What does New Hampshire's 2026 HOA law, HB 1523, require of volunteer boards starting in 2027?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 2, 2026

New Hampshire HOA law for boards: HB 1523 records list, 15-day inspection rule, copy fee cap, executive session limits and owner votes on conflicted contracts.

Part of the HOA board handbook: new state laws for boards.

The short answer

New Hampshire has no single HOA act. Homeowners' associations organized as voluntary corporations under RSA chapter 292 have had only two short statutory rules of their own. HB 1523 changes that. It became chapter 306 of the 2026 session laws when Governor Ayotte signed it on July 10, 2026, and it takes effect January 1, 2027. The act adds three paragraphs to RSA 292:8-m: - Paragraph III lists eleven kinds of records the association must keep and gives members a right to inspect and copy them on 15 days' notice, with a capped copy fee. - Paragraph IV limits executive sessions to four subjects, allows them only during a regular or special meeting, and bars any final vote behind closed doors. - Paragraph V stops the association from signing a contract with a company in which an owner, a director or an immediate family member of either has a financial interest, unless the interest is disclosed to all members and the members approve the contract at a meeting. A second 2026 law, SB 415, changed condominium registration and matters mostly to developers. HB 1523 covers associations "established under" chapter 292. It does not amend RSA 356-B, the condominium act, so confirm which chapter your association was formed under. Your declaration and bylaws still control anything the statute leaves open. This guide is education, not legal advice.

The eleven records you must keep

From January 1, 2027, RSA 292:8-m(III)(a) requires the association to retain: 1. Detailed records of receipts and expenditures, plus other appropriate accounting records. 2. Minutes of all member and board meetings other than executive sessions, a record of every action taken without a meeting, and a record of actions a committee took in place of the board. 3. A member list in a form that produces an alphabetical list of names, the addresses the association uses, and the number of votes each member may cast. 4. The original and any amended organizational documents, land plats and maps, and all rules currently in effect. 5. Financial statements and tax returns for the past 3 years. 6. Names and addresses of the current directors, members and officers. 7. The most recent annual report filed with the Secretary of State, if any. 8. Financial and other records detailed enough to comply with other law. 9. Copies of current contracts. 10. Records of board or committee decisions approving or denying design and architectural requests. 11. Ballots, proxies and other voting records for one year after the vote. The usual gaps are architectural approvals sitting in a former director's email, ballots thrown out on election night, and paper contracts nobody scanned. Pick one place where the association's records live, a shared drive owned by the association's own account or a locked file box handed from secretary to secretary, and move everything there before January.

Answering a records request

Under paragraph III(b), a member or the member's authorized agent may examine and copy any retained record during reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and place. The member must give 15 days' notice in a record that reasonably identifies what is wanted. A vague demand for "everything" does not meet that test, and the board may ask the member to narrow it. Paragraph III(c) lets the association withhold records about: - personnel, salary and medical records of specific people - contracts and leases still being negotiated - existing or potential litigation, mediation, arbitration or administrative proceedings - government enforcement proceedings over the declaration, bylaws or rules - attorney-client communications and attorney work product - information whose disclosure would break federal or state law - executive session records - other owners' individual account records Copies may be delivered electronically if available and the member asks (III(e)). The association does not have to compile or summarize information that does not already exist (III(f)). Records obtained this way may not be used for commercial purposes (III(g)). The fee rule in III(d) is the one boards will trip on. The association may charge a reasonable fee for copies, but no more than RSA 91-A:4, IV(d) allows for copying a government record, which is the actual cost of making the copy. The statute authorizes a fee for copies, not for inspection. Sample reply: "The association received your records request on [date]. The records listed below will be available for inspection at [place] on [date, within 15 days], or we can email copies at no charge. Paper copies cost [actual cost] per page. Items [list] are being withheld under RSA 292:8-m(III)(c)([number])." Our guide on how an HOA board should respond to a records request walks through logging and tracking each request.

Executive sessions after January 1

Paragraph IV allows the board and its committees to meet in executive session only during a regular or special meeting. A closed-door board gathering held outside a regular or special meeting is not a permitted executive session. The four permitted purposes are: - consulting the association's attorney - discussing existing or potential litigation, mediation, arbitration or administrative proceedings - labor or personnel matters - contracts and other transactions still being negotiated, including bid review, but only if the board finds that early public knowledge would hurt the association's position or that disclosure would violate someone's privacy A routine delinquency review is not on the list unless it involves potential litigation, so ask counsel before closing one. No final vote or action may happen in executive session. Close the session, return to the open meeting, and take the vote there. Sample motion: "Move that the board enter executive session under RSA 292:8-m(IV)(d) to review bids for the 2027 paving contract, finding that public knowledge of the bid amounts before award would place the association at a disadvantage." Record the purpose and the paragraph in the open minutes. Our guide on how to write minutes for an HOA executive session covers what to keep in the separate record.

Contracts with owners, directors and their families

Paragraph V is the biggest change for small communities, where the best bid often comes from someone's brother-in-law. If an owner, a director, or an immediate family member of either has a pecuniary interest in a company seeking a contract with the association, the association may not enter that contract unless: 1. the interest is disclosed in writing, prominently, to all members, before or along with the notice of the meeting held under the bylaws 2. a majority of the votes cast by the membership at a meeting with a quorum approves the contract 3. the interested person recuses from voting This is a member vote. The board cannot approve the contract alone, even if the interested director leaves the room. The rule reaches owners who are not on the board. A landscaping company owned by any owner in the community, or by an owner's adult child, is covered. The paragraph does not define "immediate family member" or say whether renewing an existing contract counts. Ask counsel before relying on either reading. Sample disclosure for the meeting notice: "Disclosure under RSA 292:8-m(V): [Company] has bid $[amount] for [work]. [Name], who is [an owner / a director / the spouse of director (name)], holds an ownership interest in [Company]. Members will vote on this contract at the [date] meeting. [Name] will not vote." If a conflicted vendor might win next year's mowing or snow contract, put the bid on the annual meeting agenda.

Rules that were already on the books

Paragraphs I and II of RSA 292:8-m date from 2023 and still apply. Paragraph I: after developer control ends, if one person acquires more than 50 percent of the votes, amending the bylaws, adopting a budget or changing a property management contract takes a two-thirds majority. Timeshare associations are excluded. Paragraph II: an association approved by a planning board or similar land use body may not dissolve under RSA 292:9 or 292:10-a until that same body holds a hearing under RSA 676:2. Members who want to dissolve to escape upkeep of a road or pond must go through the planning board first.

SB 415 and condominium registration

SB 415 became chapter 245 of 2026. Its changes to RSA 356-B took effect July 2, 2026. - RSA 356-B:49(I)(a) now exempts condominiums of 25 or fewer units from the registration subdivision, up from 10. Time-share condominiums are still not exempt. - Abbreviated registration under RSA 356-B:51(II) is repealed. - A study commission must report on updating the condominium act by November 1, 2027. These rules govern how a declarant offers units for sale. An existing owner-run condominium board has nothing new to do.

A checklist before January 1, 2027

1. Confirm the association was formed under RSA 292 by checking its articles of agreement and the Secretary of State's business record. 2. Gather the eleven record types into one association-owned location. Recover anything sitting in former directors' accounts. 3. Adopt a records request procedure: a log, a 15-day calendar, a withholding checklist and a per-page copy cost. 4. Stop disposing of ballots and proxies on election night. Keep them for one year. 5. Add the paragraph IV purposes to your agenda template and close every executive session with a return to open session before voting. 6. Ask each director to disclose in writing any interest they or their immediate family hold in a current or likely vendor. Repeat the question when bids come in. 7. Review the bylaws with counsel for anything that now conflicts with RSA 292:8-m.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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