Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in New Hampshire
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | RSA 540-A:3(VIII); landlords collecting any fee from prospective tenants as part of a residential rental-application or renewal process |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | Application/renewal fee regulated; if unit is not rented to applicant, landlord may retain only actual documented background- and credit-check costs and reasonable administrative costs (§ 540-A:3(VIII)) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | No numeric, per-applicant, per-household, or indexed ceiling; unselected-applicant retention limited to actual documented check costs plus reasonable administrative costs (§ 540-A:3(VIII)) |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | Before collecting any fee, written disclosures required; if applicant is not selected, excess over documented background/credit costs and reasonable administrative costs must be returned (§ 540-A:3(VIII)) |
| Before-screening disclosures | Before collection, clearly disclose in writing the fee amount and any requirement for a satisfactory criminal-background and credit check; no unit-availability, detailed-criteria, report-source, dispute-right, or application-order disclosure |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | No special receipt or report-copy duty. If unit is not rented to applicant, return excess over allowed documented/reasonable costs within 30 days of receiving the fee (§ 540-A:3(VIII)) |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No statewide applicant-supplied or reusable screening-report acceptance or no-fee procedure |
| Application order and adverse action | No first-in-order, first-qualified, single-application, or state denial-reason notice; landlord need not run a check and may rent despite an unsatisfactory result (§ 540-A:3(VIII)) |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | Violation remedy is return of all application money plus court costs (§ 540-A:4(IX)(f)); no application-fee local-preemption or stronger-local-law clause |
Written disclosure before collecting any fee
New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 540-A:3(VIII) reaches any fee collected as part of a rental-application or renewal process. Before collecting it, the landlord must clearly disclose in writing to the prospective tenant:
- the amount of the fee; and
- any requirement for a satisfactory criminal-background and credit check.
The statute does not separately require disclosure of unit availability, detailed screening criteria, the consumer reporting agency, dispute rights, or the order in which applications will be processed.
What the landlord may keep if the applicant is not selected
If the landlord collects the fee but does not rent the unit to that applicant, § 540-A:3(VIII) permits retention only of the actual cost of documented background checks and credit checks and reasonable administrative costs. Any amount beyond those costs must be returned within 30 days of receipt of the fee.
The statute states no separate numeric, per-applicant, per-household, or indexed ceiling. Its cost-based refund rule is expressly triggered when the unit is not rented to the applicant. It does not state the same excess-return rule for the applicant who becomes the tenant.
The landlord is not required to conduct a criminal-background or credit check. The statute also says the landlord is not prohibited from renting to an applicant who does not pass a check.
Remedy for violating the application-fee rule
RSA 540-A:4 gives district and superior courts jurisdiction to enforce § 540-A:3. For many prohibited-practice violations, paragraph IX(a) incorporates broader Consumer Protection Act remedies. But paragraph IX(f) creates a narrower application-fee rule: notwithstanding paragraph IX(a), a landlord who violates § 540-A:3(VIII) is subject only to returning all money the applicant provided as part of the application, plus court costs.
The statute states no application-fee-specific local preemption clause or express preservation of stronger city or town rules.
What trips people up
The ordinary refund and the violation remedy are different. For an unselected applicant, § 540-A:3(VIII) ordinarily returns only the amount beyond documented check costs and reasonable administrative costs. A violation instead triggers return of all application money plus court costs under § 540-A:4(IX)(f).
Thirty days runs from receipt of the fee. It does not run from denial, the background-check order, or the date another applicant signs a lease.
Disclosure does not require the landlord to screen. The landlord must disclose any satisfactory-check requirement before collecting the fee, but the same paragraph says no criminal-background or credit check is mandatory.
Common questions
Is there a statewide dollar cap? No numeric ceiling appears in the current statute. The cost-based retention limit applies when the unit is not rented to the applicant.
Must I receive a receipt or screening report? The statute requires the advance written disclosures, but no special fee receipt or report-copy duty.
Can an applicant provide a reusable report instead? New Hampshire creates no statewide applicant-supplied or reusable-report procedure.
Must applications be processed in order? No first-in-order, first-qualified, or single-application process appears in the current statute.
Statutes and sources
- New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 540-A:3(VIII) — disclosure, cost-based
retention, 30-day refund, and screening discretion.
Prior to collecting any fee as part of the rental application or renewal process, the landlord shall clearly disclose, in writing to prospective tenants, the amount of the fee and the requirement for a satisfactory criminal background and credit check, if any.
Official source: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LV/540-A/540-A-3.htm (accessed 2026-07-21) - New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 540-A:4 — enforcement and the narrower application-fee remedy.
[A] landlord who violates RSA 540-A:3, VIII shall be subject only to returning to the applicant all monies provided by the applicant as part of their application, plus court costs.
Official source: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LV/540-A/540-A-4.htm (accessed 2026-07-21) - New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 540-A:1 — landlord, tenant, and premises definitions.
“Landlord” means an owner, lessor or agent thereof who rents or leases residential premises ... to another person.
Official source: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LV/540-A/540-A-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-21) - New Hampshire Revised Statutes chapter 540-A — complete current chapter audited for the application-fee process.
Chapter 540-A PROHIBITED PRACTICES AND SECURITY DEPOSITS
Official source: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LV/540-A/540-A-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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