What is the New Hampshire security deposit interest rate right now?

No published figure exists. There is no statewide figure. RSA 540-A:6, IV(a) sets the rate as one "equal to the interest rate paid on regular savings accounts in the New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association, or credit union in which it is deposited" — the regular-savings rate of the particular institution holding the money, so the answer turns on where the landlord banked.

When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in New Hampshire?

Interest is owed only where the landlord holds the deposit "for a period of one year or longer," but once that is satisfied the accrual starts at the beginning: it runs "commencing from the date the landlord receives the deposit or from September 13, 1977, whichever is later." The one-year mark is a threshold on the duty, not a waiting period that resets the clock.

Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in New Hampshire?

No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. RSA 540-A:6, II(b) lets a landlord mingle all security deposits held by him in a single account "held in trust for the tenant at any bank, savings and loan association or credit union organized under the laws of this state" — pooling across tenants is allowed, but the account is held in trust and sits at an institution organized under New Hampshire law, and a pooled account pays each tenant a proportionate share of the interest it actually earned. No provision states that the account must be an interest-bearing one; the duty is expressed instead as the regular-savings rate of the institution where the money sits.

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in New Hampshire?

RSA 540-A:8, I(b) names the interest paragraph expressly: a landlord who does not comply with RSA 540-A:6, IV or RSA 540-A:7 "shall be liable to the tenant in damages in an amount equal to twice the sum of the amount of the security deposit plus any interest due under this subdivision," less any payments made and any charges owing for damages, unpaid rent or the tenant's share of real estate taxes. The doubling runs on the deposit and the interest together, not on the withheld interest alone.

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in New Hampshire?

Verified August 28, 2026 All New Hampshire topics →

Enacted but not yet in force. This page reflects the law in force today. The following measure has been signed and takes effect on the date shown:

HB 1598 (2026) — Eviction-process overhaul: it caps the discretionary stay of dispossession at 60 days, or 75 days where the tenant proves both that the longer stay will cause the landlord no financial harm, no damage and no ongoing health or safety threat and that the added time is needed for reasons such as age, familial status, disability or limited English proficiency; a tenant in default gets no discretionary stay at all. It also requires a tenant to file an answer stating affirmative defenses and counterclaims not more than five days after the return date, sets a five-day deadline for a discovery continuance and a seven-day continuance for a landlord met with an unnoticed defense, moves the default notice to the day following default, requires a notice of judgment within two days of a contested hearing with the writ issuing seven days after that mailing, and adds a five-day exchange of documents before a hearing on prohibited practices. It amends RSA 540:13, 540:13-c, 540:14, 540-A:2 and 540-A:4, VII, and rewords RSA 540-A:3, V while keeping the entry standard 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances' word for word, so the entry-notice answer does not move. Status: Passed both chambers (Senate May 14, 2026; House concurrence May 21, 2026), enrolled June 4, 2026, and signed by Governor Ayotte on July 10, 2026 as chapter 308 of the 2026 New Hampshire Laws. It takes effect October 8, 2026, ninety days after passage, and until then the current text of each statute it amends governs. (checked September 5, 2026).

What did not become law. None of the following is law; failed bills are sometimes still described as if enacted:

HB 1336 (2026) — Would have created a 'regulated conditional deposit' letting landlords collect up to one additional month's rent beyond the RSA 540-A:6 one-month security-deposit cap from applicants failing standard screening criteria (credit, income, eviction history), with disclosure and re-screening rights. Status: Passed both chambers; VETOED by Gov. Ayotte 2026-07-02 (veto message: would impede access to housing and lacked clarity on how long landlords could hold the funds). Not law; an override attempt is possible at the fall 2026 veto day — re-check then. (checked July 11, 2026).

New Hampshire requires interest on a security deposit held for one year or longer, at the regular savings rate of the New Hampshire institution where the money sits.

Cited to RSA 540-A:6 (security deposit interest) IV(a)–(c) and 4 more cited sources · Verified August 28, 2026

There is no statewide percentage: the figure is whatever that bank, savings and loan association or credit union pays on regular savings accounts, and where a landlord pools deposits in one account each tenant is paid a proportionate share of what the account actually earned. The duty does not reach every landlord — a person who rents out a single-family home and owns no other rental property, and an owner living in a building of five units or fewer, fall outside the security-deposit subdivision altogether, except for units occupied by tenants 60 or older. Once the one-year mark is passed, interest is counted from the day the landlord received the deposit, and a tenant may ask for it every three years by making the request thirty days before that tenancy year expires. Whatever remains is paid with the deposit within thirty days of the end of the tenancy.

New Hampshire deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	Conditional — owed only in certain circumstances
How the rate is set	Whatever the account actually earns
Current figure	No published figure exists
Rate rules	There is no statewide figure. RSA 540-A:6, IV(a) sets the rate as one "equal to the interest rate paid on regular savings accounts in the New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association, or credit union in which it is deposited" — the regular-savings rate of the particular institution holding the money, so the answer turns on where the landlord banked. Where the landlord pools deposits in one account, as RSA 540-A:6, II(b) permits, "the landlord shall pay the actual interest earned on such account proportionately to each tenant." On request the landlord must name the institution and the account, state the amount on deposit and the interest rate, and allow the tenant to examine the deposit records (IV(b)) — which is how a tenant establishes the figure.
Accrual and payment	Interest is owed only where the landlord holds the deposit "for a period of one year or longer," but once that is satisfied the accrual starts at the beginning: it runs "commencing from the date the landlord receives the deposit or from September 13, 1977, whichever is later." The one-year mark is a threshold on the duty, not a waiting period that resets the clock. Payment comes on two occasions. Every three years the tenant may request the accrued interest, and the request must be made thirty days before the expiration of that year's tenancy; the landlord must comply within fifteen days of the expiration of that year's tenancy, which is roughly forty-five days after the request rather than fifteen (RSA 540-A:6, IV(c)). At the end of the tenancy the landlord must return the deposit and pay the interest due, if any, within thirty days from termination (RSA 540-A:7, I). A deposit and the interest on it that remain unclaimed six months after termination become the landlord's property, free and clear of the tenant's claim, absent fraud (RSA 540-A:8, II).
Who and what is covered	Coverage turns on who counts as a landlord under RSA 540-A:5, I, and the chapter states no unit-count trigger for the duty. Two exclusions take a person outside the security-deposit subdivision entirely: a person who rents or leases a single-family residence and owns no other rental property, and a person who rents or leases units in an owner-occupied building of five units or less. The first requires both limbs, so someone with two single-family rentals is covered. One exception pulls coverage back in: in such an owner-occupied building, any individual unit occupied by a person or persons 60 years of age or older is covered, and that exception is measured unit by unit rather than building by building. A building that is not owner-occupied falls outside both exclusions, so the landlord of a non-owner-occupied two-unit building owes the duty. Space in a manufactured housing park regulated by RSA 205-A and manufactured housing itself are within the definition; renting for vacation or recreational purposes is not. A lease provision purporting to waive the tenant's rights under the subdivision is void, apart from the single exception the statute names at RSA 540-A:6, III(d) (RSA 540-A:8, III).
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	Yes
Interest-bearing account required	No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest
Custody rules	RSA 540-A:6, II(b) lets a landlord mingle all security deposits held by him in a single account "held in trust for the tenant at any bank, savings and loan association or credit union organized under the laws of this state" — pooling across tenants is allowed, but the account is held in trust and sits at an institution organized under New Hampshire law, and a pooled account pays each tenant a proportionate share of the interest it actually earned. No provision states that the account must be an interest-bearing one; the duty is expressed instead as the regular-savings rate of the institution where the money sits. On request the landlord must disclose the institution, the account number, the amount on deposit and the interest rate, and must allow the tenant to examine the security deposit records (RSA 540-A:6, IV(b)).
Penalty for violation	RSA 540-A:8, I(b) names the interest paragraph expressly: a landlord who does not comply with RSA 540-A:6, IV or RSA 540-A:7 "shall be liable to the tenant in damages in an amount equal to twice the sum of the amount of the security deposit plus any interest due under this subdivision," less any payments made and any charges owing for damages, unpaid rent or the tenant's share of real estate taxes. The doubling runs on the deposit and the interest together, not on the withheld interest alone. That is a different track from the one for the duties in RSA 540-A:6, I, II and III, which are deemed violations of RSA 358-A:2 and carry the Consumer Protection Act's remedies. Interest violations do not travel that route, so the Act's greater-of measure, its willful-violation multiplier and its attorney's-fee award are not available for them. Two limits apply on top: a landlord is not liable, and forfeits no rights, where the failure is due to the tenant not notifying the landlord of a new address at the end of the tenancy, and a deposit plus interest left unclaimed for six months after termination becomes the landlord's absent fraud (RSA 540-A:8, II).
Local rules	None noted for this state

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, New Hampshire Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/new-hampshire/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Calculate New Hampshire security deposit interest — free, no signup, built on the same verified New Hampshire law as this page.

Notes and caveats

The "six or more units" claim — New Hampshire is often described as requiring deposit interest only from landlords with six or more units. No unit count of that kind appears anywhere in RSA 540-A. The chapter works the other way round, by taking two classes of person out of the definition of landlord — someone renting a single-family residence who owns no other rental property, and an owner occupying a building of five units or less — and then pulling back in any unit in such a building occupied by a tenant 60 or older. The practical difference is real: a landlord of a two-unit building who does not live there is covered.
Fifteen days from what — The three-year request has two dates and they are easy to run together. The tenant must ask thirty days before the expiration of that year's tenancy, and the landlord must comply within fifteen days of that expiration — not within fifteen days of the request. The outside date is therefore about forty-five days after the tenant asks.
Interest counts from receipt — The one-year requirement is a condition on the duty, not a waiting period. A landlord who holds a deposit for eighteen months owes interest on all eighteen, counted from the date the deposit was received, not on the six months past the anniversary. A landlord who holds one for eleven months owes none.
The remedy is doubling, not the Consumer Protection Act — An interest failure carries damages of twice the sum of the deposit plus any interest due, less lawful offsets. It does not carry the Consumer Protection Act's remedies, including its attorney's-fee award: RSA 540-A:8 routes only the deposit-cap, receipt, trust and transfer duties of RSA 540-A:6, I through III into that Act. Advice that promises trebled damages and fees for an interest violation has the two tracks crossed.
A deposit held outside New Hampshire — The rate provision presumes an in-state institution — it names the regular savings rate of the New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association or credit union in which the deposit is placed, and the pooled-account provision requires an institution organized under the laws of this state. The chapter states no rate for a deposit placed with an out-of-state institution, and no section of it resolves what such a tenant is owed.

Common questions: New Hampshire deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the New Hampshire security deposit interest rate right now?: No published figure exists. There is no statewide figure. RSA 540-A:6, IV(a) sets the rate as one "equal to the interest rate paid on regular savings accounts in the New Hampshire bank, savings and loan association, or credit union in which it is deposited" — the regular-savings rate of the particular institution holding the money, so the answer turns on where the landlord banked.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in New Hampshire?: Interest is owed only where the landlord holds the deposit "for a period of one year or longer," but once that is satisfied the accrual starts at the beginning: it runs "commencing from the date the landlord receives the deposit or from September 13, 1977, whichever is later." The one-year mark is a threshold on the duty, not a waiting period that resets the clock.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in New Hampshire?: No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. RSA 540-A:6, II(b) lets a landlord mingle all security deposits held by him in a single account "held in trust for the tenant at any bank, savings and loan association or credit union organized under the laws of this state" — pooling across tenants is allowed, but the account is held in trust and sits at an institution organized under New Hampshire law, and a pooled account pays each tenant a proportionate share of the interest it actually earned. No provision states that the account must be an interest-bearing one; the duty is expressed instead as the regular-savings rate of the institution where the money sits.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in New Hampshire?: RSA 540-A:8, I(b) names the interest paragraph expressly: a landlord who does not comply with RSA 540-A:6, IV or RSA 540-A:7 "shall be liable to the tenant in damages in an amount equal to twice the sum of the amount of the security deposit plus any interest due under this subdivision," less any payments made and any charges owing for damages, unpaid rent or the tenant's share of real estate taxes. The doubling runs on the deposit and the interest together, not on the withheld interest alone.
Do any cities or counties in New Hampshire have their own deposit-interest rules?: None noted for this state.

Citations

RSA 540-A:6 (security deposit interest) · IV(a)–(c) (verified 2026) Official source
RSA 540-A:5 (definition of landlord; the two exclusions) · I (verified 2026) Official source
RSA 540-A:7 (return of the deposit and payment of interest) · I (verified 2026) Official source
RSA 540-A:8 (remedies; the double-damages provision) · I(b), II, III (verified 2026) Official source
RSA ch. 358-A (Consumer Protection Act, cross-referenced by RSA 540-A:8, I(a)) · 358-A:2, 358-A:10 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the merged text of New Hampshire RSA chapter 540-A as published by the General Court, with the definition of landlord at 540-A:5, I, the interest paragraph at 540-A:6, IV in all three of its subparagraphs, the commingling provision at 540-A:6, II(b), the return duty at 540-A:7, I and the remedies section at 540-A:8 read word for word, and the whole chapter searched for unit-count language, which appears once and only in the owner-occupied exclusion; RSA chapter 358-A read for the Consumer Protection Act track that 540-A:8, I(a) cross-references.