Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Hampshire

Not renrewing a lease

I own a building in New Hampshire and rent to college students. I have a tenant in an apt. now whose lease is ending May 31, 2003. I have shown the apartment on numerous occasions and always told the 3 tenants that they needed to let me know if they wanted to renew the lease as soon as possible, preferrably by the end of March. The parent of one of the tenants called and was irate because she said I did not have a right to lease the apartment without offering it to her son first. I had done this but the tenant did not tell his parent and now they are threatening to sue. It was a 6 month lease. There were no major problems with these tenants and I would have been happy to rent to them again had they notified me that they wanted to rent from me again. I have since signed a 1 year lease with new people and the current tenant's mother says I have no right to rent to someone other than her son. How can this be? The lease does not state anywhere that the current tenant has ''first dibs'' on the place. It is a 6 month lease and that is all. HELP!


Asked on 4/28/03, 10:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: Not renrewing a lease

I am not a NH lawyer, and NH law may be different in some material way, so before acting, you probably want to check with a NH attorney on this issue.

Generally, unless your lease provides for automatic renewal, the mere presence of a lease does not carry with it any expectation of any "first dibs" or right to continue renting. A landlord may terminate a lease at any time and for any reason so long as it is not for an unlawful (e.g., discriminatory) reason.

I would call these folks who wanted to sue and ask them if they want the apartment. If they do, and they are willing to sign the lease, then they can have it. Give them ten days to sign a new lease, and after that the offer is withdrawn.

Generally a lot more people threaten to sue than actually will sue, and just because someone threatens to sue doesn't mean they have any right to sue. If the current six month lease doesn't give them the right to sue, then they have no such right (absent some strange creation of a right under NH Statutory law).

Hope this helps.

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Answered on 4/28/03, 10:31 am


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