[smehra]

Hi,
I live in New Hampshire and wanted to know about what the law in New Hampshire is for security deposits. I see many sites devoted to tenants but none to landlords.

I have a townhouse that I rented out. They had signed a 1 year lease. They lived there for 2 years. We never had them renew the lease. They decided to move out and gave us only a weeks notice. They also left the place dirty. The carpets are stained and they damaged one of the window screens. There were also marks all over the walls. My question is, since they gave us only 1 weeks notice, can I keep their security deposit as unpaid rent. Also, can I change for the cleaning of the carpets? We had the carpets cleaned for them before they moved in. They were in great condition and now they have stains. Any advice would help.

Thanks.

[Lowtax4eva]

If they never renewed the lease they were month to month so they had to give a month notice I believe, so in theory yes you are owed the last months rent in full. If the security deposit isn't enough to cover this and the damages I think you would have to sue.

Contact the housing authority in your area to confirm this but I'm pretty sure that you have gorunds to sue for the damages plus last month's rent (well, whatever is remaining to pay after the security deposit)

New Hampshire Housing - List of Housing Authorities

Hope the above link is what it claims to be!

[SabbzR]

Its too much paste, but this might help you out, let me know :)

New Hampshire Housing - Owner/Landlord FAQs

Regards,
Sebastien

[ScottGem]

The purpose of a security deposit is to cover the landlord in case the property is left damaged. So yes you can deduct the costs of restoring the property from the deposit. Just make sure you document it.

In most states (and there is a sticky at the top of this forum with links to state laws) you can also apply the deposit towards unpaid rent. On a month to month lease notice of one rental period is generally required (again check your state laws).

By the way, if you are going to be a landlord, you really should familiarize yourself with the laws BEFORE you sign a lease.

[smehra]

The purpose of a security deposit is to cover the landlord in case the property is left damaged. So yes you can deduct the costs of restoring the property from the deposit. Just make sure you document it.

In most states (and there is a sticky at the top of this forum with links to state laws) you can also apply the deposit towards unpaid rent. On a month to month lease notice of one rental period is generally required (again check your state laws).

By the way, if you are going to be a landlord, you really should familiarize yourself with the laws BEFORE you sign a lease.

Hi ScottGem,

I had already gone to the sticky before I posted. The link to New Hampshire law is a dead link. As for reading the laws before I sign the lease I had... my question was what happens after the lease EXPIRES. The lease states that they have to give us 30-60 days notice. Since the lease was never renewed, I wasn't sure what the law was for a month to month renter. I have gotten conflicting answers from two lawyers. New Hampshire law states that a month to month renter has to give one months notice. It doesn't say anything about what happens if they don't. What sort of claims we have against their security deposit. It mentions the tenants rights but that is all.

[ScottGem]

When a lease expires and is continued by mutual consent or inaction it becomes a month to month lease. All the terms of the lease continue in force except for expiration date and rental amount. So if the original lease said 30-60 days, then that's what's in force. If the law says 30 days, then that means that they owe rent from the date of notice for 30 days regardless of when they actually vacate.

[smehra]

Ok. Thank you everyone. I was a little confused because I spoke to a real estate lawyer that had said otherwise. He had said that if it is a month to month lease, then they can just leave at the end of the month without having to give 30 day notice. I just wanted to make sure before I decide not to give them back their deposit. I didn't want to be taken to court without getting my facts straight.