Southington, CT asked in Criminal Law, Civil Rights and Landlord - Tenant for New Hampshire

Q: Is it legal in NH to record a verbally abusive neighbor from an apartment hallway without their knowledge.

My upstairs neighbor is extremely verbally abusive and has physically threatened her kids and me. I want to make it clear to the property management company how bad it is and want to record her from the hallway. NH is a two party consent state but the law seems to be written around direct conversations. This is yelling that can be heard from a public hallway and other another apartments. It also says people can be recorded if they are in an environment where they should not be under the expectation of privacy- I feel like someone yelling this loud cannot legally expect that conversation to be private. But how would the court actually interpret the situation?

1 Lawyer Answer
Leonard D. Harden
Leonard D. Harden
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Lebanon, NH
  • Licensed in New Hampshire

A: NH is a consent recording state, but if the person is yelling so loudly that it can be heard in a public place then I would agree they have no expectation of privacy. It seems like you could record from your own apartment or the hallway, do not amplify or use any device to enhance the sound.

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