How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in New Hampshire?

No fixed statutory period (see notice standard). New Hampshire fixes no notice period. A landlord may not willfully enter without the tenant's prior consent except to make emergency repairs, and the tenant must allow access at a reasonable time after 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances.'

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in New Hampshire?

A tenant may not willfully prevent completion of necessary repairs, or refuse the landlord access for 'other reasonable and lawful functions commonly associated with the ownership of rental property,' at a reasonable time after adequate notice (RSA 540-A:3, V). Showings and inspections ride on that clause.

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in New Hampshire?

Yes — New Hampshire recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in New Hampshire?

No clock hours apply. Access must simply be 'at a reasonable time' (RSA 540-A:3, V).

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in New Hampshire?

Verified July 11, 2026 Updated October 8, 2026 All New Hampshire topics →

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 Governor Ayotte on July 2, 2026 (veto message: would impede access to housing and lacked clarity on how long landlords could hold the funds). On August 19, 2026 the House vote to override, 159 to 155, fell short of the two-thirds required, so the veto was sustained. Not law. (checked October 8, 2026).

New Hampshire sets no fixed entry-notice period — the statute instead bars a landlord from willfully entering a tenant's home without prior consent except to make emergency repairs, and requires the tenant to allow access for repairs and other normal ownership functions at a reasonable time after 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances.'

Cited to NH RSA 540-A:3 IV, IV-a, V, V-b(b), V-d and 3 more cited sources · Verified July 11, 2026

The practical shape: a landlord who wants in for a routine repair, inspection, or showing gives circumstance-appropriate notice and the tenant may not unreasonably refuse, but if the tenant does refuse, the landlord's lawful remedies are a court order or, for true emergencies, direct entry — the statute expressly limits non-consensual entry to those two paths. Emergency repairs are defined to include pest and bed-bug response within 72 hours of first notice of an infestation, and a tenant must allow bed-bug evaluation on 48 hours' written notice when a neighboring unit is affected. Violations carry Consumer Protection Act remedies with costs and attorney's fees, and every day a violation continues after a court's temporary order counts as a separate violation. These entry rules bind ALL landlords — the small-landlord exemption in New Hampshire's deposit law does not extend to them.

New Hampshire entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	No fixed statutory period (see notice standard)
Notice standard	New Hampshire fixes no notice period. A landlord may not willfully enter without the tenant's prior consent except to make emergency repairs, and the tenant must allow access at a reasonable time after 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances.' This is a consent-based regime, stricter than most 'reasonable notice' states. The consent rule is RSA 540-A:3, IV, and notwithstanding anything else in the chapter, non-consensual entry is allowed ONLY for emergency repairs or under a court order obtained pursuant to RSA 540-A:4 (RSA 540-A:3, V-d). The notice language runs against the tenant: a tenant may not willfully prevent completion of necessary repairs, or refuse the landlord access to perform other reasonable and lawful functions commonly associated with the ownership of rental property, 'at a reasonable time after notice which is adequate under the circumstances' (RSA 540-A:3, V). No fixed hours appear anywhere in the statute.
Permitted reasons	A tenant may not willfully prevent completion of necessary repairs, or refuse the landlord access for 'other reasonable and lawful functions commonly associated with the ownership of rental property,' at a reasonable time after adequate notice (RSA 540-A:3, V). Showings and inspections ride on that clause. Without the tenant's consent, the landlord may enter only for emergency repairs — expressly including entry within 72 hours of first notice of a rodent or insect infestation, bed bugs included, to evaluate, plan, or remediate (IV, IV-a) — or under a court order (V-d(b)). A tenant also may not refuse access to evaluate for bed bugs after an adjacent, upstairs, or downstairs unit is affected, on 48 hours' written notice (V-b(b)). A tenant, a member of the tenant's household, a guest or another occupant may not willfully prevent the landlord from making emergency repairs (RSA 540-A:2, III).
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	No clock hours apply. Access must simply be 'at a reasonable time' (RSA 540-A:3, V).

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, New Hampshire Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified July 11, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/new-hampshire/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

No fixed hours anywhere in the statute — The only statutory phrase is 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances' (RSA 540-A:3, V). There is no presumption of a particular number of hours, which is why no advance-notice figure is recorded.
Unusual architecture: the notice duty sits on the tenant's side — New Hampshire places the notice standard in the TENANT-obligation paragraph (V), while the landlord-side rule is a consent requirement (IV) paired with an exclusive list of non-consensual entries (V-d, added 2013 ch. 48: emergency repairs or a court order).
Adequate notice alone does not authorize entry over objection — A landlord who enters over the tenant's objection after giving 'adequate notice' is still exposed. The safe sequence is notice, then consent — or a petition under RSA 540-A:4.
Exemption trap: small landlords are fully bound here — The landlord definition in RSA 540-A:1 that governs the Prohibited Practices subdivision has NO single-family or owner-occupied carve-out. The RSA 540-A:5 exemption is deposits-only, so small landlords get no relief from the entry rules.
Remedies: consumer-protection damages, and each day counts separately — Violations of RSA 540-A:3 trigger RSA 358-A:10 civil remedies plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and each day a violation continues after a temporary order is a separate violation (RSA 540-A:4).
The $3,000 minimum is a lockout figure, not an entry figure — The not-less-than-$3,000 award in RSA 540-A:4 applies to lockouts where the landlord has re-let the premises. It does not attach to entry violations.
'Premises' means the tenant's exclusive areas — The definition in RSA 540-A:1, III covers only areas of exclusive tenant access.
What changed for entry on October 8, 2026 — Since October 8, 2026 the tenant-side paragraph bars a tenant from willfully preventing completion of necessary repairs, alongside the existing bar on refusing the landlord access to perform other reasonable and lawful functions of ownership (RSA 540-A:3, V), and RSA 540-A:2, III bars a tenant, a household member, a guest or another occupant from willfully preventing the landlord from making emergency repairs. The notice standard is unchanged: a reasonable time after notice which is adequate under the circumstances.

Common questions: New Hampshire entry notice

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

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in New Hampshire?: No fixed statutory period (see notice standard). New Hampshire fixes no notice period. A landlord may not willfully enter without the tenant's prior consent except to make emergency repairs, and the tenant must allow access at a reasonable time after 'notice which is adequate under the circumstances.'
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in New Hampshire?: A tenant may not willfully prevent completion of necessary repairs, or refuse the landlord access for 'other reasonable and lawful functions commonly associated with the ownership of rental property,' at a reasonable time after adequate notice (RSA 540-A:3, V). Showings and inspections ride on that clause.
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in New Hampshire?: Yes — New Hampshire recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in New Hampshire?: No clock hours apply. Access must simply be 'at a reasonable time' (RSA 540-A:3, V).

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (July 11, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

Updated, October 8, 2026 — New Hampshire 2026 chapter 308 (HB 1598) took effect October 8, 2026. A tenant who contests an eviction must file an answer stating affirmative defenses and counterclaims within 5 days after the return date (RSA 540:13, II(a)); a tenant who does not appear is in default and the court mails the default notice the day after the default, with no statutory wait before the writ and no discretionary stay (RSA 540:13, V; 540:13-c, I); after a contested hearing the court mails the notice of judgment within 2 days and issues the writ 7 days after mailing it where the landlord prevails; the discretionary stay is capped at 60 days, or 75 days where the tenant proves no financial harm, no damage and no health or safety threat and a need based on factors such as age, familial status, disability or limited English proficiency; a sheriff's delay does not invalidate a valid writ (RSA 540:14, V). The tenant-side entry duty now bars willfully preventing completion of necessary repairs (RSA 540-A:3, V) and the prohibited-practices chapter reaches household members, guests and occupants (RSA 540-A:2); the entry notice standard is unchanged. The uncontested timeline is about 15 days on a nonpayment ground and about 38 on a 30-day ground. HB 1336 (a second deposit month) was vetoed July 2, 2026 and the veto was sustained August 19, 2026.
Correction, September 20, 2026 — New Hampshire: the manufactured housing park page routed park deposits to RSA 477:48, a section repealed in 1985; the live rules are the general deposit subdivision, RSA 540-A:5 to 540-A:8, whose definitions expressly reach a park space, and the page now states them. The lease termination page adds the tenant's own right to end a written lease within 7 days of a relocation forced by a lead exposure hazard (RSA 130-A:8-a, VIII) and the required contents of the 30-day lead-hazard notice. The habitability page adds the asbestos enforcement route in RSA 141-E. The entry and eviction pages now state exactly what 2026 ch. 308 changes on October 8, 2026. The application page adds RSA 540:2, VIII: a no-fault lease-expiration termination is not an eviction for screening purposes.
Correction, September 5, 2026 — New Hampshire: the pending entry for 2026 chapter 308 (HB 1598, effective October 8, 2026) now describes the eviction-process changes the act makes — the 60-day discretionary stay (75 days on a specific showing), no discretionary stay after a default, the five-day answer, the two-day judgment notice and the seven-day writ — instead of saying it changes no answer.

Citations

NH RSA 540-A:3 · IV, IV-a, V, V-b(b), V-d (verified 2026) Official source
NH RSA 540-A:1 · I, III (verified 2026) Official source
NH RSA 540-A:4 (verified 2026) Official source
NH RSA 540-A:2 · III (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official NH General Court site (gc.nh.gov, the redirect target of www.gencourt.state.nh.us): every section these answers rest on read at least twice via independent URLs — the merged chapter pages (540-mrg.htm read twice via independent paths, 540-A-mrg.htm, 540-B-mrg.htm) plus each individual section page (540-A:1, :2, :3, :4, :5, :6, :7, :8; 540:1-a, :2, :3, :9; 540-B:10; 205-A:6) read in full for verbatim quotes, with all figures matching across reads (greater-of one month/$100 cap, 30-day return from termination, one-year interest trigger with 3-year request cycle, double-damages penalty, 6-month unclaimed-deposit rule, 540-A:5 small-landlord exemption, consent-based entry with adequate-under-the-circumstances notice, 540:2 IV 30-day rent-increase notice, new 540:2 II(i) 60-day end-of-lease notice effective 2026-07-01). Negative checks (no late-fee or grace-period statute, no rent control, no express preemption) run against the full text of RSA chapters 540, 540-A, and 540-B plus a gc.nh.gov-restricted search. Session-law identities pinned by cross-referencing official source lines with bill records: 2025 ch. 263 = HB 60 (signed 2025-08-01, eff. 2026-07-01), 2025 ch. 176 = HB 309 (eff. 2026-01-01), 2024 ch. 9 = HB 261. 2026-session check on 2026-07-11: HB 1336 vetoed 2026-07-02; HB 1598 signed week of 2026-07-06, effective 90 days after passage, flagged as pending; dead bills HB 95 (2023) and HB 1362 (2024) debunked from contemporaneous reporting.