What constitutes a “legitimate” cause to evict a tenant?

Republicans like Sen. Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican, say the end of a lease is reason enough.

“When that contract is over, it’s over,” Lang said, while debating a bill that would allow just that: for landlords to vacate a tenant’s lease at the end of the term, no questions asked and no other grounds necessary.

The legislation, House Bill 60, passed the state House of Representatives and Senate last week mostly along party lines, with a few added provisions to protect tenants.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte hasn’t publicly indicated whether she’ll sign it, though the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Bob Lynn, said he’s talked with Ayotte and believes she “didn’t have any problem with it.”

Concord Sen. Tara Reardon, a Democrat, argued the policy would hurt renters in an already struggling housing market. She said it could let property owners kick people out for arbitrary reasons, like a tenant’s religious practices, owning a gun or even starting a loud truck in the morning and bothering another resident.

New Hampshire’s housing shortage is more severe than much of the country’s, with an apartment vacancy rate of less than 1%. A healthy, balanced rental market typically hovers around 5% vacancy, with more housing options available for renters should they face eviction.

Reardon argues New Hampshire’s housing crisis, which ranked as a top issue for voters in last year’s elections, should be considered before letting landlords terminate leases without any other cause than the end of a contract.

“Concord does not need an increase in its homeless population – no place in the state does – but it will happen,” Reardon said.

Housing advocates, tenants and lawyers made similar claims during a public hearing earlier this year, as previously reported by the Monitor. Lynn, who sponsored the bill, denied those arguments in an interview Monday, arguing the law would actually make it easier for landlords to lease to less-than-ideal candidates — something landlord interest groups had expressed to him.

Lynn, a former state Supreme Court Justice from Windham, said HB 60 will help property owners feel more comfortable taking a chance on certain tenants by allowing for an automatic out at the end of the lease if it doesn’t go well. Current law doesn’t allow that, and a landlord can only evict someone if they want to take the apartment off the market or if the tenant violates the lease.

“That would tend to discourage a landlord from maybe taking a chance on someone who maybe didn’t have a great credit record or something like that,” Lynn said. “Now, the landlord will know, ‘If I do take a chance on someone that is less than an ideal candidate, my exposure is limited to one year … If things don’t work out, I can end the tenancy.’”

While sympathetic to the state’s housing problems, conservatives like Lang say the Legislature must honor landowners’ property rights and the “rule of law.”

Lynn has been angling to pass this law for years; it has typically passed the House but been shot down in the Senate. Now on its way to the governor’s desk, it’s the closest it’s ever come.

An agreement among House and Senate Republicans this year attempts some protections for tenants, like applying this law only to leases of 12 months or longer, requiring 60-day written notice from landlords before they can evict someone under this clause.

They’d also classify the action as a “no fault termination of tenancy” instead of an eviction, so it doesn’t negatively impact a renter’s record for future apartment applications and screenings.

If Ayotte signs the bill, it’ll go into effect on July 1, 2026.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.