Change the locks on a nonpaying tenant in Nashua and you haven't sped anything up; you've handed the tenant a lawsuit. New Hampshire's prohibited-practices law treats lockouts, willful utility shutoffs, and seizing a tenant's belongings as consumer-protection violations (RSA 540-A:2, 540-A:3): the tenant collects at least $1,000 per violation plus attorney's fees under the remedies RSA 540-A:4, IX adopts, every day the violation continues after a court order counts as a fresh violation, and re-renting the unit after an unlawful lockout carries a $3,000 minimum. The Granite State runs on process, and the process is cheap next to the shortcut.
Here's what that process actually asks of you in 2026, statute by statute, including the biggest change to New Hampshire eviction law in decades, which lands July 1, 2026. Day counts live on our New Hampshire quick-reference page.
Deposits: one month or $100, whichever is greater (and who's exempt)
The cap reads oddly but works simply: you may not take security exceeding one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater (RSA 540-A:6). Unless you're renting for under $100, that means one month. Two groups sit outside the deposit rules entirely: an owner renting a single-family house who owns no other rental property, and owner-occupied buildings of five or fewer units, except any unit occupied by a tenant aged 60 or older (RSA 540-A:5).
Everyone else follows the full procedure. Give a signed receipt saying where the deposit is held (skippable only when the tenant pays by personal, bank, or agency check), and tell the tenant in writing they have 5 days from occupancy to report existing damage. The money stays the tenant's property, held in trust and never mixed with your own funds. Hold it a year or longer and it earns interest at the savings rate of the institution where it sits.
Return everything within 30 days of the tenancy ending, minus deductions backed by a written, itemized list describing each repair "with particularity" plus evidence like receipts or invoices (RSA 540-A:7). Blow the deadline or the accounting and RSA 540-A:8 makes you liable for twice the deposit plus interest. Rentari tracks the 30-day clock per move-out so this one never slips. The neighbors are no gentler: Massachusetts threatens treble damages around its deposit rules, Maine allows two months but polices returns, and Connecticut caps at two months with mandatory interest. The full deposit statute is here: RSA 540-A:6.
One federal layer sits on top of all of this: for any building built before 1978, give every new tenant the lead-based paint disclosure form and the EPA lead hazard pamphlet before the lease is signed. Skipping it invites federal penalties that dwarf anything in RSA 540-A.
Entering the unit: consent is the rule, not 24 hours' notice
New Hampshire has no fixed advance-notice period for entry. Instead, RSA 540-A:3, V bars willful entry without the tenant's prior consent, with narrow exceptions: emergency repairs, evaluating and fixing a suspected pest infestation within 72 hours of notice to the tenant, or entry authorized by a court. So the workable pattern is contractual: put inspection, maintenance, and showing access terms in the lease, then still confirm each visit with the tenant. A consent obtained by pressure isn't consent, and repeated uninvited entries walk you straight into the $1,000-per-violation math above.
Rent, raises, late fees, and two new payment rules
No New Hampshire town has rent control, and state law doesn't authorize any. Raising rent takes 30 days' written notice stating the new amount and its effective date (RSA 540:2, IV); on a fixed-term lease you also need lease language or the tenant's agreement until the term ends.
Late fees are uncapped by statute. They must appear in the lease to be a "lawful charge," and outsized fees invite a fight you don't need, since unpaid lawful charges ride along in the eviction-cure arithmetic described below.
Two recent additions change payment logistics. Since January 1, 2025, any application or renewal fee must be disclosed in writing, and whatever exceeds your actual out-of-pocket screening and administrative costs must be refunded within 30 days (HB 1400 of 2024, now in RSA 540-A:3). And starting January 1, 2026, you can't require rent be paid solely by electronic funds transfer; at least one non-electronic option, like a check or money order, must remain open (HB 309 of 2025, RSA 540-A:3, X).
The eviction path: cause required, cure allowed, specificity mandatory
For "restricted" property, which is most ordinary rentals, New Hampshire lets you terminate only on statutory grounds (RSA 540:2, II): nonpayment after a demand for rent, substantial damage, behavior adversely affecting other residents' health or safety, failure to comply with a material lease term, and "other good cause," which expressly includes legitimate business and economic reasons (RSA 540:2, V).
Notice periods follow the ground. Seven days suffices for nonpayment, substantial damage, dangerous behavior, or a domestic-violence perpetrator ground; 30 days governs lease violations and other good cause (RSA 540:3, II). Every notice must state the reason with specificity; vague notices get cases dismissed. Nonpayment notices must also tell the tenant about the cure right in RSA 540:9: pay all arrears, lawful charges, filing fees, and service costs plus $15 in liquidated damages any time before the hearing and the eviction dies. A tenant can only pull that lever 3 times in 12 months.
If no cure comes, you file a possessory action in circuit court, and only the sheriff ever executes the writ. Two defenses worth engineering around: retaliation, and habitability. Keep units to the minimum standards in RSA 48-A:14 (heat, water, structural soundness, no infestations), because a tenant who gave you notice of a violation can raise it and withhold rent as a defense under RSA 540:13-d. Notice templates for each ground are in our forms library.
July 1, 2026: lease expiration finally becomes a ground (HB 60)
For decades New Hampshire stood nearly alone in the region: a lease quietly expiring was not, by itself, cause to make the tenant leave. HB 60, signed in August 2025 as Chapter 263, changes that. Effective July 1, 2026, a new RSA 540:2, II(i) lets you end the tenancy at the natural end of the term when three conditions line up: the lease's original term was 12 months or longer (or renewals total 12 months or more), you gave written notice at least 60 days before the termination date that the lease won't renew, and you file any possessory action within 6 months of the expiration (RSA 540:2).
The law labels this a "no-fault termination," and it can't be treated as an eviction on rental applications or tenant-screening reports. Retaliation and discrimination defenses survive intact. Practical upshot: put renewal decisions on a 90-day calendar so the 60-day notice never becomes a 59-day notice, and remember the ground doesn't exist for month-to-month arrangements that were never 12-month leases.
The 2024-2026 change list at a glance
Three dates worth writing down. January 1, 2025: application-fee disclosure and excess-fee refunds (HB 1400 of 2024). January 1, 2026: no electronic-only rent collection (HB 309 of 2025). July 1, 2026: lease-expiration terminations under HB 60 (2025). Nothing in the 2024-2025 sessions touched the deposit caps, the 7-day and 30-day notice structure, or the RSA 540-A penalty scheme, so the fundamentals above carry forward unchanged.
FAQ: New Hampshire landlord questions
How much of a security deposit can I collect?
The greater of one month's rent or $100 (RSA 540-A:6), so in practice one month. Exempt: single-family rentals whose owner has no other rental property, and owner-occupied buildings of 5 or fewer units unless the tenant is 60 or older.
Can I refuse to renew a lease without a reason?
Today you still need good cause under RSA 540:2, II (business and economic reasons qualify). From July 1, 2026, HB 60 adds lease expiration itself as a ground for leases of 12 months or more, with 60 days' written non-renewal notice.
What's the notice for nonpayment, and can the tenant cure?
Seven days, served with a demand for rent (RSA 540:3). The tenant can cancel the eviction by paying everything owed plus $15 liquidated damages before the hearing, but only 3 times in any 12 months (RSA 540:9).
How much notice for a rent increase?
Thirty days in writing, stating the amount and effective date (RSA 540:2, IV). No cap on the size of the increase; New Hampshire has no rent control.
Do I owe interest on deposits?
Only if you hold the deposit a year or longer, at the savings-account rate of the institution where it's kept, payable with the return (RSA 540-A:6, 540-A:7).
This article is general legal information for New Hampshire rental owners, not legal advice, and effective dates above show how quickly the details move. Confirm anything you'll rely on against the current RSA text or with a New Hampshire landlord-tenant attorney.