New Hampshire Landlord Repair Laws: The 14-Day Fitness Defense

By Steve Levine · Updated November 3, 2026

Short answer: New Hampshire landlord repair laws work mainly as an eviction defense. Under RSA 540:13-d, a landlord cannot evict you for nonpayment if the unit substantially violates the fitness standards in RSA 48-A:14 or local code, you gave written notice while current on rent, and the landlord did not fix it within 14 days. New Hampshire has no repair-and-deduct statute, so the withheld rent ends up paid into court rather than spent on repairs.

Two other New Hampshire rules matter for repairs: a landlord must investigate a reported pest infestation within 7 days under RSA 540-A:3, V-a, and the minimum heating standard is an average of 65 degrees Fahrenheit in habitable rooms. Both are covered below.

New Hampshire Landlord Repair Laws at a Glance

Rule	New Hampshire	Statute
Minimum standards	11 listed conditions, including heat to a 65°F average, applies where no local code was adopted	RSA 48-A:14
Landlord’s repair window	14 days after written notice, or as promptly as an emergency requires	RSA 540:13-d, I(b)
Repair and deduct	No statute	RSA ch. 540
Rent withholding	Defense to nonpayment eviction; rent paid into court during a continuance of up to one month	RSA 540:13-d, II
Pest reports	Landlord must investigate within 7 days	RSA 540-A:3, V-a
Utility shutoffs	Willful interruption banned; greater of actual damages or $1,000	RSA 358-A:10
Retaliation presumption	6 months after the landlord gets notice of your complaint	RSA 540:13-b
Entry for repairs	Prior consent, except emergency repairs; no set hours	RSA 540-A:3, IV

The Fitness Standards Your Landlord Must Meet

New Hampshire puts its baseline in the housing-standards chapter rather than the landlord-tenant chapter. In any city or town that has not adopted its own housing ordinance, RSA 48-A:14 forbids a landlord from keeping rented premises in a condition where:

insects or rodents infest the premises and the landlord has no periodic inspection and eradication program, or bed bugs infest it without a remediation program;
internal plumbing is defective or sewage backs up from a faulty septic or sewer system;
exposed wires, defective outlets or similar conditions create a shock or fire risk;
the roof or walls leak consistently, or plaster is falling;
floors, walls or ceilings have substantial, dangerous holes, or porches, stairs or railings are unsound;
garbage piles up in common areas because the landlord failed to remove it or provide enough receptacles;
the water supply is inadequate or the water-heating equipment does not work;
gas lines leak, or landlord-furnished appliances have leaks or defective pilot lights;
heating facilities cannot safely heat all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms to an average of at least 65°F, or, where heat is included in rent, the rooms are not actually kept at that average.

If your municipality has adopted its own code under Chapter 48-A, the local code applies instead. RSA 540:13-d refers to violations of either.

How the RSA 540:13-d Defense Works

This is New Hampshire’s version of rent withholding, and it is strict. A landlord cannot maintain a nonpayment eviction if the unit is in substantial violation of the fitness standards and the violation materially affects habitability, but only if RSA 540:13-d, I is satisfied:

You prove by clear and convincing evidence that you gave notice of the violation to the person you usually pay rent to while you were not behind on rent.
The landlord did not fix it within 14 days of receiving the written notice, or as promptly as conditions require in an emergency.
You, your family or guests did not cause the violation.
Repairs were not blocked by extreme weather or by your refusal to give reasonable access.

“Clear and convincing” is a higher bar than usual, which is why a dated letter, a delivery receipt and photos matter so much.

What the court does next

Under RSA 540:13-d, II, the court may continue the case for up to one month so the landlord can make repairs, and it must require you to pay into court the rent you withheld and rent that comes due. If the landlord fixes the violation within that time, the case is dismissed, and the court either gives the money to the landlord or splits it, paying the landlord the fair rental value of the defective unit and awarding you the rest as damages for breach of the warranty of habitability. If the landlord does not fix it, judgment enters for you and all the money comes back to you.

Worked Example: A Cold Apartment in Concord

Elena rents a Concord apartment for $1,500 a month with heat included. On January 6, with her rent fully paid, she measures bedroom and living room temperatures averaging 58°F and hand-delivers a letter to the property manager describing the problem and citing RSA 48-A:14, XI. Fourteen days pass, to January 20, with no repair.

She holds back February rent. The landlord files a nonpayment eviction, and Elena raises the RSA 540:13-d defense with her dated letter and temperature log. The court continues the case for up to one month and orders her to pay the $1,500 February rent, and March rent as it comes due, into court. If the landlord fixes the heat in time, the judge decides how to divide the money; if not, Elena wins and gets it all back.

Had Elena already owed January rent when she wrote the letter, the defense would not be available.

Bed Bugs, Rodents and Other Infestations

New Hampshire has unusually specific pest rules. Under RSA 540-A:3, V-a, a landlord may not willfully fail to investigate your report of insects, bed bugs or rodents within 7 days of receiving notice from you or a local health or housing code authority, or fail to take reasonable measures to remediate. A landlord may enter without your consent for emergency pest work within 72 hours of first getting notice (RSA 540-A:3, IV-a).

Your side of that deal: you may not refuse entry for emergency repairs, or for a bed-bug check after 48 hours’ written notice when an adjacent, upstairs or downstairs unit has them, and you must follow reasonable written pest-control instructions (RSA 540-A:3, V-b and V-c).

A Petition for Utility Shutoffs and Other Prohibited Acts

RSA 540-A:3, I bars a landlord from willfully interrupting water, heat, light, electricity, gas, sewerage, elevator or refrigeration service, whether or not the landlord controls it. If that happens, RSA 540-A:4 lets you file a petition in district court with no filing fee and without a lawyer. The court must hold a hearing within 30 days of filing or 10 days of service, whichever is later, and can order the conduct stopped and award damages for the violation, breach of the warranty of habitability or breach of quiet enjoyment.

Violations of RSA 540-A:3 carry the civil remedies in RSA 358-A:10: actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, two to three times that for a willful violation, plus costs and attorney’s fees. Note that RSA 540-A:4, IX(d) carves the 7-day pest-investigation rule out of those enhanced remedies.

Your Duties and Damage You Cause

The habitability defense fails if you or your guests caused the condition (RSA 540:13-d, I(c)). You also may not willfully prevent completion of necessary repairs or refuse reasonable access after adequate notice (RSA 540-A:3, V, as amended effective October 8, 2026). New Hampshire sets no fixed number of hours for that notice; the standard is notice “adequate under the circumstances.”

At move-in, your landlord must tell you in writing that you should give a list of conditions needing repair within 5 days of occupancy (RSA 540-A:6). That list protects you later on deposit deductions, covered in our New Hampshire security deposit law guide.

Retaliation After a Repair Complaint

Under RSA 540:13-a, it is a defense to any eviction that the landlord acted in retaliation for your good-faith report of a code or RSA 540-A violation to the landlord or an inspecting agency, for using the RSA 540:13-d procedure, or for meeting with other tenants. The defense is unavailable if you owe one week’s rent or more.

RSA 540:13-b creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation when the landlord starts an eviction, raises rent or substantially changes your terms within 6 months after receiving notice of your complaint, completing the repairs, or learning of your RSA 540-A case. The presumption does not apply if the court finds your complaint was primarily meant to block an eviction. A successful retaliation defense can bring damages of up to 3 months’ rent (RSA 540:14, II). Try our retaliation checker to map the dates.

Writing a Repair Notice That Holds Up

Date it, and confirm in the letter that your rent is paid in full.
Describe each condition and match it to an RSA 48-A:14 item or your local code.
For heat, record room temperatures with dates and times.
Ask for repair within 14 days, or immediately for an emergency.
Deliver it to the person you pay rent to, by hand with a witness or by certified mail.

Our repair request letter generator can draft it. If the landlord ignores it, a complaint to your city or town health officer or code enforcement office adds an official record.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I repair something myself and deduct it from rent in New Hampshire?

No statute allows it. Deducting a repair bill from rent risks a nonpayment eviction. The statutory route is written notice, then the RSA 540:13-d defense with rent paid into court.

What temperature does my New Hampshire apartment need to reach?

Where no local code applies, RSA 48-A:14, XI requires heating facilities capable of heating habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms to an average of at least 65°F. If heat is included in your rent, the rooms must actually be kept at that average.

How fast must my landlord deal with bed bugs?

RSA 540-A:3, V-a requires the landlord to investigate within 7 days of your report and take reasonable steps to remediate. For a bed-bug check prompted by a neighboring unit, the landlord must give you 48 hours’ written notice.

Do I have to be current on rent to use the habitability defense?

Yes, at the time you gave notice. RSA 540:13-d, I(a) requires clear and convincing proof that you were not in arrears when you notified the landlord.

Can I sue for damages without a lawyer?

For utility shutoffs and other RSA 540-A:3 violations, yes. RSA 540-A:4 lets you file a district court petition with no filing fee and without counsel, and the clerk supplies the forms.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For help with a specific case, find a legal aid program through LSC’s Get Legal Help page. The step to take today is a dated written notice delivered while your rent is current. For more, see what to do when a landlord won’t make repairs and our state repair law hub.

Sources

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