House Leaders Disappointed in Senate Committee Action on Reasonable Landlord Protection

Concord, NH- House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Lynn (R-Windham) released the following joint statement in response to the NH Senate committee action to Interim Study HB1115, relative to the termination of tenancy at the expiration of the tenancy or lease term, on the consent calendar to be acted upon later this week.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Senate has once again refused to pass a reasonable clarification to New Hampshire law in order to allow landlords to end a lease when in fact the lease is contracted to end.”

“The committee report states that, ‘Given existing landlord protections and the low vacancy rate, the Committee felt this bill was unnecessary at this time.’ This is fundamentally short sighted, wrong, refuses to address the extreme housing crisis we have in this state, and protects squatters. Until we are able to increase the supply of housing in New Hampshire, we will not see any relief. Encumbering landlords with increased regulation, while protecting squatters’ rights, will only exacerbate our housing crisis.”

“HB1115 is one small step we can take to finding real solutions, and we fail to see how upholding the end of a lease is unnecessary or puts the ‘landlord-tenant dynamic’ out of balance.”