New Hampshire HOA Laws: Rights & Board Duties

New Hampshire's condominium and HOA law is governed by two primary statutes. Understanding which applies to your community is essential to knowing your rights.

RSA 356-B — New Hampshire Condominium Act

RSA 356-B is the comprehensive statute governing condominiums in New Hampshire:

• RSA 356-B:1 to 356-B:6 — Definitions, applicability, and general provisions
• RSA 356-B:7 to 356-B:20 — Creation and recording of condominiums, declaration contents, and common-area allocation
• RSA 356-B:35 — Contents of the bylaws (defines the association's powers and procedures)
• RSA 356-B:37 / 356-B:37-e — Association meetings; disclosure of financial information and meeting minutes to unit owners
• RSA 356-B:39 — Allocation of votes and voting
• RSA 356-B:46 — Liens for assessments and enforcement of liens
• RSA 356-B:43 — Insurance requirements
• RSA 356-B:47-a — Flag display (associations may not prohibit US flag display consistent with the flag code; reasonable size/manner rules allowed)
• RSA 356-B:50 to 356-B:58 — Registration, public offering statements, and disclosures (AG enforcement at §§59–65)

Non-Condominium HOAs

New Hampshire has no comprehensive planned-community statute. Non-condominium HOAs are governed by:

• Their recorded covenants, conditions & restrictions (CC&Rs) and bylaws
• RSA 292 (voluntary corporations) if organized as a nonprofit corporation — see below
• General contract and property law
• Note: RSA 356-C is the condominium-conversion tenant-protection act, not an HOA-governance statute

RSA 292 — Voluntary Corporations and Associations

Many New Hampshire HOAs are organized as voluntary corporations under RSA 292:

• Provides corporate governance framework for HOAs organized as nonprofit corporations
• Board member duties and governance procedures
• Member rights including voting and record access

Compare New Hampshire's framework to Maine (Maine Condominium Act, based on the Uniform Condominium Act), Massachusetts (its own Condominium Act), and Connecticut (CIOA).

In most states this distinction is academic. In New Hampshire it is everything. RSA 356-B applies only to condominiums — communities created by a recorded declaration submitting land to the Condominium Act, where you own a unit plus an undivided interest in common areas. If you own a house on your own lot in a subdivision with an HOA, you are almost certainly in a planned community, and New Hampshire gives you no HOA statute at all. Every statutory right discussed on this page depends on which side of that line you fall.

How to Tell Which One You Live In

• Read your deed — A condominium deed conveys "Unit 12 of the Pine Ridge Condominium" together with an undivided percentage interest in the common areas. A planned-community deed conveys "Lot 12" subject to recorded covenants
• Check the declaration's first page — Condominium declarations recite that the property is submitted to RSA 356-B. Planned-community declarations are simply recorded restrictive covenants, often titled "Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions"
• Search the registry of deeds — Both documents are recorded with the county registry of deeds; the registry copy controls over whatever photocopy the property manager hands you
• Don't rely on labels — Detached houses can legally be condominium units ("detached condos" are common in New Hampshire), and some townhouse communities are planned communities. The recorded declaration, not the architecture, decides

What Turns on the Answer

If You're in a Planned Community: Your Rights Are Contract Rights

No statute means no statutory floor — but it also means the association has no statutory powers. Everything the board does must trace to the recorded covenants or, if the HOA is incorporated, to RSA 292 and its articles of agreement. A planned-community board that fines without express covenant authority, records "liens" no document authorizes, or invents rules beyond the covenants is acting ultra vires, and New Hampshire courts will not supply powers the contract omits. Your enforcement toolkit is the common law: covenant interpretation under Joslin, waiver, estoppel, good faith, and the courts described in our guide to fighting New Hampshire violations.

RSA 356-B and New Hampshire common law establish important rights for condominium unit owners. These rights provide the foundation for challenging improper board actions.

Record Access Rights

Under RSA 356-B:37-e and most condominium bylaws, unit owners have the right to access:

• Financial records — Budgets, financial statements, and records of receipts and expenditures
• Meeting minutes — Minutes of board meetings and unit owner meetings
• Governing documents — Declaration, bylaws, rules and regulations, and amendments
• Insurance policies — Details of the condominium's insurance coverage
• Assessment records — Records of assessments levied and payments

Meeting and Voting Rights

• Annual meeting — Required for unit owner elections and business (RSA 356-B:37)
• Board meetings — A statutory right, not a bylaw favor: RSA 356-B:37-c requires an open regular board meeting at least quarterly with a reasonable opportunity for owner comment, 10 days' notice, and pre-distributed board materials available to owners; non-open meetings must be recorded and the recording made available on request
• Voting rights — Right to vote on board elections, amendments, and major decisions
• Proxy voting — A statutory owner right under RSA 356-B:39 (directed or undirected proxy is "the choice of the unit owner"), with anti-concentration caps: in associations over 20 units, one person's proxies cannot exceed 10% of votes cast
• Special meetings — Can be called per the bylaws, often by petition of a percentage of unit owners

Due Process in Enforcement

• Written notice — Required before fines or sanctions are imposed
• Opportunity to be heard — Right to present your case before penalties are levied
• Follow governing documents — Board must comply with established enforcement procedures
• Reasonable enforcement — Rules and penalties must be reasonable

Protected Activities

• American flag display — For condominiums, protected by state statute: RSA 356-B:47-a bars associations from prohibiting US flag display consistent with the flag code (reasonable size/manner rules allowed). All HOAs are also covered by the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005
• Solar energy systems — New Hampshire has NO statute that voids HOA solar restrictions (proposed bills HB 1535 in 2020 and HB 1380 in 2022 both failed). Whether your HOA may restrict solar depends on your CC&Rs
• Clotheslines — New Hampshire has NO right-to-dry statute; clothesline use is governed by your CC&Rs
• Fair housing — New Hampshire RSA 354-A prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability

New Hampshire condominium boards have specific obligations under RSA 356-B and general fiduciary principles. Understanding these duties helps you hold the board accountable when it acts improperly.

Association Powers (RSA 356-B:35 & the declaration)

The association's powers are defined by its bylaws (RSA 356-B:35) and declaration, and are exercised by the board:

• Adopt rules and regulations — Governing use of common areas and units, consistent with the declaration and bylaws
• Collect assessments — Levy and collect regular and special assessments to fund common expenses
• Maintain common areas — Repair, maintain, and manage common elements
• Enforce governing documents — Enforce the declaration, bylaws, and rules, including through fines if authorized
• Obtain insurance — Maintain adequate property and liability insurance

Fiduciary Duties

Board members owe fiduciary duties to all unit owners:

• Duty of care — Act with reasonable care and diligence
• Duty of loyalty — Put the association's interests above personal interests
• Duty of good faith — Act honestly and fairly
• Duty to follow the documents — Comply with the declaration, bylaws, and applicable law

Enforcement Obligations

• Enforce uniformly — Rules must be applied consistently to all unit owners
• Follow procedures — Must comply with enforcement procedures in the governing documents
• Provide due process — Notice and opportunity to be heard before sanctions
• Act reasonably — Penalties must be proportionate
• Document decisions — Record enforcement actions in meeting minutes

What the Board CANNOT Do

• Cannot exceed declared authority — Actions must be within the scope of the declaration and bylaws
• Cannot retaliate — Cannot punish owners for asserting legal rights
• Cannot selectively enforce — Must treat all owners equally in rule enforcement
• Cannot discriminate — Must comply with RSA 354-A (fair housing law)
• Cannot prohibit U.S. flag display — Protected by RSA 356-B:47-a for condominiums and federal law for all HOAs (no state solar or clothesline statute exists in New Hampshire)
• Cannot deny record access without legal justification

New Hampshire's Condominium Act is thin on fining rules but surprisingly specific about transparency deadlines. Boards miss them constantly — and every missed deadline is documented leverage in a violation dispute, because a board that ignores its own statutory obligations is poorly positioned to demand strict compliance from you.

Meeting Obligations (RSA 356-B:37-c)

• Open board meetings at least quarterly — with a reasonable opportunity for unit owners to comment on any matter affecting the association
• 10 days' advance notice of board meetings stating time, date, place, and agenda (5 days if at least 70% of owners are full-time residents)
• Board materials shared — Materials distributed to directors before the meeting must be made reasonably available to owners at the same time (except unapproved minutes and executive-session matters)
• Executive session is the exception, not the rule — Non-open sessions are governed by RSA 356-B:37-d; a board that conducts all real business behind closed doors is violating the statute
• Small-condominium carve-out — These requirements do not apply to small condominiums governed by RSA 356-B:37's simplified regime, so check which category yours falls into

Disclosure Deadlines (RSA 356-B:37-e)

Unit owners are entitled to the association's financial picture on a statutory clock:

• 30 days before the annual meeting — Financial information including revenues and expenses by category must be made available
• 15 days from request — Requested financial information (contracts, loans, outstanding debts, account balances, salaries paid with association funds, third-party arrangements)
• 90 days from fiscal year end — Year-end accounting
• Meeting minutes — Within 60 days of the meeting or 15 days of approval, whichever comes first

How to Use These Deadlines in a Dispute

1. Send a dated written request for the enforcement records, fine-schedule adoption minutes, and financial records relevant to your dispute, citing RSA 356-B:37-e and the 15-day clock
2. Calendar the deadline — If the board blows it, send a short follow-up noting the missed statutory deadline. You are now building a pattern of non-compliance
3. Check the meeting trail for your fine — Was the rule you allegedly violated adopted at a properly noticed meeting? Was your fine voted at an open meeting reflected in minutes you can obtain? Fines that exist nowhere in the minutes are procedurally fragile
4. Present the pattern — At your hearing or in Circuit Court, a one-page timeline of the board's own statutory misses reframes the dispute: the party demanding rule-compliance is the one breaking the rules

RSA 356-B and most governing documents provide frameworks for amending declarations and bylaws. If your association's documents need reform, the amendment process is the route.

Who Has Amendment Authority?

• Unit owners, not the board alone — Declaration amendments require unit-owner approval, typically by supermajority
• Supermajority thresholds — Most New Hampshire declarations require 67% to 75% of votes
• Bylaw amendments often easier — Frequently only majority vote
• Rules and regulations — The board can typically adopt or change these without a member vote

Calling a Special Meeting

Under RSA 356-B and most bylaws, unit owners can demand special meetings:

• Petition threshold — For condominiums it's statutory: RSA 356-B:37, II requires a special meeting on request of unit owners holding at least 33% of the votes (bylaws may set a lower percentage). If the association doesn't notify owners within 30 days of the request, the requesting owners may notice the meeting themselves
• Written demand — Submit a written petition with the proposed agenda
• Board duty to call — Within a reasonable period after the demand
• Notice requirements — All unit owners must receive advance notice

Practical Strategy: Reform from Within

1. Identify the problematic provisions in the declaration, bylaws, or rules
2. Draft proposed amendments with help from a New Hampshire real estate attorney
3. Build coalition support — Required because supermajority approval is needed
4. Request the unit-owner roster and records under RSA 356-B:37-e
5. Run candidates for the board — Often complementary to amendment efforts

New Hampshire HOA disputes are decided under RSA 356-B, contract law, and common-law doctrines. Several principles repeatedly favor homeowners.

Interpretation of Restrictive Covenants — An Important NH Difference

Unlike many states, New Hampshire does not apply a rule of strict construction against enforcement — the NH Supreme Court rejected that doctrine in Joslin v. Pine River Development Corp., 116 N.H. 814 (1976), and has reaffirmed the rejection since (Shaff v. Leyland, 154 N.H. 495 (2006)). Covenants are interpreted by the parties' intent in light of the surrounding circumstances. What that still means for you:

• Courts will not extend a restriction beyond its plain meaning — conduct outside the provision's terms is not a violation
• The board cannot rewrite a restriction through "interpretation"
• Subjective standards remain vulnerable as too vague to enforce uniformly
• But do not argue "strict construction" or "ambiguities favor the homeowner" to an NH board or court — that is abandoned doctrine and citing it undermines your credibility

Implied Covenant of Good Faith

New Hampshire recognizes the implied covenant in every contract, including declarations and bylaws:

• Selective enforcement violates good faith
• Retaliation against unit owners for exercising rights violates good faith
• Arbitrary application of rules violates good faith

Statutory Protections Specific to New Hampshire

New Hampshire law gives unit owners several specific protections that override conflicting CC&R provisions:

• RSA 354-A — Fair housing (prohibits discriminatory enforcement)
• Federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act — Protects U.S. flag display
• RSA 354-A — Fair housing law (federal + state protections)
• RSA 356-B:37-e — Record-access and financial-disclosure rights

Business Judgment Rule — and Its Limits

• Decisions must be informed
• Decisions must be in good faith
• Decisions must be within the board's authority under RSA 356-B and governing documents
• Procedural defects defeat business judgment protection