New Hampshire started the year with new laws affecting the way landlords receive the rent from tenants, how much certain state fees cost, and how ambulance billing will work in the future. So, if you want to know about this issue, we are here to tell you all about it. Let’s get started.
New way of paying rent
One of the most important laws is the one affecting landlords and renters. Before, many landlords in New Hampshire could require tenants to pay rent through electronic methods only, such as Zelle or Venmo. This meant tenants had no options in case they didn’t want or couldn’t use digital methods.
However, with the new law called House Bill 30, which was signed in July by governor Kelly Ayotte and applied on January 1, landlords can’t force tenants to use electronic payments. So, tenants will have the right to reject using payment apps, and choose another method. And, landlords will be forced to offer at least one non-electronic payment method like cash, check, or money order. This rule applies to: regular rent payments, lease renewals, and lease extensions.
According to BillTrack50, the goal of this law is to make sure tenants have flexibility and don’t exclusively depend on digital payment methods.
New laws increasing New Hampshire’s fees
Apart from the change in the way of paying rent, New Hampshire introduced other laws that increase several fees. This was done because lawmakers wanted to get more revenue without raising taxes, so they decided to rise some state costs, such as:
- Driver’s license fees: the fee for a new driver’s license now costs $20, which is double the amount it used to cost.
- Vehicle registration fee: this changed from $25 to $35.
- Vanity license plates: they went from $40 to $60.
- Higher fees in specific industries: for example, pesticide dealers must now pay $160 to register each new pesticide. Also, tractor registration fees increased from $6 to $11. And cement mixer registration fees jumped from $1.80 to $12.
All of these changes were also applied on January 1 and were reported by the New Hampshire Bulletin.
Ambulance billing
Another important law that was applied was the Senate Bill 245, which changes how ambulance services are billed. Before, if the cost of an ambulance was more than what a person’s health insurance was willing to pay, the patient could receive a surprise bill for the extra amount. This is called “balance billing”, and it often caused stress and financial worry after an emergency. But, under the new law:
- This year patients will no longer have to pay the amount beyond what their insurance covers.
- Ambulance companies must follow set, mandatory rates for what they can charge insurance companies.
- They are not allowed to send extra charges to the patient.
Governor Kelly Ayotte said this new law is meant to protect families from receiving large, unexpected ambulance bills. She said the goal is to ensure that when people call an ambulance for a loved one, they don’t later face a shocking bill that makes them wonder how they will pay for it.
So…
New Hampshire began the year with several significant legal changes and understanding these changes helps both landlords and renters, as well as all state residents, prepare for how these rules will affect their day-to-day lives moving forward.
What do you think about these changes? Are they necessary changes that will affect in a positive way citizens of the state? We’ll see how this goes, but we hope it is a change for a good reason and their lives are much better with these changes.