defined in RSA 540-A:1, I) renting a residential dwelling in a municipality that has not adopted its own ordinances, codes, or bylaws under Chapter 48-A — municipalities that have adopted codes enforce those codes, and RSA 540:13-d reaches violations of RSA 48-A or local codes either way. A landlord shall not maintain rented premises in a condition in which:

1. The premises are infested by insects or rodents without a periodic inspection and eradication program — or infested by bed bugs without a periodic inspection and remediation program (remediation meaning action that substantially reduces bed bugs for at least 60 days);

2. There is defective internal plumbing or a sewage backup caused by a faulty septic or sewage system;

3. There are exposed wires, improper connectors, defective switches or outlets, or other conditions creating a danger of electrical shock or fire;

4. The roof or walls leak consistently;

5. Plaster is falling or has fallen from walls or ceilings;

6. Floors, walls, or ceilings contain substantial holes that seriously reduce their function or render them dangerous;

7. Porches, stairs, or railings are not structurally sound;

8. Garbage or rubbish accumulates in common areas because the landlord failed to remove it or to provide sufficient receptacles (unless the tenant agreed to be responsible for removal and the landlord removed all garbage at the start of the tenancy);

9. There is an inadequate supply of water, or the water-heating equipment is not properly operating;

10. There are leaks in gas lines, or leaks or defective pilot lights in appliances the landlord furnished; or

11. The premises lack properly installed, safely maintained heating facilities in good working condition capable of heating all livable rooms and bathrooms to an average temperature of at least 65 degrees (and, where heat is included in the rent, the premises must actually be kept at that minimum).

The defense, element by element (RSA 540:13-d)

RSA 540:13-d is a defense to a nonpayment possessory action, not a withholding license. No action for possession based on nonpayment of rent shall be maintained for residential premises (other than vacation or recreational rentals) that are in substantial violation of the RSA 48-A fitness standards or local codes established under it, where the violation materially affects habitability, provided the tenant proves by clear and convincing evidence that:

• (a) while not in arrears in rent, the tenant gave notice of the violation to the person to whom the tenant customarily pays rent;
• (b) the landlord failed to correct the violations within 14 days of receipt of that written notice — or, in an emergency, as promptly as conditions require;
• (c) the violations were not caused by the tenant, a family member, or another person on the premises with the tenant's consent; and
• (d) necessary repairs were not prevented by extreme weather or by the tenant's failure to allow reasonable access.

What the court does with it (paragraph II). The court may continue the action for a reasonable time not to exceed one month to let the landlord remedy the violation, and shall require the tenant to pay into court any rent withheld or becoming due as it comes due. If the violation is remedied within the continuance, the court dismisses the action and either awards the withheld rent to the landlord or apportions it — paying the landlord the fair rental value of the premises while in the substantially defective condition and awarding the remainder to the tenant as damages for breach of the warranty of habitability. If the violation is not remedied, the court enters judgment for the tenant and refunds all money deposited. Worked example, weekday-verified: the tenant, current on rent, gives written notice of a qualifying violation received Monday, March 2, 2026; the landlord's 14-day correction window runs to Monday, March 16, 2026, and a nonpayment filing after that date meets the defense if every other element is proved. See how to handle maintenance requests.

When can a New Hampshire landlord legally enter a rental unit? (RSA 540-A:3)

New Hampshire draws the entry line from both sides of the door, and the 2025–2026 text is tighter than the old page suggested:

• The landlord's prohibition (paragraph IV). No landlord shall willfully enter the tenant's premises without prior consent, other than to make emergency repairs. There is no general showing, inspection, or routine-entry right without consent in this paragraph.
• Infestation emergencies (paragraph IV-a). Emergency entry includes entry to evaluate, plan remediation of, or remediate an infestation of rodents or insects, including bed bugs — provided the infestation-related entry takes place within 72 hours of the landlord first receiving notice of the infestation.
• The tenant's duty (paragraph V). No tenant shall willfully refuse the landlord access to make necessary repairs, or to perform other reasonable and lawful functions commonly associated with ownership of rental property, at a reasonable time after notice which is adequate under the circumstances. The statute fixes no hour count for this general duty; the practical rule remains 24 hours' written notice for routine entries, documented by date, method, reason, and time. (The October 8, 2026 text restates paragraph V to bar willfully preventing completion of necessary repairs as well; the adequate-notice standard is unchanged.)
• Investigation duty (paragraph V-a). The landlord shall not willfully fail to investigate a tenant's report of an infestation of insects (including bed bugs) or rodents within 7 days of notice from the tenant or a municipal health or housing code authority, or fail to take reasonable measures to remediate an infestation.
• Adjacent-unit bed-bug evaluation (paragraph V-b). The tenant may not willfully refuse access (a) for emergency repairs under paragraphs IV and IV-a, or (b) to evaluate whether bed bugs are present after the landlord receives notice that bed bugs are present in a unit adjacent to, directly above, or directly below the premises — provided the landlord gives 48 hours' written notice of the need to enter for that evaluation.
• Preparation instructions (paragraph V-c). The tenant may not willfully refuse to comply with reasonable written instructions from the landlord or a pest control operator to prepare the unit for remediation of an infestation, where the instructions reach an adult household member in time to comply and in all cases at least 72 hours before remediation.
• The closed list (paragraph V-d). Notwithstanding any other provision of the chapter, a landlord may enter a dwelling unit without the tenant's consent only (a) to make emergency repairs under paragraphs IV and IV-a, or (b) under a court order obtained under RSA 540-A:4. Any other non-consensual entry needs consent first — get it in writing.
• Who pays for bed bugs (RSA 540:13-e). The landlord bears the reasonable costs of remediation, but may recover them if the tenant is responsible for the infestation: bill the tenant in writing for the costs in the tenant's own unit, and if the tenant neither pays within 30 days after completion of remediation nor enters a repayment agreement, the failure is grounds for eviction for nonpayment under RSA 540:2, II(a). In court the landlord must prove both tenant responsibility and that a reasonable repayment agreement was offered; a rebuttable presumption of tenant responsibility arises where no bed bugs were reported in the unit or its adjacent/above/below units during the 6 months before the tenancy or throughout it (the tenant's own report does not count as a report).

Self-help bans and RSA 540-A remedies

• The general prohibition (RSA 540-A:2). No landlord shall willfully violate a tenant's right to quiet enjoyment or attempt to circumvent the lawful eviction procedures of RSA 540. (The October 8, 2026 restatement also expressly bars tenants, household members, guests, and occupants from willfully damaging the landlord's property, denying other tenants quiet enjoyment, engaging in behavior that unreasonably and adversely affects health or safety, or preventing emergency repairs.)
• The specific bans (RSA 540-A:3, I–III). No willful interruption or termination of utility service — water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, sewerage, elevator, or refrigeration — except a temporary interruption while actual repairs are in process or during a temporary emergency (paragraph I); no willful seizure of or denial of access to the premises other than through proper judicial process (paragraph II); and no willful seizure of or denial of access to the tenant's property other than by proper judicial process (paragraph III). Lockouts and shutoffs are not leverage in New Hampshire; they are the violation.
• Vehicle and property removal is the narrow exception (paragraphs II-a to II-c). A landlord may remove, at the owner's expense, property blocking a common driveway, fire lane, parking area, travel lane, or dumpster access; property leaking fluids that damage the surface or create an environmental hazard; and property in a posted no-parking area, unregistered or inoperable property, or property stored in violation of the lease — only after the paragraph II-b notice sequence for that category (reasonable efforts to notify for access-blocking items, with no notice on an immediate health-or-safety threat; 48 hours' written notice for leaking property; a 7-day first notice plus a 24-to-48-hour final notice for parking violations). Removal alone is not a possessory ground, except where the failure caused substantial damage or injury, which may support eviction under RSA 540:2, II(b) or (d) (paragraph II-c).
• The petition route (RSA 540-A:4). A tenant, landlord, or non-rental owner may petition the District Division (concurrent jurisdiction with Superior Court) for relief from a violation of RSA 540-A:2 or RSA 540-A:3 — no filing fee, forms supplied by the clerk, hearing within 30 days of filing or 10 days after service, whichever is later, with temporary orders available on a showing of immediate threat of irreparable harm. On a violation of RSA 540-A:2 or RSA 540-A:3, I, II, or III, the court grants relief including injunctions and damages; under paragraph IX(a), the violator is subject to the RSA 358-A:10 civil remedies for the initial violation, including costs and reasonable attorney's fees, with each day a violation continues after a temporary order a separate violation — subject to the stated carve-outs (storage violations under paragraph VII of RSA 540-A:3 sound only in actual damages plus costs and fees; paragraphs V-a, V-b, V-c, and X are excluded from paragraph IX(a); application-fee violations are limited to refund plus court costs). Landlord damages for an unlawful dispossession or lockout where the landlord has re-let the premises are not less than $3,000 (paragraph IX(e)). A frivolous or harassment-only action costs the plaintiff the defendant's costs and attorney's fees (paragraph X).

What notice must a New Hampshire landlord give to terminate a tenancy? (RSA 540:3)

Possession runs in two steps everywhere in New Hampshire: a written eviction notice under RSA 540:3, served as RSA 540:5 provides (personally or left at the tenant's last and usual place of abode, with proof by attested copy and affidavit of service), followed — if the tenant holds over — by a possessory action under RSA 540:12. For restricted property, the ground must come from RSA 540:2, II; for nonrestricted property, RSA 540:2, I requires the notice but no listed ground.

First, which property is which (RSA 540:1-a)

• Nonrestricted property (no good cause required): real property rented for nonresidential purposes, plus residential single-family houses where the owner owns no more than 3 single-family houses at any one time; rental units in an owner-occupied building of 4 or fewer units; and single-family houses acquired by banks or other mortgagees through foreclosure.
• Restricted property (good cause required): all other residential rentals.
• Outside Chapter 540 entirely (RSA 540:1-a, IV): transient rooming-house rooms (under 90 consecutive days), hotels, motels, inns, and recreational or vacation rentals, dormitories and licensed care facilities, a single-family home with no lease that is the owner's primary residence, residential real estate under RSA 540-B (shared facilities), vacation or recreational units under RSA 540-C, certain fraternal-organization student housing, and caregiver occupancies meeting the paragraph's conditions.

The restricted-property ground list (RSA 540:2, II) — all of it

1. (a) Nonpayment: neglect or refusal to pay rent due and in arrears, upon demand.

2. (b) Substantial damage to the premises by the tenant, household members, or guests.

3. (c) Material lease violation: failure to comply with a material term of the lease.

4. (d) Health or safety behavior by the tenant or family members that adversely affects the health or safety of other tenants or the landlord or the landlord's representatives — or failure to accept suitable temporary relocation for lead-based paint hazard abatement under RSA 130-A:8-a, I.

5. (e) Other good cause — defined by paragraph V to include, without limitation, any legitimate business or economic reason, which need not be based on the tenant's actions or inactions. Two conditions ride on this ground: where the cause is based on the tenant's (or family members' or guests') actions or inactions, the landlord must first give written notice — served under RSA 540:5 or by certified mail — stating that in the future such actions or inactions would constitute grounds for eviction (paragraph III); and a tenant's refusal to agree to a rent increase is good cause under this paragraph only with the 30-day written increase notice of paragraph IV.

6. (f) Lead abatement: the unit contains a lead exposure hazard the owner will abate by methods other than interim controls or encapsulation, by any method reasonably expected to take more than 30 days, or by removing the unit from the residential rental market.

7. (g) Infestation preparation failure: willful failure to prepare the unit for remediation of an infestation of insects or rodents, including bed bugs, after reasonable written notice of the required preparations and reasonable time to complete them.

8. (h) Accused perpetrator remaining in occupancy: a remaining cotenant or occupant is the accused perpetrator of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, resulting in termination of a lease under RSA 540:11-b.

9. (i) Lease expiration (effective July 1, 2026): for a lease whose original term is 12 months or longer, or a shorter lease renewed to a total of 12 months or longer, expiration of the term — provided the landlord gave written notice at least 60 days in advance of the termination date that the lease will not be renewed and the tenant must vacate at the end of the term, and files the possessory action within 6 months of the lease expiring. A termination under this paragraph is a no-fault termination: it shall not be considered an eviction for rental applications and tenant screening reports, and the court must note the no-fault character in its documentation (RSA 540:2, VIII). It does not affect the tenant's retaliation defense or RSA 354-A protections (RSA 540:2, II(i)(2) — which cites the discrimination definition at RSA 354:10 in the enrolled text).

Two cross-cutting bars: a tenancy shall not be terminated for nonpayment where the tenant was forced to take over utility payments the landlord had agreed to provide, the arrears do not exceed what the tenant paid to keep the service on, and the tenant has receipts or other proof (RSA 540:2, VI); and no tenancy may be terminated solely because the tenant or a household member was a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, on the verification terms of RSA 540:2, VII — which also gives a protected tenant the right to have a lock replaced or rekeyed at the tenant's expense on a protective order, bars the landlord from giving the new keys to the restrained person, and lets the court evict only the accused person while the remaining residents' tenancy continues undisturbed.

Notice periods (RSA 540:3, II)

• 7 days where the reason is RSA 540:2, II(a) (nonpayment), (b) (substantial damage), (d) (health or safety), or (h) (accused perpetrator).
• 30 days in all other residential cases — material lease violations under II(c), other good cause under II(e), lead grounds under II(f), preparation failures under II(g), and every nonrestricted termination. (The lease-expiration ground, II(i), runs on its own 60-day nonrenewal notice plus the expiration of the term, not on a 30-day eviction notice.)
• Contents: the notice must state the reason with specificity (RSA 540:3, III); a nonpayment notice must also state the RSA 540:9 payment right (RSA 540:3, IV). A vague notice fails on its face.
• Demand first for nonpayment: the demand for rent is sufficient if made at any time after the rent becomes due and prior to or simultaneously with service of the eviction notice (RSA 540:4); the landlord may not demand more than the whole rent in arrears (RSA 540:8).

Pay and stay, stated correctly (RSA 540:9)

A possessory action based solely on nonpayment shall be dismissed if (a) the tenant, at any time prior to the hearing on the merits, pays the landlord — in cash, certified check, prepaid money order, electronic transfer, or other guaranteed or immediately drawable funds (including a voucher payment under RSA 540:9-a) — all rent due and owing through the time of payment, plus other lawful charges in the lease, $15 in liquidated damages, and any filing fee and service charges incurred in the action; and (b) the landlord files a receipt with the court before the hearing and states in writing that a copy was forwarded to the tenant — and if the landlord fails to file it, the hearing proceeds but the case is still dismissed if the tenant proves payment was made as paragraph I(a) requires. Limit: a tenant may not defeat an eviction under this section more than 3 times within a 12-month period (RSA 540:9, II) — the count is of successful uses of the section, not of notices received. Two companion rules: a written promise to pay by the state, a county, a municipality, or a federal/state-funds organization counts as payment by the tenant of the amount represented (without obligating the landlord to accept partial payments), and refusal of a timely voucher tender — or the landlord's failure to provide ordinary verification an agency requested — is an affirmative defense (RSA 540:9-a); and while an action is pending, a landlord who accepts arrears without creating a new tenancy must say so in writing (RSA 540:13, VII). Full process: how to evict a tenant.

After the notice: the possessory action in outline (RSA 540:13 to 540:14)

The writ is returnable 7 days from sheriff's service, with the court's 12-point-type notice of the tenant's rights; on an appearance, a hearing follows within 10 days, with hearing notice mailed at least 6 days ahead, and the court must issue a written decision. The landlord may claim unpaid rent in the writ; setoffs and counterclaims are heard, and any money judgment in the possessory action is capped at $1,500 without prejudice to a later action for the balance (RSA 540:13, III). Judgment for the landlord is possession plus costs, with the weekly rent equivalent stated for appeal purposes (RSA 540:14, I). The October 8, 2026 amendments tightened the back end — see the legislation section below.

Tenant-side termination (RSA 540:11)

A lessee may terminate by written notice in the same manner as the lessor. A month-to-month tenancy may be terminated by the lessee on 30 days' notice — but if the termination date in the notice does not coincide with the rent due date, the lessee owes rent for the entire month in which the notice expires, up to the next rent due date, unless the lease provides otherwise (RSA 540:11, II). Price that rule into every tenant move-out date you accept.

Early-termination rights the lease cannot override

• Military duty (RSA 540:11-a). A lessee or tenant who is a reservist or National Guard member called to active duty, or an active-duty service member reassigned out of state, may terminate — giving notice within 7 days of receiving notice of the call or reassignment, by written notice in accordance with section 305 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
• Domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (RSA 540:11-b). A tenant may terminate where the tenant or a household member, within the most recent 150 days at the current premises, was a victim — or where a recent event connected to past abuse causes the victim to fear for their safety — on any of the paragraph I(c) verification routes (protective order, initiated protective-order action, law-enforcement report, written verification from law enforcement, a victim's advocate, an attorney, or a health care provider, or the Circuit Court's signed self-certification form). The tenant must vacate within 30 days of giving notice (or another agreed time), and is liable only for rent through the date of termination or the date the tenant actually vacates, whichever is later; the deposit stays applied until all tenants have vacated, and is then returned under RSA 540-A:7.
• Fitness failures are handled through the RSA 540:13-d defense above — a shield in a nonpayment case, not a statutory early-termination right — and RSA 540-A petitions under RSA 540-A:4. New Hampshire's verified chapters contain no general early-termination right for landlord harassment or uninhabitable conditions outside those routes, and this page does not invent one.
• Mitigation — the correction stated plainly. The old page said New Hampshire "requires landlords to mitigate" and cited RSA 540-A:3, VII. That paragraph is the storage duty for a vacated tenant's property (next section); it says nothing about re-renting. No mitigation-of-damages section appears in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A as verified for this guide, and no other RSA section is cited here for a duty the verified text does not state. Treat any re-rental obligation after an early departure as a question of the lease and common law for your attorney — not as a codified RSA rule you can quote to the other side.

Abandonment and property left behind

Two different doctrines share this heading, and keeping them apart is the compliance point:

• Storage of a vacated tenant's property (RSA 540-A:3, VII). Other than residential real estate under RSA 540-A:4, VII(c) or RSA 540-B, the landlord shall maintain and exercise reasonable care in the storage of the personal property of a tenant who has vacated — voluntarily or by eviction — for 7 days after the date the tenant vacated. During those 7 days the tenant may recover the property without payment of rent or storage fees; after the 7 days, the landlord may dispose of the property without notice. (A violation of this paragraph sounds only in actual damages plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees — RSA 540-A:4, IX(b).)
• Abandonment as a defense (RSA 540-A:4, XII). Relinquishment of possession or abandonment of possession is an affirmative defense to an action under Chapter 540-A. Relinquishment requires a signed statement from each adult tenant of no intent to return. Abandonment means all tenants have physically vacated without intent to return, and a rebuttable presumption of abandonment arises only if both: (1) the landlord gave a written property abandonment notice — left at the premises and sent by certified mail to the last known address of at least one adult tenant, signed, in conspicuous language (the statute supplies sufficient form language in at least 12-point type) stating the specific reasons and advising the tenant of the right to retrieve property and to file a 540-A petition; and (2) at least 2 of 4 conditions are present: (A) all adult tenants notified the landlord in writing of intent to vacate by a date that has passed; (B) all keys have been returned (including left in the premises); (C) the tenants removed all or the majority of their personal property, with only items inconsistent with continued use remaining; or (D) rent has been unpaid for more than 91 days — provided that during those 91 days the landlord, if requested, gave ordinary and reasonable verification of rental information to any agency assisting the tenant and did not refuse agency payment on the tenant's behalf. The old page's version — "after proper notice, at least two of: written intent, keys, most possessions, 91+ days" — dropped the certified-mail notice, the presumption's defensive posture, and the agency conditions on the 91-day prong; each omission changes what a landlord must do before changing locks. The presumption does not shorten the 7-day storage duty, which begins the day after the abandonment notice is served (RSA 540-A:4, XII(c)).

What counts as illegal retaliation by a New Hampshire landlord? (RSA 540:13-a)

• The defense (RSA 540:13-a). Except where the tenant owes the landlord the equivalent of one week's rent or more, it is a defense to any possessory action on residential property that the action was in retaliation for the tenant: (I) reporting a violation — or reporting in good faith what the tenant reasonably believes to be a violation — of RSA 540-A or an unreasonable and substantial violation of a regulation or housing code, to the landlord or to any board, agency, or authority with inspection, regulation, or enforcement powers over the property's fitness for health or safety; (II) initiating a good-faith action under RSA 540-A or using the RSA 540:13-d procedures; or (III) meeting or gathering with other tenants for any lawful purpose. A tenant who successfully raises the defense may be awarded damages of not more than 3 months' rent (RSA 540:14, II).
• The presumption (RSA 540:13-b). A rebuttable presumption of retaliation arises when a possessory action, rent increase, or substantial alteration of the tenancy's terms is instituted within 6 months after: the landlord received notice of the alleged violation (from the tenant by mail, hand delivery, or leaving it at the landlord's abode, or from the agency); the landlord completed repairs or otherwise remedied the violation; the landlord received notice that the tenant initiated an RSA 540-A action; or the landlord discovered the tenant's RSA 540:13-a, III activity. The presumption does not arise if the court finds the tenant's report, complaint, action, or organizing was primarily intended to prevent an eviction. Calendar every complaint: an increase or filing inside the 6-month window starts the case with the presumption against you.
• The Chapter 540-A reprisal bar (RSA 540-A:4, XI). Independently, no possession action may be maintained against a tenant who proves a violation of RSA 540-A:3 — and the landlord may take no other reprisal action — within 6 months of the tenant's action under the subdivision, except for nonpayment of rent, violation of a substantial obligation of the lease, or violation of the subdivision itself.

Discrimination: RSA 354-A and federal law

The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.) applies on its own terms. New Hampshire's Law Against Discrimination adds state classes — but the classes are not stated identically in every section, and the differences are on the face of the statute:

• The civil right (RSA 354-A:8). The opportunity to obtain housing without discrimination because of age, sex, gender identity, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, or national origin is a civil right — and no person shall be denied the benefit of that right on account of sexual orientation.
• The operative ban (RSA 354-A:10). It is an unlawful discriminatory practice because of age, sex, gender identity, race, religion, color, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, or national origin to: refuse to engage in a real estate transaction or discriminate in making one available (I); alter the terms, conditions, or privileges of a transaction or the furnishing of facilities or services (II); refuse to receive or transmit a bona fide offer (III); refuse to negotiate (IV); represent that property is unavailable when it is available, fail to bring a listing to a person's attention, or refuse to permit inspection (V); publish an advertisement indicating a preference, limitation, or discrimination (VI — whose class list is race, color, religion, sex, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or national origin); or offer, solicit, accept, use, or retain a listing knowing unlawful discrimination — or discrimination based on familial status or an arrest record — is intended (VII). Read precisely: sexual orientation is protected — through RSA 354-A:8, the advertising paragraph VI, and the blockbusting section RSA 354-A:12 — but it does not appear in RSA 354-A:10's opening list, and source of income appears in none of these lists; do not promise applicants a state source-of-income protection the verified text does not contain, and do not treat its absence as permission to screen unevenly.
• Disability duties are affirmative (RSA 354-A:11). It is a civil rights violation to deny a dwelling because of the disability of the buyer or renter, a resident, or an associated person; to refuse to permit reasonable modifications at the person's expense (a rental landlord may condition permission on an agreement to restore the interior, reasonable wear excepted, and on a reasonable restoration escrow — but may not increase the customarily required security deposit for persons with disabilities); to refuse reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services; or to fail the design-and-construction requirements for covered multifamily dwellings first occupied after March 13, 1991. Nothing in the section requires making a dwelling available to an individual whose tenancy would be a direct threat to others' health or safety or would cause substantial physical damage to others' property.
• Blockbusting and interference (RSA 354-A:12, 354-A:14). Soliciting or inducing sales or leases on the ground of loss of value from the entry of persons of a listed class, and coercing, intimidating, threatening, or interfering with anyone exercising fair-housing rights, are civil rights violations; evicting a tenant solely because the person has, or is regarded as having, AIDS is expressly barred (RSA 354-A:12, IV).
• The exemptions, correctly cited (RSA 354-A:15). Nothing in RSA 354-A:10 prohibits: private sales of single-family homes meeting the paragraph I conditions (owner of no more than 3 such homes, owner or family last resident, no broker services, no discriminatory advertising) — except that this exemption does not apply to paragraph VII; rental of a housing accommodation in a building containing accommodations for not more than 4 families living independently, if the owner resides in one of them — and this exemption likewise does not apply to RSA 354-A:10, VII; rental of a room or rooms in a private home where the owner or a family member resides (or intends to return within 12 months); reasonable occupancy limits; the religious-organization, drug-manufacture/distribution-conviction, appraiser, housing-for-older-persons, and lawful arrest-record provisions of the remaining paragraphs. The old page cited this exemption to RSA 354-A:13 and RSA 354-A:10, VII; RSA 354-A:13 is the restrictive-covenants section (provisions forbidding conveyance, encumbrance, occupancy, or lease on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin are void), and the exemption lives in RSA 354-A:15. The federal Act applies regardless of the state exemption, including its own advertising ban.
• Practice. Screen every applicant on identical written criteria; run every listing through our Fair Housing Ad Checker and the fair housing guide before it goes live. Manufactured housing parks sit under RSA 205-A and shared facilities under RSA 540-B (whose termination tracks — 30 days without a stated reason, 7 days for nonpayment, 72 hours for damage, health-or-safety behavior, or material breach — replace the RSA 540 process for those occupancies); both are outside this guide's main line and are flagged here only so the boundary is explicit.

What the Legislature has — and has not — done

• Effective January 1, 2025 (2024 acts). The domestic-violence architecture was rebuilt: the RSA 540:11-b tenant termination right, the RSA 540:2, VII victim shield and lock-change right, and the RSA 540:2, II(h) accused-perpetrator ground (2024, 9). The RSA 540-A definitions added the subtenant and implied tenant categories, and RSA 540-A:4's unauthorized-occupant procedures were revised (2024, 370); the vehicle-removal paragraphs RSA 540-A:3, II-a to II-c also date from the 2024–2025 amendments. A landlord working from pre-2025 forms is missing all of it.
• Effective January 1, 2026 (2025, 176). The RSA 540-A:3 amendments now in force include the application-fee disclosure and refund rule (paragraph VIII) and the non-electronic payment rule (paragraph X) stated above — the two newest paperwork duties in the chapter.
• Effective July 1, 2026 (2025, 263; HB 60). The lease-expiration ground, RSA 540:2, II(i), with its 60-day nonrenewal notice, 6-month filing window, and no-fault screening protection (RSA 540:2, VIII). Before this act, expiration of a long lease was not itself a restricted-property ground; after it, nonrenewal of a 12-month-plus tenancy is a paper exercise — 60 days' written notice by Saturday, May 2, 2026 for a term ending Wednesday, July 1, 2026, by way of weekday-verified example.
• Effective October 8, 2026 (2026, 308; HB 1598 as enacted). Eviction-process amendments across RSA 540:13 (answer within 5 days after the return date; rent kept current during post-judgment motions; discovery continuances and surprise-defense continuances), RSA 540:13-c (no discretionary stay on tenant default; stays capped at 60 days, or 75 on the paragraph's showing, replacing the former 3-month maximum), RSA 540:14 (a delayed sheriff's service does not invalidate a writ), and restatements of RSA 540-A:2 and RSA 540-A:3, V. These changes are in force today; this guide states the post-amendment text where the chapters set out both versions.
• Effective July 1, 2027 (2026, 213). The new snow and ice removal defaults, RSA 540:28-a: unless otherwise agreed, the landlord of restricted property clears common areas used by more than one unit, and tenants clear areas for their exclusive use. Not yet operative — flag it in lease renewals that will run past that date.
• Not enacted — do not comply with summaries that claim otherwise: no statewide rent control, no statutory late-fee cap, no verified $25 bad-check cap, and no codified mitigation section in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A were found in the texts verified for this guide. Each was asserted somewhere in the older secondary literature (and two of them on this page's previous version); none survives contact with the current official text.

Small-landlord practical checklist

1. Classify the property before you notice anything. Restricted or nonrestricted under RSA 540:1-a, I — and separately, covered or exempt under the deposit definition in RSA 540-A:5, I (4 units for good cause, 5 units for deposits, 60-plus tenants always covered for deposits).

2. Take the deposit by the subdivision. Cap at one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater; signed receipt plus the 5-day repair-list notice in every case; trust account or clerk-posted bond; no relabeling around the RSA 540-A:5, II definition.

3. Calendar interest from the receipt date. At the one-year mark the savings-rate interest is owed, accruing from day one; answer RSA 540-A:6, IV(b) information requests and IV(c) three-year draw requests on their own clocks.

4. Return on the 30-day clock with receipts. Itemize damage with particularity plus receipts, estimates, bills, or invoices, and money claims with their periods (RSA 540-A:7); remember the penalty is measured on the full deposit plus interest (RSA 540-A:8, I(b)).

5. Disclose the application fee before you collect it, and refund the excess over documented costs within 30 days when the applicant does not get the unit (RSA 540-A:3, VIII). Always offer a non-electronic payment route (paragraph X).

6. Demand, then notice, with specificity. Demand for rent after the due date and before or with the eviction notice (RSA 540:4); 7 days for RSA 540:2, II(a), (b), (d), or (h) grounds and 30 days for everything else residential (RSA 540:3, II); the specific reason on the face of the notice (RSA 540:3, III) and the RSA 540:9 language on every nonpayment notice (RSA 540:3, IV).

7. Respect pay-and-stay to the hearing. Full payment in guaranteed funds — arrears through payment, lawful charges, $15, filing fee, and service charges — before the hearing on the merits dismisses a nonpayment-only action, up to 3 uses in 12 months (RSA 540:9). Track each tenant's count.

8. Warn before you plead tenant-conduct good cause. The RSA 540:2, III written warning, served under RSA 540:5 or by certified mail, is a precondition to a conduct-based RSA 540:2, II(e) case — and never needed for a genuine paragraph V business or economic reason, which must be real and documented.

9. Enter by consent, emergency, or court order. Adequate notice for necessary repairs, 48 hours' written notice for adjacent-unit bed-bug evaluation, 7-day investigation and 72-hour preparation clocks on infestations, and the landlord — not the tenant — carrying bed-bug remediation costs unless RSA 540:13-e responsibility is proved.

10. Paper the exits. Abandonment needs the certified-mail notice plus 2 of 4 conditions before the presumption helps you, and the 7-day free-recovery storage duty runs regardless; retaliation risk runs 6 months from any complaint, repair, or 540-A filing, so document the independent reason for every notice, increase, and filing inside that window.

The bottom line

New Hampshire is a grounds-and-paperwork state. For most rentals there is no termination without an RSA 540:2, II reason, no valid notice without the reason stated with specificity, no deposit deduction without an itemized list backed by evidence, and no shortcut around the tenant's RSA 540:9 right to pay and stay before the hearing. The landlord-side upside is equally concrete: a genuine business or economic reason satisfies "other good cause," long leases can now be non-renewed on 60 days' notice as a no-fault matter, the deposit penalty has a forwarding-address shield and a 6-month sunset, and there is no rent control, no late-fee cap, and no statutory repair-and-deduct. Landlords who classify the property correctly, warn before they plead conduct, and keep receipts for everything do fine here. Landlords who import another state's no-cause assumptions — or this page's previous version — will meet RSA 540-A:8 in court.

FAQ

Does a New Hampshire landlord need a reason to end a tenancy?

For restricted property, yes — an RSA 540:2, II ground: nonpayment on demand, substantial damage, a material lease violation, health-or-safety behavior (or refusal of lead-abatement relocation), other good cause, lead-abatement removal, willful failure to prepare for infestation remediation, the accused-perpetrator ground, or — since July 1, 2026 — expiration of a lease of 12 months or longer on 60 days' nonrenewal notice. Only nonrestricted property under RSA 540:1-a, I (for example, an owner-occupied building of 4 or fewer units, or a single-family house where the owner owns no more than 3) may be terminated on notice without a listed ground.

What is the security deposit cap in New Hampshire?

One month's rent or $100, whichever is greater (RSA 540-A:6, I(a)). "Security deposit" means all funds in excess of the monthly rent transferred for any purpose (RSA 540-A:5, II), so pet deposits and similar charges count toward the cap. A person renting a single-family residence who owns no other rental property, or units in an owner-occupied building of 5 or fewer units, is not a "landlord" under the deposit subdivision — except that a unit occupied by a person 60 or older remains covered. Check a planned deposit against New Hampshire's one-month-or-$100 cap with the Security Deposit Max Checker, which returns a compliant or over-the-limit verdict for the amount and state you enter.

How long does a New Hampshire landlord have to return a security deposit?

Thirty days from the termination of the tenancy, with the interest due, if any (RSA 540-A:7, I). Damage deductions require a written, itemized list stating with particularity the nature of each repair plus satisfactory evidence it has been or will be completed — receipts, labor estimates, bills, or invoices. Unpaid rent, the tenant's lease-required tax-increase share, and other lawful lease charges require an itemized list stating the period for each claim (RSA 540-A:7, II).

What is the penalty for violating the New Hampshire deposit rules?

It depends on which rule. Violating RSA 540-A:6, I, II, or III (cap, receipt, holding, transfers) is deemed a violation of the Consumer Protection Act, RSA 358-A:2 (RSA 540-A:8, I(a)). Violating RSA 540-A:6, IV (interest) or RSA 540-A:7 (return) makes the landlord liable for twice the sum of the deposit plus any interest due, less payments made and charges owing for damages, unpaid rent, or tax share (RSA 540-A:8, I(b)) — on an $1,800 deposit with $18 of interest and $550 of lawful charges, $3,086. The paragraph does not condition that liability on willfulness. A landlord whose failure is due to the tenant's failure to provide a new address is not liable, and unclaimed deposits become the landlord's after 6 months, absent fraud (RSA 540-A:8, II).

Does a New Hampshire security deposit earn interest?

Yes, if it is held for one year or longer. RSA 540-A:6, IV(a) requires interest at the rate paid on regular savings accounts at the New Hampshire institution where the deposit is held, commencing from the date the landlord received the deposit; on a pooled account, the actual interest earned is paid proportionately. The tenant may demand the institution's name, account number, amount, and rate, and examine the records (IV(b)), and may claim the accrued interest every 3 years, 30 days before that year's tenancy expires, payable within 15 days after expiration (IV(c)).

What is the pay-and-stay right under RSA 540:9?

If a possessory action is based solely on nonpayment, it must be dismissed when the tenant — at any time before the hearing on the merits — pays all rent due through the time of payment, plus other lawful lease charges, $15 in liquidated damages, and any filing fee and service charges, in cash, certified check, prepaid money order, electronic transfer, or other guaranteed funds, and the landlord files the required receipt (or the tenant proves payment at the hearing). A state, county, municipal, or agency voucher counts as payment under RSA 540:9-a. The right may not be used more than 3 times within a 12-month period (RSA 540:9, II).

How much notice is required before a rent increase in New Hampshire?

The increase-notice rule is RSA 540:2, IV: a tenant's refusal to agree to a rent increase is good cause for eviction under RSA 540:2, II(e) only if the landlord gave written notice of the amount and effective date at least 30 days before the effective date. There is no state cap on the amount of the increase in RSA 540 or RSA 540-A, and no statutory late-fee cap or grace period in those chapters — those terms are set by the lease.

How much notice must a New Hampshire landlord give before entering?

For necessary repairs and other reasonable, lawful ownership functions, the tenant may not willfully refuse access at a reasonable time after notice adequate under the circumstances (RSA 540-A:3, V) — the statute sets no fixed hour count, and 24 hours' written notice is the working practice. Without consent, the landlord may enter only for emergency repairs (including infestation emergencies within 72 hours of first notice) or under a court order (RSA 540-A:3, IV, IV-a, V-d). Evaluation for bed bugs in a unit adjacent to, above, or below an infested unit requires 48 hours' written notice (RSA 540-A:3, V-b).

Can a New Hampshire tenant withhold rent or repair and deduct?

Not as a freestanding statutory right under RSA 540 or RSA 540-A. The remedy is the RSA 540:13-d defense: in a nonpayment possessory action, no possession may be ordered where the premises are in substantial violation of RSA 48-A or local fitness standards materially affecting habitability, the tenant was not in arrears when giving written notice of the violation, the landlord failed to correct it within 14 days (or as promptly as an emergency requires), and the other paragraph I conditions are proved by clear and convincing evidence. The court may continue the case up to one month with rent paid into court, then apportion the fund between fair rental value and the tenant's damages — or enter judgment for the tenant with a full refund if the violation is not remedied.

When is a New Hampshire unit legally abandoned?

Abandonment under RSA 540-A:4, XII is an affirmative defense built on a rebuttable presumption: the landlord must first give a written property abandonment notice, left at the premises and sent by certified mail to the last known address of at least one adult tenant, and at least 2 of 4 conditions must be present — written notice of intent to vacate by a date now past, all keys returned, all or most personal property removed with only inconsistent items remaining, or rent unpaid for more than 91 days (with the agency-verification and payment-acceptance conditions met). Separately, the landlord must store a vacated tenant's property with reasonable care for 7 days, during which the tenant may recover it free of rent or storage fees (RSA 540-A:3, VII).

What classes does New Hampshire fair housing law protect?

RSA 354-A:10 makes it unlawful to discriminate in a real estate transaction because of age, sex, gender identity, race, religion, color, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, or national origin, and its advertising paragraph additionally lists sexual orientation; RSA 354-A:8 declares housing free of discrimination on those grounds — stated there with "creed" — a civil right and expressly protects sexual orientation. Disability carries affirmative modification and accommodation duties under RSA 354-A:11. Source of income is not in the verified RSA 354-A lists. The owner-occupied exemption (a building of not more than 4 families where the owner resides in one unit) is RSA 354-A:15, II and does not extend to RSA 354-A:10, VII; federal fair housing law applies independently.

Can a New Hampshire landlord require online or autopay rent payments?

No. RSA 540-A:3, X bars requiring payment of any amount due under a residential lease, renewal, or extension solely via electronic funds transfer, including automatic recurring transfers, and requires at least one other non-electronic form of payment. The application-fee rule is RSA 540-A:3, VIII, stated in the FAQ above and the rent section.

Primary sources

All sources were read in the official text published by the New Hampshire General Court (gc.nh.gov) for this verification, except the federal provisions noted.

• RSA Chapter 540 — Actions Against Tenants — §§ 540:1 (tenancy at will; rent on demand), 540:1-a (restricted and nonrestricted property), 540:1-b and 540:1-c (agent for service), 540:2 (termination grounds; increase notice; victim shield), 540:3 (eviction notice), 540:4 and 540:5 (demand and service), 540:8 (demand limited to arrears), 540:9 and 540:9-a (payment after notice; vouchers), 540:11, 540:11-a, and 540:11-b (tenant, military, and victim terminations), 540:12 to 540:14 (possessory action; retaliation damages), 540:13-a and 540:13-b (retaliation defense and presumption), 540:13-d (fitness defense), 540:13-e (bed-bug costs), 540:28 (waiver void), 540:28-a (snow and ice, eff. July 1, 2027), 540:30 (entity representatives).
• RSA Chapter 540-A — Prohibited Practices and Security Deposits — §§ 540-A:1 and 540-A:2 (definitions; general prohibition), 540-A:3 (prohibited acts; entry; storage; application fees; non-electronic payment), 540-A:3-a (lead in drinking water), 540-A:4 (remedies; abandonment defense), 540-A:5 to 540-A:8 (deposit definitions, procedure, return, and remedies).
• RSA Chapter 354-A — State Commission for Human Rights (Law Against Discrimination) — §§ 354-A:8 (housing civil right), 354-A:10 (real estate transactions), 354-A:11 (disability), 354-A:12 (blockbusting), 354-A:13 (restrictive covenants), 354-A:14 (interference), 354-A:15 (exemptions).
• RSA 48-A:14 (minimum housing standards) and RSA 540-B:3 (shared-facility termination) were cross-checked against the current section text as published in the Justia and LawServer mirrors of the Revised Statutes, and RSA 540:2, II(i) against the General Court chapter text above (2025, 263, eff. July 1, 2026).
• Federal law applied alongside the state chapters as noted: the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.; the lead-based paint disclosure law, 42 U.S.C. § 4852d; and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, § 305 (referenced by RSA 540:11-a, III).

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state
• Nevada landlord-tenant law
• New Jersey landlord-tenant law
• Nebraska landlord-tenant law
• New Mexico landlord-tenant law

This is general information, not legal advice. Consult a New Hampshire landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.