New Hampshire’s Condominium Act is unusually specific about meetings and records. Annual or regular owner meetings generally require 21 days’ notice, other owner meetings 7 days, and many board meetings 10 days’ notice, reduced to 5 days when at least 70% of owners are full-time residents. Default owner quorum is over 33⅓%, and budgets use an owner-ratification process.
Which statute governs your association
New Hampshire condominium boards operate under RSA Chapter 356-B, a detailed Condominium Act covering owner meetings, board meetings, quorum, voting, budgets, records, and governance. A conventional subdivision HOA is not automatically subject to those condominium provisions, so directors should first confirm the legal form of the community before applying a notice period or quorum percentage found in Chapter 356-B.
For non-condominium HOAs, the declaration, bylaws, easements, and the association’s corporate law are more important because New Hampshire lacks an equivalent comprehensive HOA governance act. Even within a condominium, the instruments can set stricter lawful requirements and fill gaps left by the statute. If the declaration or bylaws are stricter than the statutory floor, follow them unless prohibited. Confirm the current statute text and any recent amendment before relying on this summary.
Sources: [1]
Reserve study and reserve funding
New Hampshire’s Condominium Act requires the annual budget summary to include reserves and a statement of the basis on which reserves are calculated and funded, but the Act does not impose a universal recurring professional reserve-study cycle comparable to Nevada or New Jersey. Boards should distinguish required reserve disclosure and budget planning from a claim that every condominium must obtain a credentialed study every fixed number of years.
The absence of a statutory study cycle does not excuse weak capital planning. The board should identify major common components, expected replacement dates, current reserve balances, and the contribution needed to avoid avoidable special assessments. If the declaration requires a reserve study, minimum funding, or a particular professional review, that stricter document rule controls. Reserve assumptions should be disclosed consistently with the annual budget information sent to owners.
Sources: [2]
Insurance and fidelity bond
RSA Chapter 356-B includes condominium insurance provisions, but boards should read the current insurance section and declaration together rather than relying on a generic percentage copied from another state. The association’s master policy should be coordinated with unit-owner coverage, deductibles, common-element responsibility, and any lender requirements. D&O insurance and fidelity or crime coverage remain distinct from property insurance.
New Hampshire does not use one simple fidelity bond formula in the meeting and budget provisions summarized here. Boards handling significant cash or hiring a manager should still evaluate crime coverage, internal controls, bank authority, and dual-approval practices. If the declaration or management contract requires greater insurance or bonding than state law, the board should follow the stronger requirement and document its annual insurance review.
Sources: [1]
Open meetings, notice, and agenda
Owner meetings must be held at least annually. For an annual or regularly scheduled owner meeting, the designated officer must generally provide at least 21 days’ notice; for another owner meeting, at least 7 days’ notice is required, subject to emergency rules. The notice must state the time, place, and purposes, including budget changes or a proposal to remove an officer or director.
Board meetings are also regulated. Unless already included in a schedule or called for an emergency, notice generally must be given at least 10 days before the board meeting, or 5 days if at least 70% of unit owners are full-time residents. The notice states time, date, place, and agenda. At least once each quarter the board must hold an open regular meeting where owners receive a reasonable opportunity to comment.
Quorum and voting thresholds
Unless the condominium instruments provide otherwise, an owner-meeting quorum exists when persons entitled to cast more than 33⅓% of association votes are present at the beginning of the meeting. The bylaws may set a smaller percentage, but generally not below 25%, or a larger percentage for associations with fewer than 25 units. Board quorum defaults to more than one-half of board votes unless the instruments require a larger majority.
New Hampshire also regulates proxies and voting without a meeting. A ballot used without a meeting must tell owners the number of responses needed for quorum, the percentage needed for approval, and a return deadline at least 10 days after delivery. Amendment thresholds depend on the declaration and the statutory provision involved, so the board should not claim that every CC&R amendment uses the same percentage.
Records access and retention
New Hampshire gives condominium owners detailed access to financial information. Owners must have access within 15 days of request to specified financial information concerning contracts, mortgages, loans, debts, and association accounts, subject to privacy limits. Meeting minutes must be made available within 60 days after the meeting or 15 days after board approval, whichever occurs first, and written minute requests must receive a response within 15 days.
Meeting minutes and the meeting-notice affidavit required for owner meetings have a minimum three-year availability or retention period under the cited sections. Boards should retain recorded instruments and core governance records much longer. A written records retention schedule should distinguish permanent documents from statutory three-year records and from financial material whose retention period is driven by accounting, tax, insurance, or other legal requirements.
Budget and assessment disclosure
At least annually, the board must adopt a proposed budget and provide owners a summary not later than 30 days after adoption. The summary must include reserves and explain the basis on which reserves are calculated and funded. At the same time, the board sets a ratification meeting not less than 10 nor more than 60 days after the summary is provided.
The proposed budget is ratified unless two-thirds of all unit owners, or any larger number specified in the declaration, reject it at the meeting. Ratification does not depend on a quorum being present. If owners reject the budget, the last ratified budget continues. Financial information also must be available 30 days before the annual meeting through the profit-and-loss disclosure required by RSA 356-B:37-e.
Sources: [2]
Limits on assessment and fee increases
New Hampshire does not impose a general annual percentage cap on condominium assessment increases. Instead, the board adopts a budget and owners receive the statutory ratification opportunity. The declaration may impose additional limits or special-assessment approval requirements, and those stricter lawful provisions remain important. A board should not translate the two-thirds rejection rule into a claim that two-thirds owner approval is always required to increase dues.
For conventional HOAs outside RSA 356-B, regular and special assessment authority is more document-driven. Directors should identify whether the increase is part of the annual budget, a special assessment, or a separate fee, then follow the correct notice and voting procedure. Minutes should explain the reason for the increase and its connection to authorized common expenses, reserves, insurance, or capital work.
Sources: [2]
Fines and enforcement due process
New Hampshire condominium enforcement authority is shaped by Chapter 356-B and the recorded instruments, but the meeting provisions do not create one universal fine schedule. Before imposing a monetary fine, the board should identify the declaration or rule authorizing the charge, follow any required notice and hearing procedure, and preserve a written record explaining the violation and decision.
Closed or executive board sessions should not be used to bypass required owner notice or take routine final action in secret. When enforcement concerns confidential owner information, the board should follow the Act’s permitted closed-session procedures and record only what is appropriate in open minutes. A conventional HOA should perform the same authority check under its CC&Rs and corporate law because condo remedies do not automatically transfer to an HOA.
Sources
- New Hampshire Legislature — RSA Chapter 356-B, Condominium ActOfficial consolidated Condominium Act.
- RSA 356-B:40-c and 356-B:37-e — budgets, reserves, financial disclosureOfficial budget-ratification section; pair with 356-B:37-e for records and P&L disclosure.
- RSA 356-B:37 — owner meetings and noticeOfficial New Hampshire meeting provision.
- RSA 356-B:37-c — board meetings and noticeOfficial board open-meeting provision.
- RSA 356-B:38 — quorumsOfficial quorum provision.
- RSA 356-B:37-e — financial information and meeting minutesOfficial owner-access and financial-disclosure provision.