LANDLORD-TENANT MATTERS
Definition of a lanlord - "The lord of a manor, or of land; the owner of land or houses which he leases to a tenant or tenants." The master of an inn or of a lodging house.
"We are only tenants, and shortly the great Landlord will give us notice that our lease has expired." Joseph Jefferson
"I think the only thing I would've ever been any good at was probably being a pub landlord. I've thought of that a couple of times." Joe Cocker
Mr. Wheelock has over twenty years of experience representing both landlords and tenants. Please contact our firm today at (603) 431-3430 to arrange your free consultation.
You would think your lease, if you have one, would govern your landlord-tenant relations. Your lease probably claims to do just that. But statutory and common law override private contracts, which is what leases are. For example, New Hampshire has a statute which provides that regardless of the terms of your lease, your landlord probably can't terminate your monthly residential tenancy on less than 30 days notice. (Seven 7 days' notice is sufficient if the reason for the termination is as set forth in RSA 540:2, II(a), (b), or (d), meaning: neglect or refusal to pay rent due and in arrears, substantial damage to the premises or behavior of the tenant or members of his family which adversely affects the health or safety of the other tenants or the landlord or failure of the tenant to accept suitable temporary relocation due to lead-based paint hazard abatement.) Therefore, to figure out where you stand vis-à-vis your landlord-tenant matter, you have to look at both statutory and common law on the one hand, and private contractual law (the lease) on the other.
As a tenant, you may be permitted, despite the terms of your lease, to repair defective conditions in your apartment and then deduct the costs from your rent. You can usually only do this for conditions that are seriously defective - a soiled rug isn't enough; especially if it was soiled by your Fifi - and usually you can deduct no more than the reasonable cost of repairing the defective condition.
Every residential lease carries an implied Warranty of Habitability. That means, if your landlord fails to provide heat in the winter, for example, assuming it's his or her responsibility and not yours, you may be legally excused from paying your rent or entitled to reduce your rent to the fair market value of the premises.
If your landlord has obtained an eviction order to evict you for nonpayment of rent, you may be able to avoid eviction by tendering the amount due within the notice period, plus plus $15.00 as liquidated damages, although you may not defeat an eviction for nonpayment by use of this method more than 3 times within a 12-month period. RSA 540:9.
A tenant who observes some defect in his apartment and fails to complain about it for a prolonged period may be held to have "waived" his right to require the landlord to repair it and a landlord who accepts rent from tenant before acting on a prior breach of the lease, may be held to have "waived" his right to terminate the lease. So, whether you're a landlord or a tenant, the name of the game is to assert your rights quickly, if you're going to assert them at all.
If you have a periodic tenancy - such as a month-to-month tenancy - your landlord generally may not evict you or raise your rent without first giving you notice equal to at least one rental period - in this example, one month.
Landlords and tenants alike should note that generally, in this state residential security deposits have to be placed in interest-bearing accounts and returned to the tenant within 30 days from the termination of the tenancy. If there are any damages to the premises, excluding reasonable wear and tear, the landlord may deduct the costs of repair from the security deposit but the landlord has to provide the tenant with a written, itemized list of any damages for which he claims the tenant is liable. Satisfactory evidence includes receipts for purchased repair materials and labor estimates, bills or invoices indicating the actual or estimated costs.