Landlord / Tenant / Eviction

Landlord

What is a Landlord?

A “Landlord” is an owner, agent, or lesser who rents or leases a residential premises to another person. Examples of a residential premises includes a residential home, apartment, manufactured home, or space in a manufactured housing park.

What isn’t allowed?

Landlords are not allowed to willfully violate the right the tenant has to a quiet enjoyment of the property they are renting. On the tenant’s end, they are not allowed to willfully damage the property of the landlord or prevent necessary repairs that need to be done.

The landlord legally cannot do the following things:

  1. Interrupt or terminate and utility services that are being supplied to the tenant. These include water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, sewerage, elevators, and refrigeration. They may temporarily be turned off if repairs or upgrades are being made to the affected utilities.
  2. Landlords are not allowed to prevent a tenant from entering the rented or leased premises. They can also not deny access to the items or possessions inside the premises.
  3. Without prior consent, a Landlord cannot enter the tenant’s premises unless they are conducting emergency repairs. An emergency repair is appropriate for infestations of rodents and insects, and to correct violations of municipal health or housing code.
  4. The Landlord cannot mingle security deposit money with his own personal money. It must be held in a separate account. The money is then returned to the tenant with interest accrued provided the tenant has not violated their renter’s agreement.

What is allowed?

A Landlord CAN enter the premises of a tenant to evaluate with 48 hours written notice if there is a discovered infestation above, below, or adjacent to the tenant’s premises.

If a tenant is no longer renting or leasing the premises, the Landlord must exercise reasonable care in the storage of the personal property of a tenant who has vacated the premises for a period of 7 days after the date upon which such tenant has vacated. During this period, the tenant shall be allowed to recover personal property without payment of rent or storage fees. After the 7-day limit has expired, this personal property may be disposed of by the landlord without notice to the tenant.

The Landlord is allowed to charge a security deposit to the tenant, but it cannot be more than one month’s rent or $100, whichever is greater.

Tenant

What is a Tenant?

A tenant is one who lesser who rents or leases a residential premises from another person. Examples of a residential premises includes a residential home, apartment, manufactured home, or space in a manufactured housing park.

What isn’t Allowed?

Tenants cannot refuses the Landlord access to the premises for the following reasons:

  1. To make any type of necessary emergency repairs.
  2. To evaluate whether or not there are rodents or bed bugs present with 48 hours written notice. The Landlord can only do this when there is a confirmed infestation above, below, or adjacent to the premises.

Tenants are not allowed to willfully damage the property or premises of the Landlord.

If the property of the Landlord is found to be willfully damaged, the tenant can be charged up to twice the sum of the security deposit plus interest, and additional damages, rent, or taxes that may still be owed.

What is Allowed?

A tenant is allowed to be mandated to pay a security deposit as part of the terms of the rent or lease. The security deposit cannot be more than either one month’s rent or $100, whichever is greater.

The tenant is allowed to know where the security deposit money is being held, and is able to check the interest accrued on the deposit every 3 years.

Return of the keys to the premises are required among exiting a rental or lease.

Upon agreeing to rent, usually the Landlord and Tenant will create a signed contract called a “renter’s agreement”. When the contract is agreed to, the Tenant must pay their rent by

If the renter does not pay rent for 91 days, the Landlord is legally allowed to evict the tenant. When the lease ends or the tenant is evicted, the Landlord must give the tenant 7 days to reclaim their property before the property legally becomes the possession of the Landlord.

Eviction

What is Eviction?

Eviction is the act of expelling a tenant from a property. However, it can only legally be done in certain circumstances.

When is Eviction Warranted?

Eviction is warranted when the tenant either fails to pay rent for an extended period of time or damage has been willingly done to the Landlords’ property.

How does the Eviction Process Work?

Step 1: A “Demand for Rent” must be served.

  • A “Demand for Rent” form is necessary when the tenant has not pair their rent for an extended period of time. The form is a legal notice that they must pay the outstanding rent or they are subject to eviction.
  • The Demand for Rent must be served to the tenant before an eviction notice is allowed to be filed.
  • This notice is either given to the tenant or posted/mailed to their last known address.
  • If the tenant pays their outstanding rent plus $15, then they cannot legally be evicted after the notice is served. However, they can still be evicted if they are served 3 Demand for Rent forms in a 12 month period.

Step 2: An “Eviction Notice” is then filed.

  • Tenants cannot be given an eviction notice without a court order.
  • Usually, the tenant will get a chance to remedy any offences they have before they are fully evicted. If they do not, they must move out in the time period given by the court.
  • The eviction notice must be proven to have been in the hands of the tenant. To prove this, the tenant’s signature is required. If the tenant does not sign the form, whoever served the notice must take note of that fact on the receipt.

Note: There are template for these legal documents located at http://www.courts.state.nh.us/district/landlord.htm

However, the Landlord does not need to use those exact documents during the eviction process. Legally, the Landlord only needs to provide similar documents which contain the same language as the State of New Hampshire-supplied documents.