Legal Briefs: News From Around NH

State Supreme Court sides with short-term rental owner

The NH Supreme Court has ruled in favor of short-term rental owner Scott Kudrick in his suit against the town of Conway, allowing him and other short-term rental owners to continue to rent their properties, at least until the town decides to regulate them.

The town has the right to file for a rehearing within 10 days of the May 2 opinion.

Town Manager John Eastman had earlier told The Conway Daily Sun that if the court decided short-term rentals are legal in the residential zone, then the town would seek to regulate them in those areas.

Devine Millimet adds litigation attorney

Mark A. Perkins

Mark A. Perkins has joined Devine Millimet as a litigation attorney.

An attorney in Connecticut before returning to New Hampshire, he has over 20 years of experience in civil litigation, personal injury, real estate litigation, municipal liability and probate and trust administration, among other areas.

Frisbie Memorial Hospital fined for price transparency issues

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has fined Frisbie Memorial Hospital $102,660 after determining it was not in compliance with federal price transparency requirements.

The fine was imposed last month after it was determined by CMS the Rochester hospital had been out of compliance since Oct. 24.

The agency’s rules establish requirements for hospitals operating in the United States to establish, update, and make public a list of their standard charges for the items and services that they provide.

Derek D. Lick

Frisbie was acquired in 2020 by Nashville-based HCA Healthcare.

Orr & Reno adds two attorneys

Derek D. Lick and Kelly L. Ovitt Puc have joined the Concord-based firm of Orr & Reno, both as shareholders.

Lick has more than 20 years as a litigator, representing clients in a variety of complex legal matters, including business, real estate, construction, property tax

Kelly L. Ovitt Puc

disputes, and suits involving personal injury and product liability claims.

Ovitt Puc concentrates her practice on real estate transactions, commercial financing, hospitality transactions, general business representation, and creditor/debtor relations.

NH residents lose record amount to romance scammers in 2022

In 2022 New Hampshire residents lost over than three times the amount of money that they lost in 2021 to romance, a new study found.

Online fraud investigation company Social Catfish analyzed FBI and Federal Trade Commission data, and polled more than 3,000 victims of romance scams to determine how residents of each state fared in 2022. Romance scammers use fake photos and online accounts and believable lies to lure victims into parting with their money.

The amount of money Granite Staters lost to romance scams in 2022 was 155 percent of the amount lost in 2021, making the state fourth in the nation for year-over-year increase, the study found.

Some 71 New Hampshire residents lost a state record of at least $2.6 million to romance scams in 2022. That was the amount reported to law enforcement and agencies that the FTC gathers data from. The number was likely much more, industry experts say.

The average loss per victim was $36,529.

Granite Staters to be compensated for TurboTax filing tactic

Over 23,000 Granite State consumers should be receiving checks for about $30 in the mail following a $728,920 settlement with TurboTax’s owner Intuit, the attorney general’s office announced.

The settlement involves charges that the consumers

were tricked into paying to file their federal tax return. Consumers eligible to take part in the settlement include those who paid to file their federal tax returns through TurboTax for tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018, but were eligible to file for free through the IRS Free File Program.

A year ago, Intuit agreed to a multistate $141 million settlement that will result in a total of about 4.4 million consumers nationwide receiving payments, the AG’s office said, adding that eligible consumers should automatically receive checks this month.

The amount each consumer receives will be based on the number of tax years for which they qualify. More information is available at  AGTurboTaxSettlement.com.

Securities Bureau settles Merrill Lynch telemarketing case

The NH Bureau of Securities Regulation has announced settlement of its case against Merrill Lynch for violating telemarketing restrictions.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay administrative penalties of $650,000 and an additional $50,000 for the investigation.

According to the bureau, New Hampshire has the highest number of active registrations per capita on the National Do Not Call Registry, with 1,296,000 active registrations. A violation of Do Not Call occurs when a telemarketing call is placed to a Do Not Call number without the recipient’s consent.

Following an investigation in 2022, the bureau determined that Merrill Lynch violated Financial Industry Regulatory Authority telemarketing restrictions in 2019 and 2020.

Merrill Lynch has not admitted to nor denied the allegations.

After the violations were discovered, Merrill Lynch took disciplinary action against the offending agents and supervisors. It also instituted additional measures designed to improve the detection of unlawful agent telemarketing activities.

The bureau previously cited Merrill Lynch in 2014 for violating Do Not Call restrictions.