Landlord is trying to charge a $250 "tenant at will fee"

Question

Landlord has issued a new lease after I've been a tenant at will for the past 4 years. They've raised the rent by $100, which is fine and expected, but if I don't sign for a 12 month period and choose to remain a tenant at will they will charge an additional $250 monthly on top of the current increased rent. This is in New Hampshire, and doesn't sound like it's legal. They are basically forcing me to sign for 12 months. I've searched any and all legal sites I can find, NH Tenancy laws, Tenants Rights, etc and I can't even find any reference to a term "tenant at will fee".

Answer 1

New Hampshire does not impose many obligations on the landlord apart from the usual "clean and safe" requirements. There are no statutes limiting rent or fees, though there are some provisions regarding security deposits. A landlord could therefore charge $250/mo more on an at will lease, or could not do that but instead charge a "fee". In some states (Washington), fees are illegal, but they are not illegal in New Hampshire. Here are the main prohibitions; here is a prohibition against waiving a statutorily guaranteed right, this law says that all tenancies are assumed to be at will unless expressly stated otherwise by contract.

Answer 2

I am a landlord (and former renter) in Illinois so the laws may be different.

This 100% legal where I am at. The landlord is giving you 3 options: Sign the 12-month lease for X rate, Sign the at-will lease for X rate + convenience fee for the option to terminate the lease at-will, or don't sign a new lease.

So just for clarity, I am assuming your old lease will end and you have the option of signing two different agreements: One for a fixed term at a lower price, one for a dynamic term (that you get to choose and maybe landlord gets to choose as well) at a higher rate.

I have, as a renter, signed a 6 month lease (instead of 12) at a higher rate than the 12 month lease so I could defer moving (I made out like a bandit, covid lockdowns hit 1 month before my 6-month lease ended). I'm not sure where your confusion stems from, if you want more lee-way in the lease (ie, the ability to terminate at any date), you will pay more than the standard, fixed term. The landlord can call the extra premium anything they want, it's still rent as far as the law goes (assuming this extra premium was properly disclosed in the lease).

The other two protections from the other answer (waiving any rights - you aren't, all leases are at-will unless otherwise expressed -> your lease definitely expresses otherwise) don't apply here, they have nothing to do with how your landlord charges rent. You want more control, your landlord wants more rent. It may require more work on their end, it may not, but either way it's more uncertainty and the landlord wants to be compensated for it.

To put it simply, the landlord is going to charge you more if you request anything outside of "standard" and it is perfectly legal for them to do this.