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HB 1371 · 2026 · House · Housing Committee

Ban on rental application fees

AI-generated

prohibiting application fees for residential rental agreements.

Prohibits landlords from charging application fees for residential rental agreements.AI-generated

Status

Killed in the House — Inexpedient to Legislate · February 19, 2026
  1. ✓Introduced
  2. ✕House
  3. Senate
  4. Governor
  5. Law

Analysis

This bill prohibits application fees for residential rental agreements.

From the bill's official ANALYSIS section.

Official record

Bill page — docket & status

gc.nh.gov · the authoritative source

Sponsors

Rep. Janet LucasDPrime
  • Rep. Ellen ReadDDeputy Ranking Member· Housing

Also: Rep. Efstathia BoorasD, Rep. Karen HegnerD, Rep. Matthew HicksD

Public testimony

47 signed in online · 7 wrote testimony

81% support19% oppose0% neutral

In their wordsVerbatim, exactly as submitted

“About 3 years ago, after renting the same apartment for nearly 11 years, my landlord chose to sell the home. After attempting to pull together the needed funds to purchase the house & not being able to come up with nearly $500,000 to do so, I was forced to leave my beloved home.…”
— Jill Charnley, Manchestersupports
“Rents are already too high. The cost for the landlord to process a rental application is minimal in comparison to the rent received.…”
— David DeTour, Wearesupports
“Application fees unfairly burden renters and limit access to housing. Eliminating these fees promotes fairness and housing stability.”
— Hannah Meiselman, Machestersupports
“Vote ITL because: ~It is a very standard practice in the US to have applicants pay the cost of applying ~Not collecting an application fee will just raise rents on all the tenants not applying ~Not collecting an application fee could result in time and cost waste from multiple…”
— Kathleen Lord, NORTHWOODopposes

Verbatim excerpts of submitted testimony, quoted from the testimony tool.

Read the testimony · as of Aug 12, 2026

Hearings

  • 2026-01-279:00 amHouse HousingGP 231Public hearing
  • 2026-02-0310:00 amHouse HousingGP 231Public hearing

Legislative history

  1. Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Housing HJ 1 P. 17
  2. Jan 27, 2026HousePublic Hearing: 01/27/2026 11:00 am GP 231
  3. Feb 3, 2026HouseExecutive Session: 02/03/2026 10:00 am GP 231
  4. Feb 3, 2026House: Inexpedient to Legislate 02/03/2026 (Vote 16-2; CC) HC 7 P. 14
  5. Feb 19, 2026HouseInexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 23

Coverage

No reporting linked yet.

Documents (PDF)

Bill text & amendments link direct to gc.nh.gov; committee reports stream from the state record.