Karen Rosenberg

The Disability Rights Center - NH (DRC-NH) opposes HB 1598 for the following reasons: 1. If passed, HB 1598 would limit a court's ability to consider valid defenses a tenant might raise in an eviction action. Doing so will increase the number of New Hampshire's residents who are homeless as tenants would no longer be permitted to raise a variety of valid defenses to eviction actions, including rent withholding based on the property owner or manager's failure to, among other things,: meet state and local housing standards, accept rent through tender of a local welfare voucher, or comply with anti-discrimination requirements in the federal fair housing act. 2. Under the federal fair housing act (FHA), property owners and managers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities who require such to have equal housing opportunities. Further property owners and managers must permit tenants with disabilities to make reasonable modifications to their dwellings - such as installing a ramp at the tenant's expense-- to ensure physical access to their dwelling units. If HB 1598 passes, property owners and managers would be able to circumvent their obligations under the FHA by, for example, denying reasonable accommodation requests or requests to modify a property for accessibility, and then filing expedited eviction actions against disabled tenants who are entitled to the FHA's protections. For these reasons, DRC-NH urges the committee to recommend that HB 1598 be determined inexpedient to legislate. Thank you for your consideration.