New Hampshire Month-to-Month Lease Agreement

Legal Aspects of Month-to-Month Leases in New Hampshire

You might not be aware, but you must add various laws and legal disclosures when drawing up a lease. 

Lease Termination & Renewal 

• In New Hampshire, lessors must provide the tenant, and the other way around, with a 30-day notice when they terminate the lease. 
• This notice must be in writing, and there are some restrictions on when you can’t request a termination. 

• The landlord can’t terminate the lease in retaliation for a tenant’s protected action. 
• A month-to-month lease will continue until either the lessor or lessee terminates it.

Rent Increases 

• New Hampshire landlords must give a tenant 30 days’ notice when they heighten the rent. However, there’s no limit on how much they can increase it. 
• The lessee can decide to pay the rent and stay on or not pay the rent and must then find another place within 30 days.
• If the rental unit is in a manufactured housing park, then the lessor must give 60 days’ notice. 
• The rent increase cannot be due to a relation on the landlord’s part.

Security Deposit

• Security deposits have a maximum limit of $100 or one month’s rent, whichever is greater. 
• The landlord can request this security deposit at any time. If the security deposit equals one month’s rent, and you increase the rent, then you can ask for the balance to ensure the deposit is the same amount.
• The lessor must inform the tenant where they keep the deposit. 
• If the tenant stays in the unit for more than a year, they’re entitled to interest on the deposit, so the landlord must keep it in an interest-bearing account. 
• The lessor must return the deposit within 30 days.

Tenant Rights 

• Tenants are entitled to fair eviction, which means the lessor cannot evict them due to retaliation, discrimination, or any other unfair reason. 
• The lessee has the right to habitable housing that satisfies the state’s housing standards. Tenants can also request repairs that damage the housing standards.
• If the landlord doesn’t complete these repairs within a reasonable time, the lessee can withhold rent until the repairs are done.

Required Disclosures 

There are three required disclosures in this state:

• Repair Notice: The lessor must send the tenant a written notice about repairs. This notice must inform the tenant that if repairs are necessary when they move in, they must report them within five days.
• Lead-Based Paint Disclosure: The lessor must deliver a lead-based paint disclosure to the tenant should the building be older than 1978.
• Security Deposit Receipt: The landlord must provide a receipt of receiving the security deposit to the tenant in specific conditions. These conditions are if they receive the deposit in any other method than a government-issued, personal, or bank check.