Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.
The landlord charges you for ordinary wear and tear
high likelihoodThe landlord bills you for repainting, carpet cleaning, or "making good" the unit, treating ordinary deterioration as damage.
What answers it
New Hampshire does not allow a deposit to be applied to normal wear and tear. RSA 540-A:7, I permits deduction only where "there are any damages to the premises, excluding reasonable wear and tear". The section then puts the landlord to proof: it must state the nature of each repair "with particularity" and produce satisfactory evidence that the repair has been or will be done. A line reading "cleaning — $250" satisfies neither limb. Ask the landlord to identify, item by item, what exceeds that standard, and to produce the move-in condition record that shows the item was not already worn when you took possession.
RSA 540-A:7 — § 540-A:7
"The carpet/paint had to be replaced"
high likelihoodThe landlord charges the full cost of a new carpet, new paint or a new appliance against your deposit.
What answers it
A tenant is not liable for the full replacement cost of an item that was already part-way through its useful life. The recoverable figure is the depreciated value of the remaining life, not a new-for-old replacement. Ask for the installation date and the invoice; carpet is conventionally depreciated over five to ten years and interior paint over two to four. A landlord who cannot date the item cannot prove the loss, and in a deposit case the landlord carries the burden.
RSA 540-A:7 — § 540-A:7
"We never received a forwarding address"
high likelihoodThe landlord says it could not return the deposit because it did not know where to send it.
What answers it
Produce the written record — the email, the text, the certified-mail receipt, the notice-to-vacate that carried the address, or the change-of-address confirmation from the postal service. A landlord who received the address and did nothing cannot rely on this. If the address genuinely was never given, give it now in writing: in most states that starts the clock rather than ending the claim.
RSA 540-A:8 — § 540-A:8, I(b) — double damages
"We sent you the itemisation"
high likelihoodThe landlord asserts it posted the itemised statement inside the statutory window and that you simply did not receive it.
What answers it
Ask for proof of despatch, not proof of intention: the certificate of mailing, the certified-mail receipt, the tracking number, or the timestamped email. Most deposit statutes require the statement to be sent within the period, and the landlord bears the burden of showing it did so. An unevidenced assertion that a letter was posted is not evidence that it was.
RSA 540-A:7 — § 540-A:7
"We had to have the unit professionally cleaned"
high likelihoodA flat "cleaning fee" is deducted whether or not the unit was left dirty.
What answers it
A standing cleaning charge applied to every tenant is not a loss caused by you and is not a permitted deduction. The landlord must show the unit was left less clean than it was at move-in and must produce the invoice for the work actually done. Compare the move-in and move-out condition records; where the landlord did not make a move-in record, it has little with which to prove the difference.
RSA 540-A:7 — § 540-A:7
"You never told us your new address"
high likelihoodThe landlord relies on RSA 540-A:8, II to answer the whole claim.
What answers it
RSA 540-A:8, II excuses the landlord only where its failure to comply "is due to" your failure to notify it of your new address. That is a causation test, not a checklist item: a landlord that had your email, your phone number, a forwarding address on the notice to quit, or that in fact sent you a partial refund or an itemised list, plainly did not fail because it could not find you. Produce whatever contact it used after you left. If no address was ever given, send one in writing today — the six-month reversion in the same paragraph runs from termination of the tenancy, and it is absolute once it expires.
RSA 540-A:8 — § 540-A:8, I(b) — double damages
"That was a pet fee, not a security deposit"
high likelihoodThe landlord relabels part of the money to put it outside the chapter.
What answers it
RSA 540-A:5, II defines a security deposit as "all funds in excess of the monthly rent which are transferred from the tenant to the landlord for any purpose". The label on the line item is irrelevant; a pet fee, cleaning fee, key deposit or "administration charge" taken on top of the month's rent is a security deposit, counts against the RSA 540-A:6, I(a) ceiling, and has to come back under RSA 540-A:7.
RSA 540-A:5 — § 540-A:5 — definitions of "landlord" and "security deposit"
"You broke the lease, so we keep the deposit"
medium likelihoodThe landlord treats an early departure as forfeiting the deposit outright.
What answers it
A deposit is security for actual loss, not a penalty. Breaking a lease may make you liable for rent until the unit is re-let, but the landlord must mitigate, must itemise what it actually lost, and must still account for the deposit within the statutory period. A blanket forfeiture clause does not survive: deposit statutes are generally non-waivable, so a lease term purporting to let the landlord keep the money regardless is unenforceable.
RSA 540-A:7 — § 540-A:7
"This chapter does not apply to us"
medium likelihoodThe landlord says it is a small owner outside RSA 540-A.
What answers it
RSA 540-A:5, I excludes only "A person who rents or leases a single-family residence and owns no other rental property or who rents or leases rental units in an owner-occupied building of 5 units or less". Both limbs are narrow. The first fails if the owner holds any other rental property anywhere. The second fails if the owner does not itself occupy the building, or if the building has six or more units. And the exclusion is switched off entirely "for any individual unit in such building which is occupied by a person or persons 60 years of age or older". Make the landlord state which limb it says it falls in, then check the deeds.
RSA 540-A:5 — § 540-A:5 — definitions of "landlord" and "security deposit"
The deposit was never held in trust and no receipt was given
medium likelihoodThe landlord banked your money with its own and gave you nothing in writing.
What answers it
RSA 540-A:6, II(a) provides that security deposits "continue to be the money of the tenant and shall be held in trust by the person with whom such deposit is made and shall not be mingled with the personal moneys or become an asset of the landlord", the alternative being a bond posted with the town or city clerk under II(c). RSA 540-A:6, I(b) requires a signed receipt stating the amount and the place the deposit will be held. RSA 540-A:8, I(a) makes a breach of either a violation of RSA 358-A:2, and RSA 358-A:10, I awards "actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater", doubled or trebled for a wilful or knowing violation, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. That is a second claim, not an argument — plead it alongside the deposit.
RSA 358-A:10 — § 358-A:10, I — USD 1,000 floor, doubling or trebling, costs and attorney's fees