Free New Hampshire Landlord Forms
Every New Hampshire landlord form we publish, organised by the stage of the tenancy it belongs to, each one paired with the RSA section and the deadline that triggers it — including two provisions that came into force during 2026 and are missing from every guide written before them.
Every form linked on this page is free, fillable in your browser, and downloadable as a PDF with no account, no membership and no paywall. New Hampshire tenancies run on RSA 540 for eviction and RSA 540-A for deposits and prohibited practices. It is a state where the first question is not “how many days” but “does good cause apply to me at all” — and for a great many small landlords the answer is no.
The short version
- Good cause is required only for “restricted property”. Owners of three or fewer single-family houses, and owners of an owner-occupied building of four units or fewer, are outside it and may terminate for any reason on notice.
- Nonpayment — seven days, preceded by a separate demand for rent.
- Most other grounds — thirty days, and there is no statutory right to cure a lease violation.
- A written warning must usually come first. Where good cause rests on the tenant’s conduct, the landlord must first serve notice that such conduct would in future be grounds for eviction.
- Entry is consent-based. New Hampshire sets no notice period and no hours.
- Deposit — one month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, held in trust, returned in thirty days — and many small landlords are exempt from the deposit rules entirely.
- New in 2026: a sixty-day lease non-renewal ground, a rule that a no-fault termination is not an eviction on a screening report, and a ban on requiring rent by electronic transfer only.
First Question: Is Your Property “Restricted”?
New Hampshire is often described as a good-cause state. That is only half right, and the half that is wrong matters enormously to small landlords.
RSA 540:1-a applies the good-cause regime only to “restricted property”, and it expressly excludes:
- single-family houses where the owner owns not more than three at any one time;
- rental units in an owner-occupied building of four units or fewer;
- single-family houses acquired by banks or mortgagees through foreclosure.
A landlord of non-restricted property may terminate for any reason, on notice. Before you spend time constructing a good-cause narrative, check which side of this line you are on — it changes the entire analysis.
Notice Periods: Seven Days or Thirty
| Ground | Notice | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Neglect or refusal to pay rent due and in arrears, upon demand | 7 days | RSA 540:2, II(a); 540:3, II |
| Substantial damage by the tenant, their household or guests | 7 days | 540:2, II(b) |
| Behaviour adversely affecting the health or safety of other tenants, the landlord or their representatives; or refusal of suitable temporary relocation for lead-paint abatement | 7 days | 540:2, II(d) |
| A remaining cotenant who is the accused perpetrator under RSA 540:11-b | 7 days | 540:2, II(h) |
| Failure to comply with a material lease term | 30 days | 540:2, II(c) |
| Other good cause | 30 days | 540:2, II(e) |
| Lead exposure-hazard abatement | 30 days | 540:2, II(f) |
| Wilful failure to prepare the unit for insect or rodent remediation after reasonable written notice | 30 days | 540:2, II(g) |
| Lease non-renewal (new — see below) | 30 days, after a 60-day advance notice | 540:2, II(i) |
“Other good cause” is much wider than it sounds. RSA 540:2, V says it “includes, but is not limited to, any legitimate business or economic reason and need not be based on the action or inaction of the tenant”. And under 540:2, IV a tenant’s refusal to accept a rent increase is itself good cause, provided the landlord gave written notice of the amount and effective date at least thirty days beforehand.
New Hampshire has no cure period. RSA 540 gives a notice-to-quit period and states no right to remedy a lease violation. Anyone describing a New Hampshire “thirty days to cure” has imported a rule from another state. The one genuine second chance is the redemption right described further down, and it is limited.
The Written Warning That Must Come First
This is New Hampshire’s real two-step structure, and it is the step most often skipped.
Under RSA 540:2, III, where good cause rests on the tenant’s acts or omissions, the landlord must first serve a written notice “stating that in the future such actions or inactions would constitute grounds for eviction”, served under RSA 540:5 or by certified mail. Only after that warning has been given can the conduct support an eviction notice.
Two things follow. The warning must describe the conduct clearly enough that a repetition is recognisable. And it must be served properly — this is one of the few places New Hampshire law names certified mail as an option. Our New Hampshire eviction notice laws guide walks through each ground.
Every New Hampshire Landlord Form, by Stage of the Tenancy
An alphabetical list is the least useful arrangement, because a landlord arrives knowing what has happened, not what the document is called. The index below is ordered by where you are in the tenancy.
Starting the tenancy
- New Hampshire residential lease agreement — the master document. Since 1 January 2026 it must not require rent to be paid solely by electronic transfer; at least one non-electronic method has to be available.
- Lead-based paint form — required by federal law for any dwelling built before 1978. New Hampshire adds its own lead-abatement grounds at RSA 540:2, II(d) and (f).
- Move-in / move-out condition checklist — useful but, unusually, not mandated. New Hampshire instead lets the tenant note conditions needing repair on the deposit receipt, or in writing within five days of occupancy.
During the tenancy
- Notice to enter the property — drafted to New Hampshire’s consent standard under RSA 540-A:3, IV, not to a generic twenty-four-hour rule.
- Rent increase notice — give it at least thirty days before the effective date, because that is what converts a refusal into good cause.
- Late rent notice — the natural vehicle for the demand for rent that must precede a seven-day notice.
- Sublease Agreement
When the tenant breaches
- Seven-day notice to pay rent or quit — RSA 540:3, II, following a demand for rent.
- Notice to cure or quit — thirty days for a material lease violation. Remember the statute confers no cure right, so this document is at its most useful as the record of what went wrong.
- Unconditional quit notice — for the seven-day conduct and damage grounds.
Ending the tenancy without fault
- Notice of non-renewal — the vehicle for both the sixty-day advance notice and the thirty-day termination described below.
- Tenant notice to vacate — the tenant terminates “in the same manner as the lessor” under RSA 540:11.
After the tenant moves out
- Security deposit itemisation — the itemised list RSA 540-A:7 requires within thirty days.
- Security deposit return letter — the covering document.
Two Provisions That Came Into Force in 2026
New Hampshire prints future effective dates inline with current text, which means guides written in 2025 describe the opposite of what is true now. Both of the following took effect on 1 July 2026 and are in force today.
| Provision | What it does |
|---|---|
| RSA 540:2, II(i) | Makes lease non-renewal a ground where the original term is twelve months or longer (or was renewed to that length), provided the landlord (A) gave written notice at least sixty days in advance of the termination date that the lease will not be renewed, and (B) filed a possessory action within six months of expiry. It preserves the retaliatory-eviction defence and RSA 354-A protections. |
| RSA 540:2, VIII | Provides that a no-fault termination shall not be considered an eviction for rental applications and tenant screening reports. This is a screening rule as much as an eviction rule. |
A third change landed slightly earlier: RSA 540-A:3, X, effective 1 January 2026, provides that a landlord shall not require payment of any amount due under a residential lease solely via electronic funds transfer, including recurring transfers, and shall allow at least one other non-electronic form of payment. Review any portal-only clause in your lease.
Entry: New Hampshire Sets No Hours and No Notice Period
There is no twenty-four-hour entry rule in New Hampshire. RSA 540-A:3, IV is a prohibition, not a notice schedule: “No landlord shall wilfully enter into the premises of the tenant without prior consent, other than to make emergency repairs.” Emergency entry expressly includes evaluating or remediating an infestation of rodents or insects including bed bugs, provided the entry takes place within seventy-two hours of the landlord first receiving notice of it (540-A:3, IV-a).
The phrase “adequate notice under the circumstances”, which appears in many summaries as if it were a landlord duty, is in fact a tenant-side obligation not to unreasonably refuse access, at 540-A:3, V.
The same section carries New Hampshire’s other prohibited practices: no wilful interruption of water, heat, electricity, gas, telephone or sewerage except during actual repairs or temporary emergencies; no seizing, holding or denying access other than through proper judicial process; and no attempt to circumvent lawful eviction procedure. See our New Hampshire landlord entry laws guide.
The penalty everyone quotes is understated. RSA 540-A itself names no dollar figure. RSA 540-A:4, IX imports the civil remedies of RSA 358-A:10, which supply “actual damages or one thousand dollars, whichever is greater” — trebled for a wilful or knowing violation (“as much as three times, but not less than two times”), plus costs and fees. Sources printing the one-thousand-dollar figure without the multiplier are describing the floor, not the exposure. Separately, damages for an unlawful lockout where the landlord has re-let shall not be less than three thousand dollars.
Security Deposits — and Who Is Exempt
| Rule | Value | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | One month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater. “Deposit” means all funds in excess of the monthly rent transferred for any purpose | 540-A:6, I(a); 540-A:5, II |
| Exemptions | An owner of a single-family residence renting that one property, and an owner of a building of five units or fewer, one occupied by the owner — except as to units occupied by persons aged sixty or over | 540-A:5, I |
| Receipt | Forthwith deliver a signed receipt stating the amount and specifying where the deposit will be held. Not required where payment was by personal cheque, bank cheque, or a cheque from a government or nonprofit agency for the tenant | 540-A:6, I(b) |
| How it is held | The tenant’s money, held in trust and not mingled with the landlord’s personal funds; it may be commingled in a single trust account. Alternatively the landlord may post a bond with the city or town clerk, which exempts them from the trust-account rules | 540-A:6, II |
| Interest | Required where held one year or longer, at the rate paid on regular savings accounts at that institution. The landlord must name the institution on request. A tenant may request accrued interest every three years, thirty days before that year’s tenancy expires | 540-A:6, IV |
| Return | Thirty days from termination, with an itemised list indicating with particularity the nature of any repair and satisfactory evidence that it has been or will be completed; a separate itemised list for unpaid rent, tax increases or other charges | 540-A:7 |
| Penalty | Breach of the receipt, trust or transfer duties is a violation of RSA 358-A:2. Failure on interest or on 540-A:7 → twice the amount of the deposit plus interest, less lawful deductions | 540-A:8 |
Three details worth carrying. The requirement to show evidence that a repair has been or will be completed is stricter than the usual “itemise your deductions” standard — a bare figure is not enough. There is no liability where non-compliance was caused by the tenant’s failure to give a new address. And a deposit unclaimed after six months becomes the landlord’s absent fraud. Waiver clauses are void. On a sale, the deposit goes to the grantee or purchaser at delivery of the deed or within five days, with notice to the tenant by registered or certified mail. Our New Hampshire security deposit laws guide expands each.
Serving Notices, and the Redemption Right
RSA 540:5, I allows service by any person, personally or by leaving the notice at the last and usual place of abode. Proof is a true and attested copy plus an affidavit, which need not be sworn under oath.
There is no add-days-for-mailing rule in New Hampshire — and no mail method is provided for residential eviction notices at all. Certified mail appears in the statute for the RSA 540:2, III warning, not for the eviction notice itself. Serve personally or at the abode, and keep the affidavit.
The redemption right. Under RSA 540:9 the case is dismissed if the tenant pays, at any time before hearing on the merits, all rent due plus lawful charges, plus fifteen dollars liquidated damages, plus filing and service costs, in guaranteed funds. Its limit is the useful part: a tenant may not use it more than three times in a twelve-month period.
Ending a Periodic Tenancy
Under RSA 540:11 the tenant terminates “in the same manner as the lessor”, with the same effect — thirty days for a month-to-month tenancy. One consequence is easy to miss: if the termination date does not align with the rent due date, the tenant owes rent for the entire month in which the notice expires, up to the next rent due date, unless the lease says otherwise.
There is no week-to-week provision. RSA 540:3, II sets thirty days for all residential tenancies regardless of the rent period; the shorter “notice equal to the rent period” rule at 540:3, I is nonresidential only. Anyone quoting a seven-day week-to-week notice for a New Hampshire flat is reading the commercial paragraph. See our New Hampshire lease termination laws guide.
Which New Hampshire Form Do I Need?
- First, check whether your property is restricted. If it is not, you may terminate for any reason on notice, and the good-cause grounds below are irrelevant to you.
- The tenant has not paid rent. Make the demand for rent, then serve the seven-day notice.
- There is substantial damage, or conduct affecting health or safety. Seven days — but check whether a RSA 540:2, III warning was needed and given.
- A material lease term has been broken. Thirty days, and again the warning comes first.
- You have a legitimate business or economic reason. Thirty days under “other good cause”, which does not require any tenant fault.
- The tenant refused a rent increase you noticed at least thirty days ahead. That is good cause in itself.
- A twelve-month-or-longer lease is ending and you do not want to renew. Sixty days’ advance written notice, then the thirty-day route — and file within six months of expiry.
- You need to get into the property. Obtain the tenant’s consent, unless it is an emergency repair.
- The tenant has moved out. Itemisation with evidence of repair, plus the balance, within thirty days.
How to Fill Out a New Hampshire Eviction Notice
- State the reason with specificity. RSA 540:3, III requires it in terms: “the eviction notice shall state with specificity the reason for the eviction”. A generic ground is a defective notice.
- Pick the period from the ground, not from habit — seven days for the rent, damage, health-and-safety and cotenant grounds; thirty for the rest.
- Confirm the demand for rent has been made if the ground is nonpayment. The statutory ground is neglect or refusal to pay rent “upon demand”.
- Do not demand more than the arrears. RSA 540:8 provides the lessor “shall not demand a greater sum than the whole rent in arrears”.
- Confirm the prior warning was given where the ground rests on the tenant’s conduct.
- Serve it personally or at the last and usual place of abode, and keep the attested copy and affidavit.
- Do not add days for mailing. No such rule exists.
- Diarise the writ return — seven days from the date of service by the sheriff, with the tenant’s appearance due no later than the return day.
What Happens If the Form Is Wrong
The distinctively New Hampshire failure is skipping the RSA 540:2, III warning. It is not part of the eviction notice, it comes earlier, and its absence undercuts a conduct-based ground however well the later notice is drafted.
The second is a notice that does not state the reason with specificity, which the statute requires in plain terms.
The third is treating New Hampshire as a cure state. There is no statutory cure period; the only second chance is redemption, and only three times in twelve months.
And the fourth, on the deposit side, is an itemisation without evidence of repair. The statute asks for particularity and satisfactory evidence, and the penalty is twice the deposit plus interest.
Court, Forms and Costs
Evictions are heard in the New Hampshire Circuit Court, District Division under RSA 540:12 and 540:13. The writ is returnable seven days from the date of service by the sheriff, and the tenant must file an appearance no later than the return day. The small claims limit is ten thousand dollars under RSA 503:1, with a jury claim available above one thousand five hundred dollars and mandatory mediation above five thousand absent a jury claim.
You are not required to use the court’s forms. RSA 540:5, II directs the district court to provide demand-for-rent and eviction-notice forms, but says in terms that “a landlord shall not be required to use the forms” — a valid notice must simply include the same information. That is why a well-drafted fillable notice is a genuine alternative here rather than a second-best.
On form numbers and filing fees we publish nothing. The judiciary’s website blocked every attempt to read it, so the form identifiers and the filing figure circulating online could only be sourced from third parties. We do not publish a court form number we could not read on the court’s own page. Ask the clerk of your district division.
What This Page Does Not Have
We would rather scope this honestly than promise documents we do not host. New Hampshire landlords also commonly want a rental application, a sublease, a roommate agreement, a commercial lease, a self-storage agreement, a standalone demand for rent and a property abandonment notice. Those are not published here as New Hampshire-specific forms.
We have also not resolved one question the statute leaves open: whether a single document can serve as both the sixty-day non-renewal notice and the thirty-day eviction notice. RSA 540:2, II(i) does not say, and we are not going to settle it by inference. Serve two documents and the question does not arise.
Common New Hampshire Landlord Form Mistakes
- Assuming good cause applies. Check RSA 540:1-a first — many small landlords are outside it.
- Skipping the prior written warning on a conduct-based ground.
- Writing a generic reason. The statute demands specificity.
- Offering a cure period the statute does not create.
- Demanding more than the rent in arrears. RSA 540:8 forbids it.
- Using a twenty-four-hour entry notice. New Hampshire requires prior consent instead.
- Quoting a seven-day week-to-week notice. That paragraph is nonresidential; residential is thirty days.
- Missing the deposit exemption. A single-family owner, or an owner-occupied building of five units or fewer, is outside the deposit rules — except for units occupied by people aged sixty or over.
- Itemising without evidence of repair.
- Forgetting deposit interest after one year, and the tenant’s right to request it every three years.
- Requiring rent by electronic transfer only. Prohibited since 1 January 2026.
- Believing a fifteen-day grace period exists before a late fee. It does not — see below.
Late Fees and Grace Periods: What the Statute Actually Says
Nothing. RSA 540-A was read paragraph by paragraph and contains no grace-period rule and no late-fee cap. The widely repeated claim that RSA 540-A:3 requires a fifteen-day grace period before a late fee may be charged is false, and the “four to five per cent reasonable late fee” figure is a commentator’s rule of thumb with no statutory basis. The only rent-related dollar figure in the chapter is the fifteen dollars of liquidated damages on redemption. Because the code is silent, the lease governs — which is exactly why the lease wording matters. See our New Hampshire late fee laws guide.
Free Fillable Forms Versus the Paid New Hampshire Form Sites
New Hampshire is the one state in this group where the official judiciary form index outranks the commercial template sites, because since 2007 the statute has required the district division to publish demand-for-rent and eviction-notice forms. The deepest commercial ranker runs to roughly two thousand eight hundred and fifty words and pairs a twelve-item form index with cited New Hampshire law.
What none of them do is explain the restricted-property threshold, the prior-warning requirement, or the two provisions that came into force this year. Those decide whether New Hampshire paperwork works, and they are worth more than another copy of a generic lease.
Every form linked from this page is free, fills in the browser, and downloads as a finished PDF. There is no account, no trial and no upsell attached to the documents themselves. What we ask in return is straightforward: if you are about to hand keys to someone, run the screening first, because nearly every dispute described on this page is cheaper to prevent than to litigate.
New Hampshire Landlord Forms: FAQ
Does every New Hampshire landlord need good cause to evict?
No. RSA 540:1-a applies good cause only to “restricted property”, and it excludes single-family houses where the owner owns not more than three at any one time, rental units in an owner-occupied building of four units or fewer, and single-family houses acquired by banks or mortgagees through foreclosure. Landlords of non-restricted property may terminate for any reason on notice.
How many days is a New Hampshire notice to pay rent or quit?
Seven days under RSA 540:3, II. The ground at 540:2, II(a) is neglect or refusal to pay rent due and in arrears “upon demand”, so a separate demand for rent precedes it — and no waiting period runs off the demand itself.
Does New Hampshire give a tenant time to cure a lease violation?
No. RSA 540 provides a notice-to-quit period and states no right to cure. The only statutory second chance is the redemption right under RSA 540:9, and a tenant may not use it more than three times in a twelve-month period.
What written warning must a New Hampshire landlord give first?
Where good cause rests on the tenant’s acts or omissions, RSA 540:2, III requires the landlord to first serve a written notice stating that in the future such actions or inactions would constitute grounds for eviction, served under RSA 540:5 or by certified mail.
How much notice must a New Hampshire landlord give before entering?
New Hampshire sets no notice period and no permitted hours. RSA 540-A:3, IV is a prohibition: no landlord shall wilfully enter the premises without prior consent, other than to make emergency repairs. Emergency entry expressly includes dealing with an infestation of rodents or insects including bed bugs, provided entry occurs within seventy-two hours of the landlord first receiving notice.
What is the security deposit cap in New Hampshire?
One month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, RSA 540-A:6, I(a). “Deposit” means all funds in excess of the monthly rent transferred for any purpose. Note the exemptions: an owner of a single-family residence renting that one property, and an owner of a building of five units or fewer with one occupied by the owner, are outside the deposit rules — except as to units occupied by persons aged sixty or over.
How long does a New Hampshire landlord have to return a deposit?
Thirty days from the termination of the tenancy, RSA 540-A:7, with a written itemised list indicating with particularity the nature of any repair and satisfactory evidence that the repair has been or will be completed, plus a separate itemised list for unpaid rent, tax increases or other charges.
Does New Hampshire require interest on a security deposit?
Yes, where the deposit is held one year or longer, at the rate paid on regular savings accounts at the institution holding it. The landlord must name the institution on request, and a tenant may request accrued interest every three years, thirty days before the expiration of that year’s tenancy. RSA 540-A:6, IV.
What is the penalty for a prohibited practice in New Hampshire?
RSA 540-A names no figure itself; RSA 540-A:4, IX imports RSA 358-A:10, which gives actual damages or one thousand dollars, whichever is greater, trebled for a wilful or knowing violation (as much as three times but not less than two times), plus costs and fees. Damages for an unlawful lockout where the landlord has re-let shall not be less than three thousand dollars. Deposit failures carry twice the deposit plus interest.
What changed in New Hampshire in 2026?
Three things. From 1 July 2026, lease non-renewal became a ground under RSA 540:2, II(i) for terms of twelve months or longer, on sixty days’ advance written notice and with a possessory action filed within six months of expiry; and RSA 540:2, VIII provides that a no-fault termination is not an eviction for rental applications and tenant screening reports. From 1 January 2026, RSA 540-A:3, X bars requiring rent solely by electronic funds transfer and requires at least one non-electronic method.
Is there a late-fee cap or grace period in New Hampshire?
No. RSA 540-A contains no grace-period rule and no late-fee cap. The frequently repeated claim that RSA 540-A:3 requires a fifteen-day grace period is false, and the “four to five per cent reasonable fee” figure has no statutory basis. The lease governs.
Must a New Hampshire landlord use the court’s eviction forms?
No. RSA 540:5, II requires the district court to provide demand-for-rent and eviction-notice forms but states that “a landlord shall not be required to use the forms”; a valid notice must include the same information. Separately, RSA 540:3, III requires the eviction notice to state with specificity the reason for the eviction.
Related New Hampshire Guides
- New Hampshire landlord-tenant laws — the full statutory overview.
- New Hampshire eviction notice laws — every ground and its period.
- New Hampshire security deposit laws — the cap, the trust duty and the exemptions.
- New Hampshire lease termination laws — thirty days, and the rent-month rule.
- New Hampshire breaking lease laws — early termination and domestic violence.
- New Hampshire rent increase laws — and why a refusal is good cause.
- New Hampshire late fee laws — why the statute is silent.
- New Hampshire landlord entry laws — consent, emergencies and remedies.
- New Hampshire habitability laws — services that may not be interrupted.
- New Hampshire pet and ESA laws — pets, deposits and assistance animals.
- New Hampshire tenant screening laws — background checks and the new no-fault rule.
Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team
Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful tenant screening and follow state landlord-tenant codes across all fifty states. New Hampshire prints future effective dates inline with current text, so for this page we read RSA 540 and 540-A on the General Court’s own site and checked each bracketed date against today’s — which is how we can publish the two provisions that came into force on 1 July 2026 rather than the 2025 position every other guide still describes.
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Last reviewed 2026. This page is general information about New Hampshire landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. Two provisions took effect on 1 July 2026 and one on 1 January 2026, so guidance written earlier is out of date. We have deliberately omitted court form numbers and filing fees we could not read on the judiciary’s own site. Confirm the current requirements with the clerk of your circuit court district division or with a New Hampshire attorney before you serve a notice or file a case.
