Security Deposit Alternative in New Hampshire
New Hampshire caps a security deposit at one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater, and gives you 30 days after the tenancy ends to return it with any interest due. Deductions for damage need a written itemized list that names the repair and comes with evidence it has been or will be done, such as receipts or labor estimates. The deposit stays the resident's money, held in trust, until you have complied with the return section. Miss the rules on holding or returning it and the liability is double the deposit.
What New Hampshire law says about security deposits
Read from the New Hampshire statute on 2026-09-14. Deposit rules change, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Confirm the current text with your own counsel before you change a lease.
Can you require it of every New Hampshire resident?
New Hampshire's constraint sits in a definition. RSA 540-A:5 says a security deposit means all funds in excess of the monthly rent which are transferred from the tenant to the landlord for any purpose. A monthly fee charged instead of a deposit is money above the rent, transferred from the resident to you, for a purpose. Read literally, that makes it a security deposit, and everything that follows attaches: the cap of one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater, the signed receipt, holding the money in trust in a New Hampshire bank account rather than as your own, and returning it with any interest within 30 days of the tenancy ending. A landlord who fails the holding or return rules is liable for double the deposit. The subdivision does not apply to a person who rents out a single-family home and owns no other rental property, or to units in an owner-occupied building of five or fewer, unless the unit is occupied by someone 60 or older. For everyone else, whether a monthly fee can escape that definition is a question for a New Hampshire attorney before you charge one.
Fee-in-lieu provision: RSA 540-A:5, read on 2026-09-14.
Rules differ by state and by city, and subsidized housing is its own question. This is general information for property managers, not legal advice. Get a written opinion before you make the fee a condition of tenancy anywhere.
How the program works in New Hampshire
The mechanics are the same in every state Beagle operates in. The program is designed to comply with applicable state and local regulations, and the rate is set by the deposit amount rather than by geography, so a New Hampshire property and one two states over are quoted the same way.
The resident chooses at signing
Instead of producing the full deposit, the resident pays a smaller non-refundable monthly fee that is billed with rent. Nothing is held, so nothing has to be returned.
The property keeps its protection
Damage beyond normal wear is reimbursed up to the deposit amount the unit would otherwise have required, so what you can recover does not shrink.
Move-out stops being a negotiation
A claim is filed against the program rather than deducted from money you are holding, which takes the itemised-deduction letter and the dispute that follows it off your team's desk.
You earn on every resident who takes it
You set an administrative fee on top of the premium, up to $5 per unit per month, and keep it.
New Hampshire security deposit alternative FAQs
The statute does not address a monthly fee by name, so a mandatory version is a question for your own attorney. The prior question is bigger: RSA 540-A:5 defines a security deposit as any funds above the monthly rent transferred to the landlord for any purpose, so a New Hampshire attorney should say whether a monthly fee is caught by that definition before any version, optional or required, goes on a lease.
See it on your New Hampshire units
Run the program against your own unit count, or walk through it with our team. No upfront fees, no onboarding charges, no long-term contracts.