Rent Increases

"Most tenants in New Hampshire do not have written leases. For these tenants, the landlord can request a rent increase at any time. There is also no law limiting the amount of the increase that the landlord can request. The best way to protect yourself from rent increases is to have a written lease which fixes the amount of the rent for a specific period of time (usually one year). ... If you do not have a lease, your landlord must give you 30 days' notice of the proposed rent increase in writing. In a manufactured housing park, the landlord must give you 60 days' advance written notice."

This bill was introduced in the 2022 session and would have changed the notice period of a rent increase to 45 days. Unfortunately for renters, the bill did not pass. Bills from 1989 to the present are online at the General Court's website: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/.

HB 1200 (2022) was not the first time this representative introduced a bill to increase the notice period for rent increases. HB 1247 was from the 2020 session and is an interesting illustration of the changes bills can undergo in a legislative session. The final version is below. Notice the title has changed completely and the text of the bill is completely different.

Notice how this version of HB 1247 says "FINAL VERSION" at the top of the page. When you search for a bill on the General Court's website, pay attention to whether or not you're looking at the As Introduced, As Amended, or Final Version.

The notice period for Mobile Home Parks is different: "A park owner must give tenants 60 days' notice of any rent increase and an explanation for the increase."

'Beware of "waivers" in a lease in which the tenant gives up rights under certain conditions. For instance, an automatic renewal clause renews an expired lease automatically unless you notify the landlord in writing that you do not intend to renew the lease. The maximum occupancy clause limits the number of people who can live in the apartment. A landlord can also include a clause to force a mid-lease rent increase if property taxes are increased.'

'Given the announcement by the U.S. Treasury that New Hampshire will not receive any additional resources to continue its Emergency Rental Assistance program beyond December 29, 2022, New Hampshire Housing is announcing a pause to incoming applications under the NH Emergency Rental Assistance Program (NHERAP). Effective Friday, October 21, 2022, new applications will not be accepted pending a review of the existing pipeline of applications, the level of federal funding available, and the status of existing State requests to U.S. Treasury for additional funding. Support services will continue to be available through the five Community Action Partnership (CAP) agencies, and all applications in the pipeline will be reviewed and funded (pending eligibility).'