Evictions in New Hampshire

Understanding the eviction process and taking the appropriate steps in a timely manner is critical to obtaining the highest NOI possible for a property. For this post, we will focus on monetary evictions. 

Step 1 - Post Eviction Notice & Demand Notice - These are two separate notices that the state requires but can be posted at the same time. Basically they are left at the tenants home or handed to them in person. You cannot move on to step #2, which is making a court filing, without taking this step and waiting the appropriate amount of time. Because this is a relatively simple step, we think it makes sense to post these if a tenant has not paid by the 4th of the month. Typically, our leases impose a $50 late fee if not paid by the 4th. We find that most tenants immediately pay upon receiving this notice, and thereafter are much better about making a timely payment on the 1st of the month. As for the time that you must wait to take the next step if they don't settle up, NH statute calls for 7 days for non-payment of rent, but the CARES Act (which is somehow still in effect) requires 30 days for most apartment buildings. That's why it's critical to get this clock ticking asap by posting these notices immediately, and why it's important to have a property management company like Waterfield PM who can handle such on your behalf in a timely/organized manner.

Step 2 - Filing the Landlord Writ - This is the formal court filing to claim Tenant has not paid rent. You file the appropriate paperwork at the courthouse, and then deliver the paperwork you receive from them to the local Sheriff, who then serves the Tenant. The tenant then has seven days to respond to the complaint by making their own filing, otherwise the Landlord gets a default judgement and can move to step 3. If they do make a filing, a court date is set for a hearing.

Step 3 - Writ of Possession - if you are able to either get a judgement from the judge at the hearing, or a default judgement due to Tenants lack of response to the Landlord Writ, then you can file for a Writ of Possession. This is your legal right to take the space back. You file this at the court, once again deliver to the sheriff, and they go to the Tenants apartment to remove them.

In my experience 90% of the time the situation is resolved prior to Step 3. Either the tenant pays or leaves on their own. With that said, we couldn't stress enough how important it is to take Step 1 as soon as the issue starts.