New Hampshire landlord entry laws
How much notice your landlord owes you before coming in, when they may enter without it, and what New Hampshire law lets you do about it.
Notice required
Prior consent required — notice is not enough
No landlord shall willfully enter the premises of the tenant without prior consent, other than to make emergency repairs. New Hampshire does not ask how much warning the tenant was given; it asks whether the tenant agreed.
RSA 540-A:3, IV
Worth knowing: New Hampshire is a consent state. The question is not how much warning you were given — it is whether you agreed.
When they may enter without notice
Emergency repairs, and pest or bed-bug emergency remediation within 72 hours of the landlord first receiving notice. Otherwise entry requires the tenant's consent or a court order.
What you can do about a violation
Violations carry the Consumer Protection Act remedies: actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, doubled to trebled for a willful or knowing violation, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Each day a violation continues after a temporary order is a separate violation, and RSA 540-A:4, III requires no filing fee.
RSA 540-A:4, IX(a) and RSA 358-A:10
What to do right now
Say no in writing. Because the standard is consent, a clear written refusal is what makes the next entry willful.
Put it in writing
We'll write a letter citing RSA 540-A:3, IV, listing each entry with its date and time, and stating what the statute provides. Free to generate and download.
Write my New Hampshire entry letterOther New Hampshire tenant rights
Landlords who get one of these wrong often get another wrong too.
How this page was checked
- Read from the source. Every deadline, cap and penalty here was taken from New Hampshire's published text — the statute, session law or administrative code itself.
- No legal-information websites. Commercial summaries were used only to find a provision, never as authority for it. An automated check fails our build if any state we serve cites a secondary source.
- Locked against drift. The verified figures are pinned by regression tests, so a later edit cannot quietly change a deadline or a penalty.
- Last verified August 21, 2026. Laws change — confirm the current text before relying on it.
General information, not legal advice. We are not a law firm.
Compare all 51 jurisdictions — notice periods range from 12 hours to 72, and thirteen states have no rule at all.