New Hampshire · Security Deposit Form Guide

Free New Hampshire Security Deposit Itemization Form

Build a compliant New Hampshire itemization statement under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7. List each deduction with particularity, attach the evidence the statute demands, and let the builder auto-calculate the refund or the balance owed. Deliver it with the deposit and any interest within 30 days of the termination of the tenancy, or risk damages of twice the deposit plus interest under Sec. 540-A:8.

N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 30-day deadline Auto-calc refund Free PDF

A New Hampshire security deposit itemization statement is the line-by-line accounting a landlord must produce whenever any part of a departing tenant’s deposit is withheld. Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7, that statement has to list each amount claimed, indicate with particularity the nature of any repair, and carry satisfactory evidence such as a receipt, estimate, bill, or invoice. This page builds that statement and does the arithmetic for you. If you also need the transmittal cover, our New Hampshire security deposit return letter pairs with it, and our New Hampshire security deposit laws guide covers the wider framework.

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Video: a plain-language walkthrough of the New Hampshire deposit itemization – the 30-day return-and-itemization deadline, the particularity-and-evidence standard for each deduction, and the double-damages penalty under Sec. 540-A:8.

Key Takeaways: New Hampshire Deposit Itemization

• N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 governs the itemized statement. When any part of the deposit is kept, the landlord must deliver a written itemized list of the damages, indicated with particularity and backed by satisfactory evidence, within thirty days of the termination of the tenancy.
• Itemization, refund, and interest share one 30-day window. Sending the refund on time but delivering the itemized statement late still misses the deadline; all three duties fall due together.
• Interest is owed on a deposit held one year or longer. Under Sec. 540-A:6 the rate equals the interest paid on regular savings accounts; the itemization adds interest to the deposit before deductions are subtracted.
• Double-damages penalty under Sec. 540-A:8. A non-compliant landlord is liable for twice the sum of the deposit plus interest, less lawful charges, and the violation is also a Consumer Protection Act violation with a void-waiver rule.

Generate Your New Hampshire Itemization Statement

Complete the fields below to build an itemized statement of deductions ready to print, sign, and send by certified mail. Enter the original deposit, add any interest owed on a deposit held a year or longer, and itemize each deduction with a specific description and, where the claim is unpaid rent or taxes, the period it covers. The builder totals the deductions, nets them against the deposit plus interest, and shows the refund due or, when the deductions run higher, the balance owed. Every figure flows straight into the PDF, so the written itemized statement that N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 requires is produced for you in one step. Because the statement is a formal exhibit rather than a friendly note, keep the descriptions concrete and the evidence attached.

New Hampshire’s Deposit Itemization Framework

New Hampshire’s security deposit rules live in Chapter 540-A of the Revised Statutes Annotated, the Prohibited Practices and Security Deposits chapter, with the itemize-and-return duty in Sec. 540-A:7 and the collection, receipt, trust-account, and interest duties in Sec. 540-A:6. Compared with a state that packs everything into one clause, New Hampshire loads several distinct obligations onto the landlord, and each of them can independently ground a claim. The deposit is capped, a signed receipt is required, the money must be held in trust rather than commingled, interest is owed on longer-held deposits, and the itemized statement must be timely, particular, and evidenced. Because the penalty in Sec. 540-A:8 doubles the deposit plus interest, one dropped step can turn a routine move-out into a costly dispute.

The itemization statement sits at the accounting core of that chain. It is the document by which the landlord discharges the Sec. 540-A:7 duty to itemize every amount claimed against the deposit, to describe each repair with particularity, and to attach the evidence that shows the work has been or will be done. Everything upstream, the receipt, the trust account, and the interest tracking, feeds into the numbers the statement reports, which is why the move-in documentation and the deposit records matter so much when a New Hampshire deposit is disputed. Where the return letter is the cover note, the itemization is the ledger the letter transmits.

What the Itemization Statement Is and Does

The itemization statement is the document that proves the landlord did the accounting the law requires and did it with the specificity the statute demands. Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7, when a landlord claims any part of the deposit, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written, itemized list of the damages for which the tenant is claimed liable, indicating with particularity the nature of any repair and providing satisfactory evidence that the repair necessary to correct those damages has been or will be completed. The itemization statement is that written list. It ties every dollar withheld to a concrete, dated, evidenced line the landlord can later produce if the tenant challenges a deduction.

The document does three things at once. It satisfies the statutory duty to itemize each amount withheld and to describe each repair with particularity. It gives the tenant a specific line-by-line accounting to review and, if warranted, to dispute. And it creates a contemporaneous record that answers a later challenge. Without a properly delivered, particular, timely itemization, even legitimate deductions are exposed, because itemization is a precondition to withholding, and a landlord who cannot show a timely, particular, evidenced accounting has little to stand on when the tenant points to the thirty-day clock. That is the practical difference between an itemization that holds up and a claim that collapses.

Itemization Versus the Return Letter

New Hampshire law does not prescribe one rigid form, but the practice that survives scrutiny separates two documents that do two jobs. The return letter is the transmittal: it addresses the tenant, states the deposit decision, and encloses the refund. The itemization statement is the exhibit: a structured ledger that lists each deduction, its particular description, the period covered where relevant, and the arithmetic down to the refund or the balance owed. The two travel together in the same envelope, but the itemization carries the evidentiary weight because it is where particularity lives. This page builds the itemization; the return letter has its own builder so you can produce a matched pair without retyping the same figures twice.

The 30-Day Itemize-and-Return Deadline

The deadline is the heart of Sec. 540-A:7, and its structure catches landlords who treat the refund and the itemization as separate tasks. The statute requires the landlord to return the deposit and pay any interest due within thirty days from the termination of the tenancy, and, where the landlord withholds any part of the deposit, to deliver the written itemized statement inside that same window. All three obligations share one deadline. A landlord who mails the refund on day twenty-eight but sends the itemized statement on day thirty-five has still failed to comply, because the itemization is late, and lateness alone can be enough to trigger the Sec. 540-A:8 remedy even where the deductions themselves were valid.

The tenant should provide a forwarding address. If none is given, the landlord should send the statement, the refund, and any interest to the last known address and keep proof of the mailing. The safest practice is to calendar thirty days from the date the tenant surrendered possession, complete the itemized accounting well before that date, and send the package by certified mail so the delivery date is provable. Waiting until the deadline is near to start pricing repairs is how landlords miss it, and a missed deadline is what converts a defensible set of deductions into double-damages exposure.

Interest Under Sec. 540-A:6

New Hampshire does not require interest on every deposit, so the itemization treats interest as a conditional figure rather than a default. Under Sec. 540-A:6, a landlord who holds a security deposit for one year or longer must pay the tenant interest at a rate equal to the interest paid on regular savings accounts in the New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association, or credit union where the deposit is held. The statute also lets a tenant request accrued interest every three years, thirty days before the expiration of that year’s tenancy, with the landlord obligated to comply within thirty days after the tenancy ends. For a tenancy shorter than one year, no statutory interest accrues, so the interest line on the statement should read zero. When interest is owed, it is added to the deposit first, and the deductions are then netted against the combined figure, which is exactly how the builder above orders the math. Forgetting interest on a long tenancy is one of the most frequently overlooked New Hampshire duties and is its own violation.

The Deposit Cap, Receipt, and Trust-Account Rules

Section 540-A:6 also governs how much a landlord may collect and how the money must be held, and those front-end duties shape the figures that land on the itemization. A landlord may not demand or receive a deposit greater than one month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater. On receiving the deposit, the landlord must forthwith deliver a signed receipt stating the amount and the institution where it is held, with a narrow exception for personal or government checks, where written notice about documenting the unit’s condition still applies. The deposit must be held in trust for the tenant at a bank, savings and loan, or credit union, or secured by a bond posted with the town or city, and it may not be commingled with the landlord’s own money or become an asset of the landlord until the tenancy ends. Each of these duties can independently ground a claim, so a landlord who wants a clean itemization starts by getting the intake right.

The Bad-Faith Remedy and the Double-Damages Penalty

The remedy is what gives the itemization its teeth. Under Sec. 540-A:8, a landlord who does not comply with Sec. 540-A:6, IV or Sec. 540-A:7 is liable to the tenant in damages equal to twice the sum of the security deposit plus any interest due, less any payments already made and any lawful charges owing. Read that carefully: the multiplier runs against the whole deposit plus interest, not merely against the amount wrongfully withheld, so mishandling a fifteen-hundred-dollar deposit can expose the landlord to roughly three thousand dollars before deductions. A violation is also treated as a violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, and any agreement by which a tenant purports to waive these protections is void. The double-damages exposure is why the discipline of a timely, particular, well-documented itemization pays for itself many times over.

Permissible Deductions Under the Statute

Section 540-A:7 lets the landlord claim only defined categories, and the itemization should never stray beyond them. The landlord may deduct the cost of repairing damage to the premises beyond ordinary wear and tear, the tenant’s share of any increase in real estate taxes where the lease requires the tenant to pay it, unpaid rent, and other charges lawful under the rental agreement that remain unpaid. Each category is anchored to something the tenant did or failed to do; none of them reaches ordinary aging of the unit. For a claim of unpaid rent or unpaid taxes, the statement must also specify the period for which the claim is being made, which is a particularity requirement of its own. The written list must indicate with particularity the nature of any repair and include satisfactory evidence, which means a description, a figure, and supporting proof for every line, not a lump sum.

What to Include on the Itemization

A complete New Hampshire itemization statement usually shows:

• The parties and property – landlord, tenant, and the rental address, so the statement is self-identifying.
• The tenancy dates and surrender date – which fix the start of the thirty-day clock.
• The original deposit and any interest – the combined figure deductions are netted against.
• Each deduction on its own line – with a particular description and, for rent or taxes, the period covered.
• The satisfactory evidence for each line – receipts, invoices, bills, or labor estimates, attached to the statement.
• The arithmetic to the bottom line – deposit plus interest, minus total deductions, equals the refund due or the balance owed.

Send the statement by certified mail with return receipt to the forwarding address, retain the mailing receipt, and keep copies of everything for at least four years, which comfortably covers New Hampshire’s window for a later written-contract dispute.

Restricted-Property and Shared-Facility Tenancies

Some New Hampshire rentals fall under RSA 540-B rather than the standard 540-A framework, for example certain owner-occupied and shared-facility arrangements. Under Sec. 540-B:10, if there is no written agreement, the deposit for such a restricted-property tenancy must be returned within twenty days after the occupant has vacated. Confirm which chapter governs the tenancy before relying on the thirty-day rule, because the shorter twenty-day deadline can apply to these arrangements, and an itemization delivered on the thirtieth day is late if a twenty-day rule controlled.

How the Auto-Calculation Works

The builder is designed to remove the arithmetic errors that sink otherwise-valid itemizations. As you type, it adds the original deposit to any interest you entered to produce the combined base, sums the eight deduction lines, and subtracts the total deductions from the base. When the result is positive, the statement shows a refund due to the tenant. When it is exactly zero, it shows a zero refund, which happens when the deductions exactly consume the deposit and interest. When the deductions exceed the deposit and interest, the result goes negative, and the builder flips the label to a balance owed by the tenant and reports the shortfall as a positive figure. The same numbers that appear in the live math box are written verbatim into the PDF, so the on-screen total and the printed total can never diverge.

Consider a worked example. Suppose the original deposit is one thousand five hundred dollars and the deposit was held long enough to owe forty-five dollars of interest, for a combined base of one thousand five hundred forty-five dollars. If the itemized deductions are three hundred twenty dollars for drywall repair and one hundred thirty dollars for carpet cleaning beyond ordinary wear, the total deductions are four hundred fifty dollars, and the refund due to the tenant is one thousand ninety-five dollars. If instead the deductions had totaled one thousand eight hundred dollars, the base of one thousand five hundred forty-five dollars would be exceeded by two hundred fifty-five dollars, and the statement would report a balance owed by the tenant of two hundred fifty-five dollars rather than a refund. Both branches are handled automatically so you never have to remember which way the sign runs.

Pricing and Evidencing Each Deduction Category

Because Sec. 540-A:7 ties every deduction to particularity and evidence, it helps to work through the categories the statute actually allows and how each one is proven on the itemization. The goal is not to maximize the number of lines but to make each line one a small-claims court would credit without a second look.

Repair Costs Beyond Ordinary Wear and Tear

This is the largest and most disputed category. The landlord may recover the cost of repairing physical damage the tenant caused beyond ordinary wear and tear, and nothing more. The right evidence is the paid invoice from the contractor who did the work, or a written estimate where the repair has not yet been completed, paired with move-in and move-out photographs that show the damage was not present at the start of the tenancy. The description should name the room, the surface, and the nature of the harm – for example, “patch and repaint two fist-sized holes in the north bedroom wall, contractor invoice attached” rather than a bare “wall repair.” When a repair replaces something with a limited useful life, such as carpet or paint, the defensible figure reflects the remaining life the tenant destroyed, not the full cost of a brand-new installation, because charging a departing tenant for the landlord’s capital improvement is the kind of claim that draws a double-damages counterclaim.

Unpaid Rent

Unpaid rent is a clean deduction when it is documented, and the statute adds a specific requirement for it: the itemization must specify the period for which the claim is made. A line that reads “unpaid rent” is incomplete; a line that reads “unpaid rent, one month, covering the period the lease ran from the first through the last day of the final month, ledger attached” satisfies the period requirement and points to the proof. The supporting evidence is the rent ledger or payment history showing the missed period and the amount, tied to the rent figure in the lease.

The Tenant’s Share of a Real Estate Tax Increase

New Hampshire allows the landlord to deduct the tenant’s share of an increase in the real estate taxes on the property where the lease obligates the tenant to pay that share. This is narrower than it sounds: it applies only when the written lease actually assigns the tenant a portion of a tax increase, and only to the increase, not the base tax. Like unpaid rent, a tax claim must specify the period for which it is made. The evidence is the tax bill showing the increase and the lease clause that shifts the share to the tenant. Absent that clause, the deduction is not available at all.

Other Lawful Unpaid Charges

The catch-all category covers other charges that are lawful under the rental agreement and remain unpaid, such as a contractually valid late fee or a utility the lease made the tenant’s responsibility. The controlling word is lawful: a charge that the lease could not validly impose is not rescued by putting it on the itemization. Each such line still needs a description and evidence, which usually means the lease provision that creates the charge plus the record showing it went unpaid.

Two Worked Deposit-Accounting Scenarios

Seeing the arithmetic run end to end makes the itemization concrete. The two scenarios below use the same starting deposit but different facts, so you can watch the statement flip from a refund to a balance owed.

Scenario One: A Partial Refund

A tenant leaves after twenty months, so the deposit was held longer than a year and interest is owed. The original deposit was one thousand two hundred dollars, and the bank’s regular savings rate produced thirty dollars of interest, for a combined base of one thousand two hundred thirty dollars. The landlord itemizes two deductions: two hundred ten dollars to patch and repaint a wall the tenant damaged, supported by a contractor invoice, and ninety dollars to replace a broken interior door handle, supported by a hardware receipt. Total deductions are three hundred dollars. The base of one thousand two hundred thirty dollars minus three hundred dollars leaves a refund due to the tenant of nine hundred thirty dollars. The statement shows that figure, and the return letter encloses a check for it.

Scenario Two: A Balance Owed

Now assume the same one thousand two hundred dollar deposit with thirty dollars of interest, but the tenant left the unit with far more damage and one month of unpaid rent. The itemization lists eight hundred dollars in unpaid rent for the specified final month, six hundred dollars for carpet replacement reflecting the carpet’s remaining useful life, and two hundred dollars for a professional cleaning of a unit left in unsanitary condition, each backed by its evidence. Total deductions are one thousand six hundred dollars. The base of one thousand two hundred thirty dollars is exceeded by three hundred seventy dollars, so the statement reports a balance owed by the tenant of three hundred seventy dollars rather than a refund. The builder makes this flip automatically, and the same figure appears in the PDF.

Move-In and Move-Out Documentation That Backs the Itemization

An itemization is only as strong as the condition record behind it, because every repair line is a comparison between how the unit looked at move-in and how it looked at move-out. New Hampshire landlords who win deposit disputes almost always have a dated, signed move-in condition checklist and a matching move-out checklist, plus photographs at both ends. That paired record is what proves a hole or a stain was tenant-caused rather than pre-existing, and it is the difference between a repair line a court credits and one it strikes. The itemization should reference the condition record so a reader can trace each charge back to the documented change in the unit, and copies of the relevant photographs travel with the statement as part of the satisfactory evidence the statute demands.

The move-out inspection is best done with the tenant present, or at least with the tenant invited in writing, so the tenant cannot later claim the damage happened after they left. Photograph every claimed item with a timestamp, keep the original files, and note the date each repair estimate or invoice was obtained. When the itemization, the condition records, the photographs, and the receipts all point to the same facts, the landlord has built the contemporaneous, self-corroborating file that makes a Sec. 540-A:8 challenge very difficult to sustain.

If the Tenant Disputes the Itemization

A tenant who receives a New Hampshire itemization and disagrees with it has real leverage, which is why the particularity and evidence discipline matters so much. The tenant can demand the deposit back and, if the landlord failed to comply with Sec. 540-A:7, sue for the Sec. 540-A:8 remedy of twice the deposit plus interest, less lawful charges, in the district court, where the Consumer Protection Act overlay can add further exposure. The tenant’s strongest arguments are procedural: the itemization arrived after the thirty-day deadline, or it listed lump sums without particularity, or it charged for ordinary wear and tear, or it omitted interest on a long-held deposit. Each of those is a failure the statute is written to punish regardless of whether the underlying repair was real.

The landlord’s answer is the file. A landlord who delivered a timely, particular, evidenced itemization, netted correctly against the deposit and interest, and can produce the condition records and receipts has, in practice, defeated the claim before it starts. That is the whole point of doing the itemization carefully: it is not paperwork for its own sake but the record that converts a good-faith deposit decision into one that survives a challenge. When in doubt on a close line item, the conservative move is to refund it rather than defend a weak charge against a double-damages exposure that runs against the entire deposit.

Wear and Tear Versus Damage in New Hampshire

New Hampshire treats ordinary wear and tear as the gradual deterioration of the unit from normal use over time – faded paint, minor carpet wear in walking paths, small scuff marks near door handles, and minor nail holes from hanging pictures. Damage is harm beyond ordinary use – large holes in walls, carpet stains or burns, broken fixtures, pet urine damage, smoke damage, missing items, or deliberate alterations. Only damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, the tenant’s lease-required share of a real estate tax increase, unpaid rent, and other lawful unpaid charges are deductible on the itemization. The move-in and move-out condition records and the dated photographs are the evidence that separates one from the other, which is why a thorough move-in and move-out checklist is the upstream document that makes a defensible line item possible. For the wider statewide rules, our New Hampshire security deposit laws guide is the companion to this statement.

The Particularity Trap

New Hampshire’s itemization standard is stricter than a bare list of numbers. Sec. 540-A:7 requires the statement to indicate with particularity the nature of any repair and to attach satisfactory evidence that the repair has been or will be completed. A landlord who writes “repairs, four hundred dollars” has not indicated the nature of the repair with particularity and has attached no evidence, so that charge is exposed even if the underlying work was real. The safe approach is to describe each item concretely – what was damaged, where it was, and what the repair entailed – and to staple the receipt, invoice, bill, or labor estimate to the statement. The builder above produces a per-line itemized table so the particularity requirement is easy to meet line by line rather than in a single unhelpful lump.

Common Landlord Mistakes in New Hampshire

The most-litigated New Hampshire deposit disputes share a short list of errors that a disciplined itemization avoids:

• Missing the thirty-day deadline, which triggers the Sec. 540-A:8 double-damages remedy even when the deductions were otherwise valid.
• Mailing the refund on time but sending the itemized statement late, when both are due inside the same thirty-day window.
• Listing a lump-sum figure instead of the particular, evidenced, line-by-line itemization the statute requires.
• Deducting for ordinary wear and tear, which is never chargeable against the deposit.
• Forgetting interest on a deposit held one year or longer, which is its own violation and understates the base the deductions net against.
• Omitting the period for a claim of unpaid rent or unpaid taxes, when the statute requires the period to be specified.
• Collecting more than one month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, or skipping the signed receipt and trust account under Sec. 540-A:6.

Statute and Citation Reference

The table below summarizes the key figures a New Hampshire landlord needs when preparing an itemization statement. Confirm the current text of the statute before you rely on any single line, because codes are amended from time to time.

Item	New Hampshire Rule	Authority
Itemize-and-return deadline	Return the deposit, pay any interest due, and deliver the written itemized statement within 30 days of termination of the tenancy	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7
Particularity and evidence	Indicate with particularity the nature of each repair, backed by satisfactory evidence (receipts, estimates, bills, invoices)	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7
Permissible deductions	Damage beyond wear and tear, tenant’s lease-required share of a real estate tax increase, unpaid rent, other lawful unpaid charges	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7
Period requirement	For unpaid rent or taxes, specify the period for which the claim is made	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7
Deposit cap	One month’s rent or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:6
Receipt and trust account	Signed receipt on collection; deposit held in trust, not commingled, or bonded	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:6
Interest requirement	Regular-savings-rate interest on a deposit held one year or longer	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:6
Damages for violation	Twice the sum of the deposit plus interest, less payments and lawful charges; CPA violation; waivers void	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:8
Restricted property	Return within 20 days after occupant vacates where no written agreement	N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-B:10

Best Practices for a Defensible New Hampshire Itemization

The landlords who never see a deposit dispute tend to follow the same disciplined routine. They document the unit at move-in with a dated, signed condition checklist and photographs, so there is a clear baseline, and they deliver the Sec. 540-A:6 receipt and hold the deposit in a trust account. They repeat the condition exercise at move-out, ideally with the tenant present. They collect a forwarding address before the tenant leaves and confirm the date possession was surrendered. Then they price any repairs immediately, keep every receipt, compute any interest owed on a long-held deposit, and draft the itemized statement within a week or two of move-out rather than waiting for the thirty-day deadline to close in.

The statement itself should be specific, calm, and complete. It should name the parties and the property, recite the tenancy dates and the surrender date, show the original deposit and any interest, list each deduction with a particular description and an amount, note the period for any rent or tax claim, show the arithmetic down to the refund or balance, and state how any refund is being delivered. It should go out by certified mail with return receipt, and a signed copy should be filed with the receipts and the condition records. A landlord who follows that routine has, in almost every case, taken the double-damages remedy off the table before it can ever arise, because the record shows a good-faith, itemized, timely, evidenced accounting.

Tenant Screening as Prevention

The cleanest itemizations are short ones, and the shortest itemizations come from tenants who were screened thoroughly at the application stage. A verifiable income, a steady payment history, and a clean eviction record are the strongest predictors of a unit returned in good condition – which means fewer line items, a full or near-full refund, and no double-damages exposure. Screening is the upstream control that keeps the deposit accounting simple. Our overview of how to screen tenants step by step walks through the process, and the broader tenant screening laws by state guide covers the rules that apply when you pull a report.

New Hampshire Security Deposit Itemization: FAQ

What is a New Hampshire security deposit itemization statement?

It is the written, itemized accounting a New Hampshire landlord must deliver when any part of a departing tenant’s security deposit is withheld. Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7, the statement must list each amount claimed against the deposit, indicate with particularity the nature of any repair, and include satisfactory evidence, such as receipts, labor estimates, bills, or invoices, that the repair has been or will be completed. It is delivered with the refund and any interest due within thirty days of the termination of the tenancy.

How is an itemization statement different from a deposit return letter in New Hampshire?

They are two views of the same thirty-day duty. The New Hampshire security deposit return letter is the cover communication that transmits the refund and states the deposit decision. The itemization statement is the line-by-line ledger behind it that lists each deduction, its particular description, its supporting evidence, and the arithmetic down to the refund or the balance owed. Many landlords send both together: the letter as the transmittal and the itemization as the exhibit. This page builds the itemization statement; the return letter has its own builder.

How many days does a New Hampshire landlord have to deliver the itemization?

Thirty days. N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 requires the landlord to return the deposit, pay any interest due, and deliver the written itemized statement of damages within thirty days from the termination of the tenancy. All three duties share the same deadline. For a restricted-property tenancy governed by RSA 540-B with no written agreement, Sec. 540-B:10 sets a twenty-day deadline after the occupant vacates.

What does particularity mean in a New Hampshire itemization?

N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 requires the statement to indicate with particularity the nature of any repair and to attach satisfactory evidence that the repair has been or will be completed. In practice each line must describe what was damaged, where it was, and what the repair entailed, backed by a receipt, invoice, bill, or labor estimate. A lump-sum entry such as cleaning or repairs, with no description and no proof, does not meet the particularity standard and puts that deduction at risk.

What can a New Hampshire landlord deduct on the itemization?

Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7, a landlord may claim the cost of repairing damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, the tenant’s share of any real estate tax increase where the lease requires it, unpaid rent, and other charges lawful under the rental agreement that remain unpaid. For unpaid rent or taxes the statement must specify the period for which the claim is made. Ordinary wear and tear is never deductible.

What happens if the deductions exceed the deposit in New Hampshire?

The statement should show a balance owed by the tenant rather than a refund. When the itemized deductions exceed the deposit plus any interest, the arithmetic produces a negative refund, which the itemization reports as the additional amount the tenant owes. The landlord still has to meet the particularity-and-evidence standard for every line, because a claim that pushes the tenant into a balance owed is the claim most likely to be challenged.

What is the penalty for a defective New Hampshire itemization?

Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:8, a landlord who does not comply with Sec. 540-A:7 is liable to the tenant in damages equal to twice the sum of the security deposit plus any interest due, less any payments made and any lawful charges owing. The violation is also treated as a violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, and any lease provision by which a tenant purports to waive these rights is void. A late, vague, or unevidenced itemization is exactly what triggers that exposure.

How should a New Hampshire landlord deliver the itemization?

Send the itemization statement, the refund, and any interest due to the tenant’s forwarding address, or to the last known address if none was provided, and do it within the thirty-day window. Certified mail with return receipt requested is the defensible practice because it fixes a provable delivery date. Keep a signed copy of the statement, the paid receipts and estimates, and the mailing receipt together in one file with the move-in and move-out condition records.

Related New Hampshire Deposit and Rental Guides

• New Hampshire deposit return letter – the transmittal cover that pairs with this itemization.
• New Hampshire security deposit laws – the full framework behind this statement.
• New Hampshire landlord-tenant laws – the wider statutory picture for the state.
• Security deposit laws by state – compare New Hampshire to its neighbors.
• Tenant screening laws by state – screen the tenant before they move in.
• How to screen tenants – the step-by-step screening process.

Screen New Hampshire Tenants Before You Hand Over Keys

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About the Author

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team

Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful, FCRA-compliant tenant screening across all 50 states. We translate state landlord-tenant codes and federal screening rules into processes you can actually follow.

Updated 2026

Legal Disclaimer

This form and guide are for general informational purposes only and are not legal advice. New Hampshire security deposit law can change, and the facts of a particular tenancy can alter the outcome; improper documentation, an unitemized claim, a missed interest payment, or a missed deadline can forfeit deductions and expose a landlord to statutory damages. Review N.H. Rev. Stat. Sec. 540-A:7 and consult a licensed New Hampshire landlord-tenant attorney before withholding any part of a deposit. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.