N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. » N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. / Title lxiv / Chapter 676
New Hampshire Revised Statutes

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 676:16 (2026)

Penalties for Transferring Lots in Unapproved Subdivisions

✓ current as of May 2026
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    676:16 Penalties for Transferring Lots in Unapproved Subdivisions. – Any owner, or agent of the owner, of any land located within a subdivision in a municipality that has adopted subdivision regulations who transfers or sells any land before a plat of the subdivision has been approved by the planning board and filed with the appropriate recording official under RSA 674:35, II, shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty of $1,000 for each lot or parcel so transferred or sold; and the description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the transaction from such penalties. The municipality may enjoin a transfer or sale which violates the provisions of this section and may recover the penalty imposed by civil action. In any action to recover a penalty, the prevailing party may recover reasonable court costs and attorney's fees as may be ordered by the court.

Source. 1983, 447:1. 1997, 92:3, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1988–2013 · leading case: Ryan James Realty, LLC v. Villages at Chester Condo. Ass'n, 893 A.2d 661 (N.H. 2006).
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Ryan James Realty, LLC v. Villages at Chester Condo. Ass'n, 893 A.2d 661 (N.H. 2006). · cites it 6× “The penalty for violating subdivision regulations is a fine pursuant to RSA 676:16 (1996), Ryan asserts, not a divestment of title to the property.”
Town of Windham v. Lawrence Sav. Bank, 776 A.2d 730 (N.H. 2001). · cites it 9× “See RSA 676:16 (1996) (prior to 1997 amendment).”
Town of Newbury v. Landrigan, 165 N.H. 236 (N.H. 2013). · cites it 5× “See RSA 674:35 (2008) (amended 2012); RSA 676:15 (2008); RSA 676:16 (2008). The respondents argue that the trial court erred in finding that their conduct and that of their predecessors had merged two non-conforming parcels into a single lot.”
Riverwatch Condo. Owners Ass'n v. Restoration Dev. Corp., 980 A.2d 674 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2009). · cites it 3× “We stated: 'When a property owner transfers or sells land before a subdivision has been approved by the planning board, RSA 676:16 provides that the owner shall pay a $500 civil penalty for each lot or parcel transferred or sold without approval.”
White v. Francoeur, 638 A.2d 1250 (N.H. 1994). · cites it 2× “The statutory history of RSA 676:16 buttresses the defendants’ position. In 1969, the legislature expressly provided that a conveyance in violation of a subdivision was void.”
City of Dover v. Kimball, 616 A.2d 516 (N.H. 1992). · cites it 2× “The Kimballs were aware that subdivision approval was necessary when they conveyed the parcel to Daigle and Shine and knew that, because they had violated RSA 676:16, they were subject to a $500 civil penalty.”
Erin Food Servs., Inc. v. Derry Motel, Inc., 553 A.2d 304 (N.H. 1988). “RSA 676:16. That being so, Derry Motel’s obligation to transfer “good and clear record and marketable title” carried with it an obligation to obtain that subdivision approval, without which there could be no marketable title to any separate portion of the tract to be subdivided.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.