Krysten Evans | Oppose HB1499

January 20, 2026 Chairman Joe Alexander House Housing Committee Subject: Testimony in Opposition to HB 1499 Dear Honorable Chair and members of the committee, For the record my name is Krysten Evans, and I am the Director of Policy for ABLE NH, a statewide disability justice organization that works to protect and expand the civil and human rights of people with disabilities across New Hampshire. I am here today in strong opposition to House Bill 1499. Housing is not a privilege for people with disabilities. It is the foundation that makes survival, health, employment, and community participation possible. HB 1499 undermines that foundation by expanding eviction grounds in ways that are punitive, discriminatory, and deeply harmful to people with disabilities and other marginalized tenants. This bill allows eviction based on immigration status, past criminal convictions within a three year window, or classification under the sex offender registry, regardless of whether the conduct is related to tenancy or poses any current risk. For people with disabilities, this approach is devastating. Disabled people are disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system, often as a result of unmet mental health needs, lack of access to services, poverty, or criminalization of disability related behavior. Many people with disabilities also have past convictions tied to survival, untreated trauma, or systemic failures, not ongoing harm. HB 1499 does not recognize rehabilitation, stability, or the reality of people’s lives. It imposes a permanent housing penalty for past harm, even when someone is working, complying with treatment, and living peacefully in their community. The bill also raises serious concerns for people with disabilities who live in shared housing, supportive housing, or rely on caregivers or family members to remain housed. HB 1499 allows eviction not just for tenants, but for any occupant of a rented unit. This means a disabled tenant could lose their home because of the legal status or history of someone they depend on for care, support, or survival. That is not accountability. That is collective punishment, and it places people with disabilities at extreme risk of homelessness. Homelessness is not a neutral outcome. For people with disabilities, it is life threatening. It leads to loss of medical care, loss of mobility equipment, interruption of medications, increased risk of violence, institutionalization, and death. New Hampshire already struggles with a severe housing crisis and an overburdened shelter system. HB 1499 does not make our communities safer. It pushes people further into instability, while increasing strain on courts, shelters, hospitals, and emergency systems. Disability justice demands that we ask not only who is punished by a policy, but who is protected. HB 1499 protects landlords from nuance and due process, while exposing disabled people to displacement, trauma, and harm. Safety cannot be built by expanding eviction. Justice cannot be built by making housing conditional on perfection. And dignity cannot exist when people are one accusation or one past mistake away from losing their home. I urge this committee to reject HB 1499. New Hampshire should be investing in stable housing, supportive services, and fair processes, not policies that deepen exclusion and suffering. People with disabilities deserve housing stability, not legislation that makes survival even harder. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Respectfully submitted, Krysten M. Evans Director of Policy Krysten@ABLENH.org