HB 1430

HB 1430 - AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to appeals in actions against tenants.

SPONSORS: Rep. Rowe, Hills 14; Rep. Wall, Straf 9; Sen. Gordon, Dist 2

This bill changes the court of appeal in landlord/tenant cases from the supreme court to the superior court and limits further appeals to the supreme court to issues of law.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to appeals in actions against tenants.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Appeal to the Superior Court. RSA 540:20 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

I. Any party to an action brought pursuant to this chapter shall, within 7 days of the date of the notice of judgment, file in district court a notice of intent to appeal the decision of the court to the superior court in the county in which the district court is located. Until the appeal is perfected by the filing of an appeal in the superior court and the payment of the cost of said appeal, the district court shall retain exclusive jurisdiction of the case. After the filing of the appeal to the superior court, the district court shall retain jurisdiction of the matter for the purposes of collecting rent pending the final disposition of the matter in the superior court. In all other respects, the judgment of the district court shall be final at the expiration of the appeal period. The appealing party shall give notice of the appeal to the district court and other parties involved and give a copy of the appeal filed in the superior court to the clerk of the district court and all opposing and other parties involved in the district court matter.

II. In an appeal to the superior court, the burden of proof shall be upon the party seeking to set aside the decision of the district court, to show that the decision of any finding of the court is unlawful or unreasonable. All findings of the district court shall be prima facie lawful and reasonable. The decision of the district court appealed from shall not be set aside or vacated, except for errors of law, unless the superior court is persuaded by the balance of probabilities, on the evidence before it, that said decision is unreasonable.

III. The appeal to the superior court shall be limited to the record in the district court, however at the discretion of the superior court judge, additional evidence may be allowed, as necessary, to correct the absence of the district court record. Any appeal from the superior court to the supreme court shall be limited to issues of law and the decision of the superior court judge to allow or not allow the introduction of evidence or factual or discretionary matters shall not be allowed as a basis of an appeal to the supreme court.