No cause evictions allow landlords to evict tenants at the end of a lease, without good cause.  This leaves individuals and families – with no reason given – to find and secure new housing, in appropriate proximity to work and school, all in a very short timeline.

Even when given months to search, finding an available, affordable rental unit is a formidable task in NH.  With a vacancy rate of only .6% in NH – less than 1/10^th of the rate in a healthy rental market – it is clear that the demand for rental units far outstrips the current supply.  In fact, NH would need to build over 23,000 additional apartments across the state to meet the need.  This shortfall has contributed to a staggering rise in rental costs.  According to the NH Housing Finance Authority’s Annual Residential Rental Cost Survey, NH rents increased an average of 40.5% (with a range of increases from 28%-82% across the state’s 10 counties) from 2018-2023.

There are already waitlists at shelters across the state for individuals, and families with children.   The reality of no cause evictions is that they will put already-vulnerable people, such as older adults and those living with disabilities, at much greater risk of losing their safe, stable homes and having to be added to the bottom of one of these lists.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty reports that laws that limit evictions “can keep rental housing affordable, reduce housing instability and eviction, and prohibit discriminatory rental admission policies.”  Allowing no cause evictions would move the needle in the wrong direction in solving the housing and homelessness crisis that NH is facing.