New Hampshire Landlord/Tenant Lease Laws

[Drew MacDermott]

Hello BP!  I have a personal rental question to pose those of you in the New Hampshire area.  My fiancee and I are moving to NH in four days, on Aug. 31.  We now have a predicament with an unnamed apartment complex regarding our lease.  

At the end of June, we signed a lease with a $500 deposit to hold a 2BR apartment.  It is a great apartment and we were very excited when we landed this unit.  We then began a 2-month cross-country trip, one of our dreams, through July and August before starting our new jobs in New Hampshire in September.  

On August 15, the property manager informed us they were bought out and we would have to sign a new lease before moving in.  They told me in an email the original lease will not stand because the company got bought out before our move-in date and therefore we are required to sign a new lease.

On August 27, we received an email stating the previous tenant in our unit had a sudden employment change and now wants to stay.  In both the original and new leases, a 60-day notice is required before moving out.  In our scenario, the previous tenant must have given a 60-day notice in order for the unit to be available to us.  The property manager has asked us to move into a Studio Apartment until they resolve the situation.  We have also sent a $1652 check as payment for the day of Aug 31 and the month of September last week.  It has not been cashed yet.  We are all-in currently at $2152. 

1) Does the new property manager have to uphold the original lease?

2) Would the new tenant have any rights to now stay in the unit, given the 60-day notice?

3) Would you have any other suggestions?

Thanks for any help!!

Drew

[Ann Bellamy]

I have received advice from one of my NH attorneys that the new landlord does not have to honor the lease, because the agreement was between a tenant and a person or entity that now doesn't own the property and therefore has no ability to enforce the contract.  Having said that, I've honored leases in the name of good relations with my newly-acquired tenants.  (all my rentals are in NH, not in MA as my location indicates)

However, laws have changed, and it would be in your best interest to consult an attorney.  Even if the complex is within the law, they may not want the hassle and will possibly honor the old lease.

However, the bigger issue is the availability.  Does old tenant have the right to stay?  There is no way to know that from the amount of information given.  However, as a practical matter, if he chooses to stay, it is 45-60 days to evict him, so whether he has the right or not may be moot, because he'll likely be there for another couple of months.  The management company is fully aware of that.

So, if they don't have your apartment, right or wrong, they don't have it.  Assuming there is nothing else you want to move into in 4 days notice, I'd move into the studio and negotiate the heck out of it.  Ask for free rent for the two months.  You won't probably get it, but you should get a substantially reduced rate (below the studio rate) and free storage for the rest of your stuff.  this is a major inconvenience and you should be compensated, they rented you something they didn't have.  

If you choose to go to court it will cost them time and energy and legal and they don't probably want the hassle.  Neither do you.  Not trying to say they are in the right here, just approaching this from the lemonade out of lemons standpoint and give you a suggestion.   Get a discount, pocket the difference and work it hard for concessions.  Most complexes have vacancies, especially studios.