Senate poised to reject bill to make evictions easier for landlords
HB 1115 was presented as a way to strengthen contract rights, provide flexibility, and allow landlords to take a chance on tenants with the knowledge that they could evict them at the end of the renting period if they did not want to continue. (Getty Images)
The Senate is poised to reject a bill to allow New Hampshire landlords to evict a tenant after the end of a lease without additional cause.
The chamber will vote at its session Thursday on whether to send House Bill 1115 to interim study, a move that would effectively end its hopes of passage this year. The Commerce Committee voted unanimously to recommend interim study earlier this month.
The bill would allow landlords to remove a tenant when a lease period ends with 30 days notice, as long as the lease period were at least six months.
Currently, landlords may not stop renting to a tenant at the end of a lease unless there are other good cause reasons, including nonpayment of rent, violation of the lease, “substantial” damage to the property, behavior affecting the health and safety of others, and other situations.
Sponsored by Rep. Bob Lynn, a Windham Republican, HB 1115 was presented as a way to strengthen contract rights, provide flexibility, and allow landlords to take a chance on tenants with the knowledge that they could evict them at the end of the renting period if they did not want to continue.
But housing advocates had argued that the bill would eliminate key rights for renters and make it harder for tenants to prove they were evicted for discriminatory reasons. And they said it would lead to more marginalized people being evicted at the end of their lease, including people with disabilities, because landlords would not have to point to a specific reason.
In a joint statement Monday ahead of the Senate floor vote, Lynn and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, an Auburn Republican, expressed frustration at the committee’s decision.
“This is fundamentally short-sighted, wrong, refuses to address the extreme housing crisis we have in this state, and protects squatters,” Lynn and Osborne said.
But in its report to the full Senate, the Commerce Committee argued the bill is unnecessary, especially against the backdrop of low rental vacancy rates in the state.
“Good cause provisions already exist to evict a tenant, including a violation of a lease provision, nonpayment, a threat to the health or safety of neighbors or the landlord, lead paint abatement, or for any legitimate business or economic reason,” the committee wrote. “These provisions are instrumental in balancing the landlord-tenant dynamic.”
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