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Rent-to-Own Rights

Rent-to-Own Laws in New Hampshire: Your Rights

New Hampshire's Rent-to-Own Agreement Act bars a store from entering your premises or breaching the peace to repossess, caps late and reinstatement fees at $5, and gives reinstatement rights that grow once you've paid two-thirds. Missing payments is a civil matter, not a crime.

What New Hampshire's rental-purchase law generally provides

Can you be charged with a crime?
Not for the debt, but keeping the item and refusing to return it can be charged as theft.
Can they enter your home?
No home entry without your permission
Getting it back (reinstatement)
Yes
Paid enough to own it?
Your agreement must disclose an early-purchase option and the price or formula for it; you acquire ownership by completing the disclosed total of payments (N.H. Rev. Stat. §358-P:4).
Fee caps
Reinstatement fee capped at $5
Owe a balance after repossession?
Not allowed

These describe what the statute says. Your own contract and the facts of your situation can affect how they apply.

Verified against New Hampshire Rent-to-Own Agreement Act (N.H. Rev. Stat. ch. 358-P) on .

New Hampshire’s Rent-to-Own Agreement Act keeps the cost of falling behind low and rewards customers who’ve paid more with extra time to recover the item.

Can the store come into my home?

No. A rent-to-own agreement in New Hampshire can’t authorize the dealer to enter your premises without permission or commit a breach of the peace in repossession (N.H. Rev. Stat. §358-P:7). A store that can’t repossess peacefully has to use the courts.

Can I be arrested for not paying?

No. Falling behind is a civil matter. A dealer that violates the Act is liable to the consumer civilly: actual damages or 25% of the total payments to own the item (at least $100, up to $1,000), plus costs and fees (§358-P:11). There are no criminal charges against customers who fall behind.

Can I be charged with theft for keeping the item?

Keeping the item is a separate question. New Hampshire’s theft law reaches a person who has custody of property under a rental or lease agreement and intentionally fails to return it in a way that is a gross deviation from the agreement (N.H. Rev. Stat. §637:9). There is no set written-demand period, but the bar is high: it takes an intentional failure that grossly departs from the agreement, not simply being behind. The charge is graded by the item’s value.

This is about intentionally holding onto the item, not about being behind and trying to catch up. If you decide to walk away, returning the item, or responding to a demand, is what keeps you clear of it.

Reinstatement, and a boost at two-thirds paid

If you fall behind, you can reinstate without losing rights you’d earned by catching up within 5 days of the renewal date (monthly) or 2 days (more frequent). If the item was returned, you have at least 21 days after the return to reinstate, stretching to at least 30 days if you’d already paid two-thirds or more (§358-P:8).

Fees are capped at $5

A late charge or reinstatement fee can’t exceed $5, applies only after a payment is more than 5 days late (monthly) or 2 days (more frequent), and only one such charge may be made per payment (§358-P:7). Your agreement must also spell out an early-purchase option; the ownership calculator can help you estimate where you stand.

New Hampshire rent-to-own questions

Can a rent-to-own store in New Hampshire have me arrested for missing payments?
Falling behind on payments is a civil matter, not a crime. A dealer that violates the Act is liable to the consumer civilly: actual damages or 25% of the total payments to own it (at least $100, up to $1,000), plus costs and fees (N.H. Rev. Stat. §358-P:11).
Can I be charged with theft for keeping rent-to-own property in New Hampshire?
Keeping the item is a separate question. New Hampshire's theft law reaches a person who has custody of property under a rental or lease agreement and intentionally fails to return it in a way that is a gross deviation from the agreement (N.H. Rev. Stat. §637:9). There is no set written-demand period, but the bar is high: it takes an intentional failure that grossly departs from the agreement, not simply being behind. The charge is graded by the item's value. Returning the item, or responding to a demand, takes you out of it.
Can a rent-to-own store enter my home in New Hampshire to take the item back?
A rent-to-own agreement can't authorize the dealer to enter your premises without permission or commit a breach of the peace in repossession (N.H. Rev. Stat. §358-P:7).
Can I get rented rented merchandise back after it is repossessed in New Hampshire?
If you fall behind, you can reinstate without losing rights you'd earned by catching up within 5 days of the renewal date (monthly) or 2 days (more frequent). If the item was returned, you have at least 21 days after the return to reinstate, or at least 30 days if you'd paid two-thirds or more toward ownership (N.H. Rev. Stat. §358-P:8).
In New Hampshire, can I owe money after the item is repossessed?
Because a rent-to-own agreement renews one period at a time, you can return the item and stop owing future payments rather than being held to a full purchase price.

Sources

Every statement about the law on this page links to the official statute itself, so you can read the law, not just our summary of it. Notice something out of date? Let us know.

Consumer information, not legal advice. For your situation, consider speaking with a licensed New Hampshire attorney or a local legal-aid office.