New Hampshire Small Claims Statute of Limitations

The Default: Three Years

Most small claims in New Hampshire are governed by the three-year statute of limitations under RSA 508:4. This covers:

• Breach of contract — someone failed to deliver what they agreed to
• Personal injury — damage to your person caused by someone's negligence
• Property damage — a neighbor's tree fell on your fence, a contractor damaged your home

The clock starts on the date the injury happened or, in some cases, the date you discovered it (or reasonably should have). New Hampshire applies a discovery rule for certain claims, which means the limitations period can begin later than the event itself if the harm was not immediately apparent.

Longer Limits for Specific Claims

Two categories get more time:

Sales of goods (UCC): If your dispute involves the sale of goods — a defective appliance, a used car that was misrepresented — the limitations period is four years from the date the breach occurred. This comes from New Hampshire's adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code under RSA Chapter 382-A.

Construction defects: Covered actions for damages arising from a deficiency in an improvement to real property generally must be brought within eight years from substantial completion under RSA 508:4-b. Statutory exceptions include certain written warranties longer than eight years and certain fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment claims.

What Happens If You File Late

If the applicable limitations period has expired and no exception or tolling rule applies, the defendant can raise the statute as a defense and the claim is time-barred.

The defendant does not even need to know about the deadline — they just need to raise it. A statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, so the court does not automatically apply it just because a filing looks late.

Does Sending a Demand Letter Pause the Clock?

No. An ordinary demand letter does not suspend, toll, or extend the statute of limitations. A notice of claim under RSA 359-G:4, XII automatically tolls the applicable period for 60 days for covered construction-defect claims; ordinary correspondence is not necessarily that statutory notice. If your deadline is approaching, file first and negotiate in parallel.

When the Clock Is Ambiguous

Some disputes do not have a clean start date. A contractor who performed substandard work over several months, a series of partial payments that stopped — these can create genuine uncertainty about when the breach occurred.

In contract disputes, the clock typically starts when the breach happened, not when the contract was signed. If the contractor walked off the job on March 15, 2024, your three-year window runs from that date.

For security deposits, the landlord's return deadline is 30 days after termination of the tenancy under RSA 540-A:7; that is separate from the deadline to file suit. Do not assume later unanswered calls restart the limitations period. If you are close to the line, filing sooner removes the risk.

Keep Your Filing on Time

Our New Hampshire small claims guide includes a Post-Judgment Timeline Calendar that helps you track every critical deadline — from the statute of limitations through the 60-day service window and the 30-day appeal period — so nothing expires while you prepare.

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