New Hampshire residential lease agreement

Before collecting any application or renewal fee, tell the applicant in writing the amount of the fee and whether a satisfactory criminal background and credit check is required. If you collect the fee and do not rent to that applicant, return within 30 days of receiving the fee anything beyond the documented cost of the checks and reasonable administrative costs.

RSA 540-A:3, VIII

• The law does not require you to run a criminal or credit check, and does not stop you renting to an applicant who fails one. RSA 540-A:3, VIII
• A landlord who breaks this rule must return all money the applicant paid with the application, plus court costs. RSA 540-A:4, IX(f)
• If you commission an investigative consumer report based on personal interviews about character, reputation, personal characteristics or way of life, state law requires a clear written disclosure no later than three days after first requesting it. Include the right to request the investigation's nature and scope. Confirm the report type with the provider before ordering. RSA 359-B:3, IV-V; 359-B:6, I
• When the consumer makes a written scope request within a reasonable time after that disclosure, give a complete, accurate written description of the investigation's nature and scope within five days after the later of receiving the request or first requesting the report. Keep the dated request, disclosure and response together, and review independent federal duties. RSA 359-B:6, II

New Hampshire bars discrimination in renting because of age, sex, gender identity, race, religion, color, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability or national origin. The equal housing right also protects sexual orientation, and rental ads may not state a preference based on it.

RSA 354-A:10 RSA 354-A:8

• Allow reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense and reasonable accommodations in rules and policies for people with disabilities. For a rental you may, where reasonable, require the tenant to restore the interior at the end of the tenancy. RSA 354-A:11, III
• Exemptions include a building with no more than four households when the owner lives in one of them, and rooms in a private home where the owner or the owner's family lives, though the listing rule still applies to the first. RSA 354-A:15, II RSA 354-A:15, III
• Housing for older persons that meets the statute's test is exempt from the familial status rules. RSA 354-A:15, VIII
• You may not evict a tenant solely because the person has AIDS or is regarded as having it. RSA 354-A:12, IV

State law requires these written notices: the deposit receipt and five-day condition notice, the application fee disclosure, the nonpayment notice's statement of the right to pay and stay, and the notice of a deposit transfer when you sell. Federal law adds the lead-based paint disclosure for older housing, which was not read for this page.

RSA 540-A:6, I RSA 540-A:3, VIII RSA 540:3, IV RSA 540-A:6, III(b)

• If state testing finds lead in the unit's drinking water above the federal action level after a child tests high, notify the tenant or prospective tenant and install a certified lead filter on the kitchen faucet. RSA 540-A:3-a
• After July 1, 2024, a unit converted to rental housing in a building erected before 1978 needs lead-safe certification before it is rented. RSA 130-A:5-d
• You may not evict because a child living in the unit tested positive for lead; an eviction within six months of notice of a child's elevated blood lead level is presumed to be for that reason. RSA 130-A:6-a, II

New Hampshire's landlord and tenant chapters have no flood disclosure rule. Other New Hampshire law was not checked for one.

RSA ch. 540 RSA ch. 540-A

The owner of restricted property must file with the town or city clerk, within 30 days of becoming the owner, the name, address and phone number of a person in New Hampshire authorized to accept legal papers about the property. An owner living in the state may name itself.

RSA 540:1-b, I RSA 540:1-b, II

• A town may fine an owner up to $100 for not filing the statement. RSA 540:1-c
• If an out-of-state owner neither files nor appears in a case, service under RSA 510:4 is presumed lawful and adequate. RSA 540:1-b, III
• When a deposit moves to a new owner, notify the tenant by registered or certified mail of the new holder's name and address. RSA 540-A:6, III(b) See Deposit account and interest on the New Hampshire page

A security deposit may not be more than one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater. Any money the tenant pays you beyond the monthly rent counts as a security deposit, whatever it is called and whatever it is for.

RSA 540-A:6, I(a) RSA 540-A:5, II

• If the lease calls for rent to be paid quarterly or less often, the deposit taken on top of the first rent payment still may not exceed one month's rent. RSA 540-A:6, I(a)
• The deposit rules do not apply to a person who rents out a single-family home and owns no other rental property, or who rents units in an owner-occupied building of five units or fewer. The exception does not reach a unit in that building occupied by someone 60 or older. RSA 540-A:5, I
• The deposit rules also do not cover vacation or recreational rentals. RSA 540-A:5, I RSA 540-A:5, III
• A landlord may not raise a customary security deposit for a tenant with a disability. RSA 354-A:11, III(a)
• A landlord who takes a deposit above the limit is treated as violating the state Consumer Protection Act. RSA 540-A:8, I(a)

Return the deposit, with any interest due, within 30 days after the tenancy ends. You may deduct the cost of repairing damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, unpaid rent, and other lawful charges the lease calls for. Give the tenant a written itemized list of every deduction.

RSA 540-A:7, I RSA 540-A:7, II

• For damage, the list must describe with particularity the repair needed and include satisfactory evidence that it has been or will be done, such as receipts for materials, labor estimates, bills or invoices. RSA 540-A:7, I
• For unpaid rent, charges or a lease share of increased real estate taxes, the list must state the period each claim covers. RSA 540-A:7, II
• A landlord who does not follow the return or interest rules owes the tenant twice the deposit plus interest due, less payments made and charges the tenant owes. RSA 540-A:8, I(b)
• You are not liable for missing these rules if the tenant did not give you a new address when the tenancy ended. A deposit and interest left unclaimed for six months after the tenancy ends become yours, absent fraud. RSA 540-A:8, II
• A lease clause waiving the tenant's deposit rights is void. RSA 540-A:8, III
• When a tenant ends the lease as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, the deposit stays applied to the rental until all tenants have left, then is returned under the normal rule. RSA 540:11-b, IV

The deposit stays the tenant's money. Hold it in trust and do not mix it with your own funds. You may keep all your tenants' deposits together in one trust account at a bank, savings and loan association or credit union organized under New Hampshire law, or instead post a bond with the town or city clerk. If you hold a deposit for a year or longer, you owe the tenant interest on it.

RSA 540-A:6, II RSA 540-A:6, IV

• Interest runs at the rate the New Hampshire institution holding the deposit pays on regular savings accounts, from the day you receive the deposit. If deposits are pooled in one account, pay each tenant a proportional share of the interest actually earned. RSA 540-A:6, IV(a)
• On request, tell the tenant the institution, account number, amount on deposit and interest rate, and let the tenant examine the deposit records. RSA 540-A:6, IV(b)
• A tenant may ask for the interest accrued every three years, by asking 30 days before that year's tenancy expires; pay it within 15 days after that year's tenancy expires. RSA 540-A:6, IV(c)
• The bond must be written by a company located in New Hampshire, cover the total deposits you hold on property in that city or town, and be posted with its clerk. RSA 540-A:6, II(c)
• If you sell the property or assign the lease, turn the deposit over to the new owner or assignee at delivery of the deed or assignment or within five days after, and notify the tenant by registered or certified mail of the name and address of the new holder. Doing so, with interest due, ends your liability for it. RSA 540-A:6, III

When you receive a deposit, tell the tenant in writing that any conditions in the unit needing repair or correction should be noted on the receipt or given to you in writing within five days of moving in.

RSA 540-A:6, I(b) RSA 540-A:6, I(c)

• Give the tenant a signed receipt at once stating the amount and where the deposit, or the bond for it, is held. No receipt is needed when the deposit is paid by personal check, bank check, or a government or nonprofit agency check, but the five-day conditions notice is still required. RSA 540-A:6, I(b) RSA 540-A:6, I(c)
• The deposit rules, including this notice, do not apply to the small landlords the definition leaves out. RSA 540-A:5, I See Security deposit limit on the New Hampshire page

Without a different agreement, a tenancy is at will and rent is payable on demand. New Hampshire's landlord and tenant chapters set no limit on late fees and no grace period, so any late fee comes from the lease.

RSA 540:1 RSA ch. 540 RSA ch. 540-A

• You may not require rent or other lease payments to be made only by electronic funds transfer, including automatic recurring transfers. Allow at least one other form of payment that is not electronic. RSA 540-A:3, X
• A rent voucher or written promise to pay from the state, a county, a town or an agency disbursing federal or state funds counts as payment by the tenant of that amount, though you need not accept partial payments. RSA 540:9-a, I
• The $15 in liquidated damages a tenant pays to stop a nonpayment eviction is set by statute and is separate from any lease late fee. RSA 540:9, I(a) See Nonpayment notice on the New Hampshire page

The landlord and tenant chapters do not mention returned-payment fees. A separate civil statute lets the holder of a dishonored check recover the check amount plus court, service and collection costs, but only after giving notice and only if the writer does not pay the check amount plus bank fees and mailing costs within 10 days. No section read sets a dollar limit on a fee stated in a lease.

RSA 544-B:1 RSA 544-B:2

• Notice may be given in person or in writing; a written notice sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the address on the check or the last known address is presumed given. RSA 544-B:2
• If a court enters judgment and the writer does not pay that day, the writer owes $10 for each business day the debt stays unpaid, up to $500. RSA 544-B:1, II
• A stop payment order issued without cause counts as a dishonored check. RSA 544-B:3

A tenant's refusal to agree to a rent increase is good cause for eviction only if you gave written notice of the new amount and its effective date at least 30 days before the increase. The landlord and tenant chapters set no limit on the size of an increase.

RSA 540:2, IV RSA ch. 540

• A rent increase within six months after a tenant's protected complaint, report, action or organizing is presumed retaliatory. RSA 540:13-b See Retaliation on the New Hampshire page

You may not enter the tenant's unit without the tenant's prior consent, except to make emergency repairs. Without consent you may enter only for emergency repairs or with a court order.

RSA 540-A:3, IV RSA 540-A:3, V-d

• Emergency repairs include entering, within 72 hours after you first learn of an infestation of insects or rodents, including bed bugs, to evaluate it, plan remediation or remediate it. RSA 540-A:3, IV-a
• From October 8, 2026, the tenant may not willfully prevent necessary repairs from being completed or refuse access for other reasonable and lawful functions of ownership, at a reasonable time after notice adequate under the circumstances. This does not replace the consent requirement for nonemergency entry. RSA 540-A:3, V
• To check for bed bugs after learning they are in an adjoining unit or the unit above or below, give the tenant 48 hours' written notice. RSA 540-A:3, V-b
• If a tenant refuses access to inspect for lead hazards after at least 48 hours' written notice, for an inspection at a reasonable time, the refusal is good cause for eviction. RSA 130-A:6-a, IV
• Either side may ask the district court to decide whether a request for entry is reasonable and lawful; a good-faith petition of that kind does not carry the statute's civil penalties. RSA 540-A:4, II RSA 540-A:4, IX(c)

In a town or city without its own housing code, the state's minimum standards apply: no uncontrolled insect or rodent infestation, sound plumbing and sewage, safe wiring, no consistently leaking roof or walls, no falling plaster or dangerous holes, sound porches, stairs and railings, adequate water and working water heating, no gas leaks, and heat able to keep habitable rooms at an average of at least 65 degrees. Where a town has adopted a housing code, that code applies.

RSA 48-A:14 RSA 48-A:11 RSA 48-A:2

• Investigate a tenant's or health officer's report of insects, bed bugs or rodents within 7 days and take reasonable measures to remediate. RSA 540-A:3, V-a
• You bear the reasonable cost of remediating bed bugs unless the tenant is responsible for the infestation. If the tenant caused it, you may bill the tenant in writing; a tenant who neither pays nor agrees to a repayment plan within 30 days after remediation may be evicted as for nonpayment. You must prove the tenant was responsible and that you offered a reasonable repayment agreement. RSA 540:13-e
• The tenant must follow reasonable written instructions to prepare for pest remediation, given to an adult in the household at least 72 hours ahead. RSA 540-A:3, V-c
• A violation of the minimum standards is a violation offense in a town with no housing agency, and each continuing day after notice is a separate offense. RSA 48-A:15
• From July 1, 2027, unless otherwise agreed, a landlord of restricted property clears snow and ice from common areas used by more than one unit, and tenants clear areas for their unit's exclusive use. RSA 540:28-a

A tenant may defend a nonpayment eviction if the home substantially violates the state or local fitness standards in a way that materially affects habitability. The tenant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that, while current in rent, it gave notice to the person it pays rent to and you did not fix the problem within 14 days (or as fast as an emergency requires), that the tenant did not cause it, and that weather or refused access did not prevent the repair.

RSA 540:13-d, I

• The court may continue the case up to one month for the repair and require the tenant to pay withheld and future rent into court. If the repair is made, the case is dismissed and the rent is paid to you or split to reflect the home's reduced value; if not, the tenant wins and gets the money back. RSA 540:13-d, II
• A tenant may also petition the district court, with no filing fee, over a landlord's prohibited acts such as cutting utilities, a lockout or failing to address an infestation. The court holds a hearing within 30 days after filing or 10 days after service, whichever is later, and may award damages, including for breach of the warranty of habitability. RSA 540-A:4, II RSA 540-A:4, III RSA 540-A:4, VI RSA 540-A:4, VII
• The landlord and tenant chapters give no right to make repairs and deduct the cost from rent. RSA ch. 540 RSA ch. 540-A

A tenant with a protective order that grants possession to the exclusion of another tenant or household member may ask you to replace or rekey a lock at the tenant's expense. With a copy of the order, you must do it and not give new keys to the restrained person. The landlord and tenant chapters contain no general rekeying rule between tenants.

RSA 540:2, VII(b)

• You are not liable for damages that result directly from that lock change. RSA 540:2, VII(c)

Every rental unit must have automatic fire warning devices under the national life safety and fire alarm codes, and carbon monoxide detectors under the national carbon monoxide code. A carbon monoxide detector is not required where the unit has no attached garage and no fuel-burning appliance, until one is added. The owner must keep both in suitable condition.

RSA 153:10-a, I RSA 153:10-a, II-a

• The state fire marshal or an appointed local authority enforces the rule and may issue a written notice of violation with a deadline to fix it. Stricter local rules stay in force. RSA 153:10-a, VI RSA 153:10-a, VII

Unless the tenant owes one week's rent or more, a tenant may defend an eviction by showing it retaliates for reporting a code or landlord-tenant violation in good faith, starting an action under the prohibited-practices chapter or the fitness defense, or meeting with other tenants for any lawful purpose.

RSA 540:13-a

• An eviction, rent increase or substantial change in the tenancy within six months after you receive notice of the report, finish the repair, learn of the tenant's action, or discover the tenant organizing is presumed retaliatory, unless the tenant's report was mainly meant to prevent an eviction. RSA 540:13-b
• A tenant who proves retaliation may be awarded up to three months' rent in damages. RSA 540:14, II
• After a tenant proves a prohibited practice, you may not bring an eviction within six months except for nonpayment, violation of a substantial lease obligation, or a violation of that chapter, nor take any other reprisal. RSA 540-A:4, XI

Never willfully cut off or interrupt a tenant's utilities, including water, heat, electricity, gas and sewer, whether or not you control them, except briefly during actual repairs or a temporary emergency. Never lock a tenant out, or hold the tenant's home or belongings, except through court process.

RSA 540-A:3, I RSA 540-A:3, II RSA 540-A:3, III

• A violation exposes you to the civil remedies of the Consumer Protection Act, with costs and attorney's fees, and each day it continues after a temporary order is a separate violation. RSA 540-A:4, IX(a)
• Where you unlawfully lock out a tenant and have already re-let the unit, damages are at least $3,000. RSA 540-A:4, IX(e)
• The court may issue temporary orders without notice on a showing of immediate irreparable harm. RSA 540-A:4, VIII
• You may remove, at the owner's expense, a vehicle or item blocking a common driveway, fire lane or dumpster, one leaking damaging fluids, or one in a posted no-parking area, unregistered, inoperable or parked against the lease, after the notices the statute sets for each case. RSA 540-A:3, II-a RSA 540-A:3, II-b

A landlord ends any residential tenancy with a written eviction notice that states the reason with specificity and gives 30 days, or 7 days for nonpayment and certain other grounds. For restricted property, which is most residential rentals, the reason must be one the statute lists, though other good cause includes any legitimate business or economic reason. The owner of nonrestricted property may end a tenancy without one of the listed reasons.

RSA 540:2, I RSA 540:2, II RSA 540:2, V RSA 540:3, II

• Nonrestricted residential property is a single-family house whose owner owns no more than three single-family houses, a unit in an owner-occupied building of four units or fewer, or a single-family house a lender took through foreclosure. RSA 540:1-a, I RSA 540:1-a, II
• A tenant ends a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days' notice. If the notice does not end on a rent due date, the tenant owes rent through the next rent due date unless the lease says otherwise. RSA 540:11, II
• Without a different agreement, every tenancy is at will. RSA 540:1
• Shared housing where the occupant shares a kitchen or bathroom with the owner follows a separate chapter: 30 days' written notice without a reason, 7 days for nonpayment, and 72 hours for damage, dangerous behavior or a material breach. RSA 540-B:1 RSA 540-B:3

A tenant may end a lease early when called to active duty from the reserves or National Guard, or when reassigned out of state while on active duty, by written notice within 7 days of receiving the orders. A tenant may also end a lease when the tenant or a household member was a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking within the last 150 days and gives written verification.

RSA 540:11-a RSA 540:11-b, I

• Verification may be a protective order, legal action to get one, a police report, a statement from a law enforcement official, victim's advocate, attorney or health care provider, or the circuit court's signed self-certification form. Keep it confidential. RSA 540:11-b, I(c) RSA 540:11-b, II
• The victim tenant moves out within 30 days of the notice, or as agreed, and owes rent only through the termination date or the move-out date, whichever is later. RSA 540:11-b, III RSA 540:11-b, IV
• The military notice follows the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. RSA 540:11-a, III
• For restricted property, the end of a lease of 12 months or longer, counting renewals, is a ground for eviction only if you gave written nonrenewal notice at least 60 days before the term ends and file within 6 months after it expires. RSA 540:2, II(i) See Eviction process on the New Hampshire page

For unpaid rent, demand the rent and serve a written eviction notice giving at least 7 days. The notice must state the reason with specificity and tell the tenant of the right to avoid eviction by paying what is owed under the payment-after-notice rule.

RSA 540:2, II(a) RSA 540:3, II RSA 540:3, III RSA 540:3, IV

• The demand may be made any time after rent is due, before or together with the eviction notice, and may not ask for more than the whole rent in arrears. RSA 540:4 RSA 540:8
• Any person may serve the demand and the notice, in hand or at the tenant's home. Keep a true and attested copy with an affidavit of service. The district court publishes forms; you need not use them, but your notice must include the same information. RSA 540:5
• The case is dismissed if, before the hearing, the tenant pays all rent owed through that date, other lawful lease charges, $15 in liquidated damages and your filing and service costs, and you file a receipt with the court. A tenant may use this right no more than three times in 12 months. RSA 540:9
• You may not evict for nonpayment when the arrears are no more than what the tenant paid, with proof, to keep on utilities you had agreed to provide. RSA 540:2, VI
• While the case is pending you may accept the arrears without creating a new tenancy, if you tell the tenant in writing that you still intend to proceed. RSA 540:13, VII

Failure to comply with a material term of the lease is a ground for eviction on a written notice of at least 30 days that states the reason with specificity. Substantial damage to the home, or behavior that harms the health or safety of other tenants or the landlord, needs only 7 days.

RSA 540:2, II RSA 540:3, II RSA 540:3, III

• Before evicting for other good cause based on what the tenant, the tenant's family or guests did or failed to do, first give a written warning that such conduct would be grounds for eviction in the future, served like an eviction notice or by certified mail. RSA 540:2, III
• Willfully failing to prepare the unit for pest remediation after reasonable written notice and time is also a ground. RSA 540:2, II(g)
• A lease clause waiving any tenant right under the eviction chapter is void. RSA 540:28
• From October 8, 2026, after a hearing on a prohibited-practices petition, the court may order a tenant, household member or guest found to have willfully engaged in behavior harming others' health or safety, or to have willfully blocked emergency repairs, to vacate at once. RSA 540-A:2, III RSA 540-A:4, VII(b)

After the notice period ends, the landlord files a possessory action in the district court. The writ is returnable 7 days after the sheriff serves it. If the tenant files an appearance, a hearing is held within 10 days; only a court order can remove a tenant, and the sheriff carries out the writ of possession.

RSA 540:12 RSA 540:13, I RSA 540:13, III RSA 540:13, V RSA 540:14, I

• In a nonpayment case you may claim unpaid rent in the same action; any money judgment there is limited to $1,500, without stopping either side from suing separately for more. RSA 540:13, III
• From July 1, 2026, the end of a lease whose term (with renewals) is 12 months or longer is a ground for eviction, if you gave written notice at least 60 days before the term ends that the lease will not be renewed and file within 6 months after it expires. RSA 540:2, II(i)
• An eviction on that no-fault ground is not treated as an eviction for rental applications or tenant screening reports. RSA 540:2, VIII
• After judgment the court may delay the move-out, with the tenant paying weekly rent in advance. Until October 8, 2026 the delay may run up to 3 months; from that date it is up to 60 days, or up to 75 days in limited cases, and a tenant's default rules it out. RSA 540:13-c, I
• An appeal starts with a notice of intent to appeal filed within 7 days of the notice of judgment. In a nonpayment case the tenant must pay the weekly rent into court while the appeal is pending. RSA 540:20 RSA 540:25, I
• A limited liability company, corporation or partnership with five or fewer members may be represented in these cases by a member or employee with written authorization for each appearance. RSA 540:30
• From October 8, 2026, a tenant who contests must also file an answer stating any defenses and counterclaims within 5 days after the return day, and if the tenant raises a defense at the hearing you had no notice of, you are entitled to a continuance of up to 7 days. RSA 540:13, II RSA 540:13, IV-a

Store a departed tenant's belongings with reasonable care for 7 days after the tenant vacates, whether the tenant left voluntarily or by eviction. During those days the tenant may take them back without paying rent or storage fees. After 7 days you may dispose of them without notice.

RSA 540-A:3, VII

• A landlord who breaks the storage rule owes only actual damages, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. RSA 540-A:4, IX(b)
• A home is presumed abandoned if you leave a written abandonment notice at the unit and send it by certified mail to at least one adult tenant, and two of these are true: all adult tenants gave written notice of moving out and the date passed, all keys were returned, most belongings were removed, or rent went unpaid more than 91 days. The 7-day storage then starts the day after you serve the notice. RSA 540-A:4, XII
• The statute gives notice wording, in at least 12-point type, that is deemed sufficient. RSA 540-A:4, XII(d)
• In shared housing with the owner, the storage period is 3 days. RSA 540-B:9

Small claims covers money claims up to $10,000 that do not involve title to real estate. Evictions are separate possessory actions, not small claims.

RSA 503:1, I RSA 540:12

• When the claim is over $1,500, a plaintiff who wants a jury cannot use small claims, and a defendant may ask for a jury within 5 business days, which moves the case to superior court. Claims over $5,000 without a jury go to mediation first. RSA 503:1, II RSA 503:1, III RSA 503:1, IV
• The court mails the claim to the defendant, who has 30 days to say in writing that it wants a hearing; otherwise a default judgment may enter. RSA 503:6
• An officer, employee, partner, owner or trustee with written authorization may represent a business in small claims. RSA 503:11

An unexpected occupant raises two different questions: who currently has a right to possess the home, and whether anyone is asserting ownership. An adverse-possession claim concerns ownership; it is not a rental notice period. Before taking action, establish whether the person was a tenant, invited guest, licensee or someone who entered without permission. Get advice on the appropriate legal route when that status or title is disputed.

RSA 540:12 RSA 540:13, I RSA 540:13, III RSA 540:13, V RSA 540:14, I RSA 540-A:3, I RSA 540-A:3, II RSA 540-A:3, III

• For a tenant, use the applicable rental notice and court process. Do not apply a single seven-day or thirty-day deadline to every unfamiliar occupant. The tenant protections against lockouts and utility interruptions still matter when someone claims a right to occupy; changing a label does not resolve that dispute. RSA 540:12 RSA 540:13, I RSA 540:13, III RSA 540:13, V RSA 540:14, I RSA 540-A:3, I RSA 540-A:3, II RSA 540-A:3, III See Eviction process on the New Hampshire page
• Build a dated property file: ownership records, leases, permissions, messages, inspection notes, photographs and any incident reports. Record when occupancy was discovered and what each person claims. A period of occupation alone should not be treated as proof that a disputed ownership claim succeeds. This section does not state the elements or exceptions for establishing title by adverse possession. RSA 540:12 RSA 540:13, I RSA 540:13, III RSA 540:13, V RSA 540:14, I
• During a genuine vacancy, schedule lawful inspections, maintain doors and windows, collect mail appropriately and arrange routine exterior upkeep. Give a trusted contact a way to report damage or unexpected activity. These steps help identify a problem early; they do not authorize entering an occupied home or removing someone whose rights remain disputed. RSA 540-A:3, I RSA 540-A:3, II RSA 540-A:3, III See Lockouts and utilities on the New Hampshire page

New Hampshire's landlord and tenant chapters contain no rent control and no limit on rent increases, only the 30-day notice. Towns and cities may adopt housing codes setting minimum standards for dwellings. Local ordinances and any other state law on local rent regulation were not read for this page.

RSA 540:2, IV RSA 48-A:2 RSA 48-A:11

• A local housing code that sets a higher standard than state law governs. RSA 48-A:13