2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title XXXIII-A - Retail Installment Sales › Chapter 361-D - Motor Vehicle Leasing › Section 361-D:17 - Restriction on Liability for Early Termination.

361-D:17 Restriction on Liability for Early Termination. –
I. The lessee shall have the right to terminate the lease at any time after the lessee has made 12 full periodic lease payments for which lease charges have been accrued by the holder, or, in the case of a single payment lease, at the expiration of 12 months from the consummation of the lease. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the holder from permitting the lessee to terminate the lease before the expiration of 12 months.
II. If a lease is terminated early and there is not a purchase option or the lessee does not exercise any purchase option, the lessee's early termination obligation may not exceed an amount equal to the sum of:
(a) Any unpaid lease payments that accrued through the date of early termination.
(b) Any other unpaid amounts, other than excess mileage charges, arising under the terms of the lease.
(c) Any official fees and taxes imposed in connection with lease termination.
(d) A disposition fee in an amount set forth in the consumer lease.
(e) The reasonable costs of retaking, storing, preparing for sale and selling the vehicle, including reasonable attorneys' fees and collection and court costs incurred by the lessor in recovering or securing possession of the vehicle.
(f) The amount, if any, at the time which early termination occurs, by which the balance subject to lease charge plus the lease charge earned in advance for the computational period as defined in the lease, calculated in accordance with the constant yield method or any other generally accepted lease accounting method exceeds the realized value of the vehicle.
(g) Any other early termination charge expressly disclosed in the consumer lease.
III. As an alternative to the constant yield and other generally accepted lease accounting methods of determining the depreciation amounts accrued through the date of early termination of a precomputed lease transaction, those amounts may be determined under subparagraph II(f) by using a lease provision under which the lease charge is calculated on the adjusted capitalized cost for the time outstanding according to a generally accepted actuarial method.
IV. This section shall not limit or restrict the manner of calculating the lessee's early termination obligation, whether by way of unamortized capitalized cost, discounted present value of remaining lease payments, multiples of monthly payments or otherwise, provided that the amount or method of calculating the lessee's early termination obligation shall always be conspicuously disclosed in the lease.
V. Any refundable security deposit or advance lease payment held by the holder may be retained by the holder and shall be credited against the lessee's early termination obligation to the extent it has not been applied against other obligations. The amount of such security deposit or advance lease payment in excess of the amount of the lessee's early termination obligation shall be returned to the lessee. The holder is not obligated to pay interest to the lessee on the security deposit.
Source.
1996, 85:1, eff. Nov. 15, 1996.