How to Evict a Roommate in New Hampshire (and Other Household Situations)
What New Hampshire law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: New Hampshire recognizes subtenants and 'implied tenants'. A person who is not a tenant, subtenant, or implied tenant may not occupy residential property without permission of the owner, landlord, or agent. An occupant who claims to be a subtenant or implied tenant must prove it, for example with a signed unexpired lease, recent rent receipts, canceled checks or electronic payments to the landlord, or emails or texts showing the landlord agreed they could live there; an implied tenant may also show that, based on the totality of the circumstances, the landlord impliedly agreed to let them live there. Utility bills or IDs showing the address are not enough on their own. RSA 540-A:3, IX; RSA 540-A:4, VII
| Roommate not on the lease | New Hampshire recognizes subtenants and 'implied tenants'. A person who is not a tenant, subtenant, or implied tenant may not occupy residential property without permission of the owner, landlord, or agent. An occupant who claims to be a subtenant or implied tenant must prove it, for example with a signed unexpired lease, recent rent receipts, canceled checks or electronic payments to the landlord, or emails or texts showing the landlord agreed they could live there; an implied tenant may also show that, based on the totality of the circumstances, the landlord impliedly agreed to let them live there. Utility bills or IDs showing the address are not enough on their own. RSA 540-A:4, VII was renumbered effective Oct. 8, 2026 (the burden-of-proof rule moved from VII(c) to VII(e)). |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | No roommate-specific statute. Residential tenancies are ended with a written eviction notice (30 days in most cases; 7 days for nonpayment and certain other grounds) followed by a landlord-tenant possessory action in court. In 'restricted' property, a tenancy may be ended only for a listed ground such as nonpayment, damage, lease violations, or other good cause. Grounds for restricted property: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LV/540/540-2.htm. Domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking by a remaining cotenant or occupant is a listed ground (RSA 540:2, II(h)). Source: RSA 540:2; RSA 540:3, II |
| Guests who won't leave | A guest who stays without being a tenant, subtenant, or implied tenant is occupying without permission. The owner or landlord may file a petition in district court with no filing fee; the hearing is held within 48 hours under the statute's service conditions, and the occupant bears the burden of proving tenant status. Whether a guest has become an implied tenant depends on whether the landlord or owner agreed, expressly or impliedly, to let them live there. |
| Removing a family member or partner | No statute specifically addresses family members. If the home is a single-family house with no lease that is the owner's primary residence, occupants there are not 'tenants' under the eviction chapter. Otherwise, a family member or partner who is a tenant, subtenant, or implied tenant is removed through the regular eviction process. How a family member who is not a tenant is removed from an owner's primary residence is not spelled out in the statute; get legal advice. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | New Hampshire's eviction chapter (RSA 540) does not treat occupants of a single-family home without a lease that is the owner's primary residence as 'tenants', and the chapter does not apply to them. Rooms in rooming or boarding houses rented to transient guests for fewer than 90 consecutive days are also excluded. A 'non-rental owner' keeps common-law remedies, including self-help, against an unauthorized occupant. Units in an owner-occupied building of four or fewer units are 'nonrestricted' property, where a tenancy can be ended without cause (RSA 540:1-a, I; 540:2, I). |
| Tenancy at will | New Hampshire's eviction statutes do not use the term 'tenancy at will'. For nonrestricted property, the owner may end any tenancy by a written notice to quit given to the tenant or occupant; for residential tenancies, 30 days' notice is sufficient in all cases (7 days for nonpayment and certain other grounds). Source: RSA 540:2, I; RSA 540:3, II |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Occupants of rooms in hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes, and other dwellings rented for recreational or vacation use are not 'tenants' under New Hampshire's eviction chapter. Rooms in rooming or boarding houses rented to transient guests are excluded only for stays of fewer than 90 consecutive days. Source: RSA 540:1-a, IV(a)-(b) |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.