New Hampshire Roommate Agreement
The New Hampshire rules that shape the document: the owner-occupied shared facility law, landlord consent baked into occupant status, and the state's added fair housing classes.
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In New Hampshire, a handful of state rules sit on top of the national template: RSA chapter 540-B lets an owner who lives in the home and shares a kitchen, bathroom, or living area with an occupant end that arrangement without a formal eviction, New Hampshire's definitions of subtenant and implied tenant bake landlord consent directly into who may lawfully occupy a unit, and the state's fair housing law adds age, gender identity, and marital status as protected classes on a list that does not fully match its own advertising-discrimination ban. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
New Hampshire's shared facility law (RSA ch. 540-B) lets an owner who personally lives in the home and shares a kitchen, bathroom, dining area, or living area with an occupant end that occupant's stay without the formal RSA 540 eviction process, on 30 days' notice without cause, 7 days for nonpayment, or 72 hours for damage or unsafe behavior. This applies only when the person doing the removing is the owner living in the home. It does not apply between two roommates who both rent from an outside landlord.
- 2
Outside that narrow owner-occupied situation, an ordinary New Hampshire co-tenant cannot remove another roommate. Only the landlord can end a tenancy, and only through RSA 540's formal possessory-action process. Self-help removal, such as changing locks or removing belongings, is not authorized between roommates.
- 3
New Hampshire statute defines who may lawfully occupy a unit: a 'subtenant' needs the landlord's authorization to sublet, and an 'implied tenant' needs the knowledge and consent of both the lawful tenant and the landlord (RSA 540-A:1, II). Occupying without the landlord's permission is unlawful even if the other roommate agreed to it.
- 4
No New Hampshire statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's Roommate Law. The lease and the landlord's consent control whether a new roommate may move in.
- 5
No New Hampshire statute sets a default rule on whether roommates are jointly and severally liable for rent absent an agreement. The lease governs what the landlord can collect, and this agreement should state each roommate's payment share explicitly.
- 6
No New Hampshire statute addresses how departing roommates split a security deposit refund among themselves. RSA 540-A:7 governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant, so the split is left entirely to this agreement.
- 7
New Hampshire's fair housing law (RSA 354-A:10) adds age, gender identity, and marital status as protected classes beyond federal law, with exemptions for a room in an owner-occupied private home or a small building where the owner lives. Its separate advertising-discrimination ban covers a different list of traits, including sexual orientation, and applies even where the selection exemption does.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in New Hampshire, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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New Hampshire Requirements for Roommate Agreement
New Hampshire defines a lawful occupant as a subtenant with the landlord's authorization to sublet, or an implied tenant with the knowledge and consent of both the lawful tenant and the landlord (RSA 540-A:1, II). Occupying without landlord permission is unlawful regardless of the other roommate's consent (RSA 540-A:3, IX). The agreement should confirm that consent was obtained.
Where neither roommate owns the home, only the landlord may remove an occupant, and only through RSA 540's formal possessory-action process. The agreement should not suggest any self-help removal right between roommates.
Where one roommate is the owner living in the home and sharing a kitchen, bathroom, dining, or living area with the other occupant, RSA ch. 540-B lets the owner end the arrangement on 30 days' notice without cause, 7 days for nonpayment, or 72 hours for damage or unsafe behavior, without the formal RSA 540 eviction process. This applies only in that owner-occupied scenario.
No New Hampshire statute sets a default rule on joint-and-several liability for rent among roommates. Draft the payment clause to state each roommate's share explicitly rather than relying on an assumed New Hampshire default.
RSA 540-A:7 governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant, with no rule for dividing it among roommates. The agreement should set out how a shared deposit is divided when a roommate moves out.
New Hampshire's fair housing law (RSA 354-A:10) adds age, gender identity, and marital status as protected classes, with exemptions for a room in an owner-occupied home or a small building where the owner lives (RSA 354-A:15, II-III). The exemptions do not extend to the discriminatory-advertising ban, which runs on a different list of traits including sexual orientation.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a contract between co-tenants sharing a New Hampshire home. It covers rent division, chores, guests, and how the roommates handle issues like a security deposit split, separate from the lease those roommates may have signed with the landlord.
The agreement itself does not require landlord approval to sign, but adding the roommate to the unit does. New Hampshire law defines lawful occupants as a subtenant with the landlord's authorization to sublet, or an implied tenant with the knowledge and consent of both the lawful tenant and the landlord. Occupying without that consent is unlawful even if the other roommate agreed.
Usually not. An ordinary New Hampshire co-tenant can only be removed by the landlord through a formal possessory action under RSA 540. The one exception is narrow: if one roommate is the owner of the home, lives there, and shares a kitchen, bathroom, or living area with the other occupant, New Hampshire's shared facility law lets that owner end the arrangement on written notice without the formal eviction process. That exception does not apply between two roommates who both rent from an outside landlord.
No. A New Hampshire roommate agreement is a contract only between the roommates. It does not modify the lease, does not add anyone as a tenant of record, and does not obligate the landlord to accept a new occupant. Adding or removing a tenant on the lease is a separate matter between the tenant and the landlord.
No New Hampshire statute sets a default rule on this. Whether roommates are jointly and severally liable to the landlord depends on the lease itself. Because state law does not fill this gap, the roommate agreement should state each person's payment share and responsibility explicitly.
New Hampshire law does not say. RSA 540-A:7 requires the landlord to return the deposit to the tenant, but it has no rule for dividing that refund among multiple roommates. The roommate agreement is the only thing that governs how the deposit is split when one roommate moves out.
No. Unlike New York, no New Hampshire statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add an occupant over the landlord's objection. New Hampshire's own definitions of subtenant and implied tenant require the landlord's knowledge and consent, so the lease controls whether a new roommate may move in.
New Hampshire's fair housing law adds age, gender identity, and marital status to the federal list of protected classes, and exempts an owner-occupier renting a room in their own home or a small building where they live from most selection rules. That exemption does not cover discriminatory advertising, which is barred under a separate, non-identical list of traits that includes sexual orientation.