New Hampshire tenant repair rights

The landlord's duty

The landlord must provide safe, sanitary housing. State minimum standards include working plumbing without sewage backups, safe wiring, no falling plaster, sound porches, stairs and railings, enough water and a working water heater, no gas leaks, trash containers/removal (unless you agreed to handle it), freedom from pest infestations, and heat that can keep all livable rooms at an average of at least 65 degrees. Many cities and towns have stricter codes. RSA 48-A:14; RSA 540:13-d.

How to ask for repairs

Make repair requests in writing, date them, and keep a copy. If not fixed, report serious problems to your town's code enforcement officer, health officer or building inspector (fire hazards to the fire chief). For insects, bed bugs, mice or rats, the landlord must investigate within 7 days of your notice and take reasonable steps to fix it.

Repair and deduct

No statute allowing repair-and-deduct was found in the sources reviewed.

Withholding rent

Allowed as a defense to a nonpayment eviction if: you gave written notice of the code violations while current on rent, the landlord did not fix them within 14 days, you and your guests did not cause them, weather did not prevent repairs, and you let the landlord in to fix them. The court can postpone the case for repairs and may eventually dismiss it. Set the rent money aside, because some or all of it will likely have to be paid. RSA 540:13-d.

Law

RSA 48-A:14; RSA 540:13-d; RSA 540-A:3

The landlord may not enter without your permission except to make emergency repairs; do not refuse a reasonable request to enter with enough notice. No fixed number of hours was confirmed. Unlawful entry is a prohibited practice you can challenge with an RSA 540-A petition. (603 Legal Aid.)

You cannot be evicted in retaliation for reporting a code violation to the landlord or a public official, or for exercising other legal rights such as joining a tenants' organization. If an eviction starts within six months after such an action, it is presumed retaliatory unless the landlord shows another good reason (for example, more than one week's rent unpaid). RSA 540:13-a, 540:13-b (as described by 603 Legal Aid).