2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title XXXIII-A - Retail Installment Sales › Chapter 361-D - Motor Vehicle Leasing › Section 361-D:19 - Assessment of Excess Wear and Damage to the Vehicle.

361-D:19 Assessment of Excess Wear and Damage to the Vehicle. –
I. The lease shall contain a clause complying with the Consumer Leasing Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1677 et seq., which describes the standards for determining excess wear and damage to the vehicle for which the lessee will be liable. Upon the lessee's exercise of a purchase option, the holder may not charge, receive or collect a charge for excess wear and damage to the vehicle. The holder may not prohibit the lessee from being present at an inspection for excess wear and damage.
II. No later than 45 days after the return of the vehicle, the holder shall present an itemized bill to the lessee by hand delivery at any location or by first class mail or recognized courier service to the address on the holder's records. The itemized bill shall consist of a listing of the items of excess wear and damage and the amounts to be paid by the lease. An itemized bill may be comprised of separate documents delivered or mailed separately. An itemized bill may also include identified charges for excess mileage and other amounts due under the lease. Mere acknowledgment by the lessee or receipt of an itemized bill shall not operate as an admission of the existence, nature, obligation to pay, or amount of any of the items therein. The holder shall not be required to prepare an itemized bill in response to wear and damage charges identified in lessee's counter inspection report.
III. Except as provided in this chapter, for inspections at or after the return of the vehicle, the holder shall:
(a) Provide to the lessee an itemized bill.
(b) Provide to the lessee the following statement: "You are being asked to pay this amount for excess wear and damage. If you do not agree with this amount and to preserve valuable rights, you must notify us within 7 days of receipt of this bill of your disagreement and obtain and deliver to us, within 30 days after hand delivery or mailing of this bill, an itemized inspection report and estimate of the cost of repairing such excess wear and damage from an appraiser agreed to by us and, payment of any charges due under the inspection you obtained. If you properly obtain and deliver such appraisal and tender any amounts due, such appraisal shall be binding on the holder. If you fail to do so, the holder's inspection shall be conclusive."
(c) In order for the lessee to obtain a counter-inspection, the holder shall allow the lessee access to the vehicle at a reasonable time and place designated by the holder during the 30 day time period as provided in subparagraph (b). The holder shall not be required, however, to deliver the vehicle to, or produce the vehicle at, a destination designated by the lessee for such purpose.
IV. If the lessee is required, or is given the option, to have the vehicle inspected by the holder prior to scheduled termination, the holder shall provide to the lessee notice of such inspection at least 15 days prior to the last date available for such inspection, which shall not be earlier than 15 days prior to scheduled termination, and notice that unless the lessee obtains a counter-inspector, the holder's inspection at lease end shall be conclusive. The pre-termination inspection shall be reasonable as to time and place. In addition to the statement required in paragraph III(b), an itemized bill shall include the following statement: "If this inspection report was prepared by the holder prior to the scheduled termination, you may avoid excess wear and damage charges by having such items satisfactorily repaired prior to the return of the vehicle. The holder may inspect the vehicle at or after its return and may seek additional charges only by written notice and only for wear and damage incurred after the date of the holder's vehicle inspection. In addition, any charges for wear and damage under this inspection or your own inspection shall be due when your lease terminates."
V. (a) A lessee counter-inspection as provided in this section or, if no such counter-inspection is obtained, a pre-termination itemized bill prepared by the holder as required by this section shall be conclusive upon the holder and not subject to increase at the termination of the lease, except to the extent that such wear and damage was obscured or concealed or is reasonably believed by the holder to have occurred after the initial pre-termination inspection.
(b) With respect to such additional wear and damage charges, the holder may give the lessee another itemized bill described in paragraphs II and III.
VI. If the lessee does not present the vehicle for an authorized or required pre-termination inspection, the holder shall give the lessee the itemized bill as described in paragraph II of this section.
VII. (a) The lessee may obtain at the lessee's expense within the periods provided, a counter-inspection.
(b) To be considered a "counter-inspection", the inspection shall:
(1) Be conducted by an inspector reasonably agreed to by the holder.
(2) Be in writing in a form provided by or acceptable to the holder listing the items of excess wear and damage, if any, and the associated estimated cost of repairs according to standards set forth in the lease.
(3) Be delivered to the holder within the applicable time frame.
(4) If conducted after the vehicle is returned to the lessor, be accompanied by payment of the amount of such excess wear and damage listed on the counter-inspection.
VIII. Absent mathematical or other manifest error, the holder shall accept such counter-inspection as determinative of the lessee's excess wear and damage obligations under the lease with respect to the itemized bill for which the counter-inspection is presented and payment is made.
IX. If the lessee does not obtain a counter-inspection or a pre-termination inspection, then with respect to such inspection the lessee shall not be in default, notwithstanding any provision in the lessee's lease agreement to the contrary. If the lessee does not obtain a counter-inspection or, if offered, a pre-termination inspection, the itemized bill described in paragraph II of this section shall be conclusive.
X. The holder shall substantially comply with the provisions of this section. If the holder wishes to charge, receive or collect a charge for excess wear and damage, the exclusive penalty for failure to substantially comply with the provisions of this section shall be a waiver of the right to collect all contested excess wear and damage charges from the lessee. The holder shall not be required to send any notice if the holder does not wish to collect an excess wear and damage charge. Nothing in this chapter shall limit the lessee's obligation for any charge for excess mileage or prohibit any agreement between the lessee and the holder relating to wear and damage if such agreement is consistent with the rights given to the lessee. Nothing shall limit the lessee's liability to holder for odometer rollbacks or obscured or concealed structural or safety related damage discovered by the holder after the return of the vehicle or after the lessee receives an itemized bill.
Source.
1996, 85:1, eff. Nov. 15, 1996.