2009 SESSION

09-0089

06/09

SENATE BILL 11

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

ANALYSIS

This bill requires a defendant in a possessory action to deposit a money judgment into court upon filing a notice of intent to appeal.

This bill requires the district court to award to the landlord rent money paid into court pending appeal of a judgment for the landlord in a possessory action based on nonpayment of rent.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

09-0089

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Recognizance, by Defendant. Amend RSA 540:25, I and I-a to read as follows:

I. If the possessory action was instituted on the basis of nonpayment of rent, and the defendant files a notice of intent to appeal, the defendant shall pay into court the full amount of any money judgment for unpaid rent due and the current rent in an amount determined by the judgment of the court pursuant to RSA 540:14, I, weekly and in advance. [Payment] The full amount of such money judgment shall be paid into court and payment of rent for one week must be made, at the time the defendant files notice of intent to appeal in the district court. Rent which had been payable on other than a weekly basis shall be paid to the court each week based on the equivalent weekly rent determined by the judgment issued by the court, pursuant to RSA 540:14, I. During the pendency of the appeal, rent is payable on a weekly basis and is due on the same day of the week on which the notice of intent to appeal was filed. If rent is not paid by the due date, the court shall immediately mail a notice of default to the tenant and issue a writ of possession to the landlord. If, however, the tenant pays the clerk the entire amount of rent due since the filing of the notice of intent to appeal prior to the service of the writ by the sheriff, the writ of possession shall be recalled and the appeal shall be reinstated. Unless the appeal is reinstated, the district court shall vacate the appeal and award the plaintiff the rent money that has been paid into court.

I-a. At any time [during the pendency of the appeal] after the notice of intent to appeal is filed, the landlord may file a motion to the district court for recovery of the rent money that has been paid into court pursuant to paragraph I. The court [may] shall grant such motion unless the tenant objects and the court rules that the landlord is not lawfully entitled to the full amount of rent. If the court rules that the landlord is not entitled to the full amount of the rent, it shall release such portion of the rent to which the court deems the landlord is lawfully entitled, if any, and make specific findings in support of its decision to deny or partially deny the landlord’s motion. The rent money retained by the court shall be apportioned between the landlord and the tenant upon final disposition of the appeal.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.