Updated November 2026 · Southern New Hampshire
Industries we serve: who shreds what in New Hampshire
The industries we serve, from medical and dental practices to law firms, accountants, real estate offices, schools, nonprofits, property managers, auto dealers and households, and what each one typically brings in to shred. Each section names the federal rule that applies and the service that usually fits.
99¢ per pound at our Tewksbury drop-off. Certificate of Destruction on every job.
- 99¢ per pound
- Since 2007
- BBB A+ rated
- HIPAA BAA on request
Quick answer
The industries we serve at New Hampshire Document Shredding include medical and dental practices, law firms, accountants and tax preparers, real estate offices, schools, nonprofits, property managers and landlords, auto dealers and households. Each brings different paper, from patient charts and closed client files to rental applications, credit applications and old tax returns, but every job is cross-cut shredded at our Tewksbury office for 99 cents per pound plus $34.90 in per-job fees, with a Certificate of Destruction. Our shredding services page explains the three ways to get your boxes to us.
Industries we serve at a glance
From behind the Tewksbury counter, you learn to guess a customer’s job by the boxes. Medical offices bring sealed cartons of charts and superbills. Accountants arrive in late spring with seven-year-old client folders. Property managers bring rental applications with credit reports stapled to the back. Households bring a laundry basket of bank statements and a shoebox of old checks.
The paper differs, and so do the rules behind it. A dental practice answers to HIPAA. A tax preparer answers to the FTC Safeguards Rule. A landlord who pulls tenant credit reports answers to the FTC Disposal Rule. The table sums up who brings what and which rule usually applies.
| Industry | What they typically shred | Federal rule most often in play | Service that usually fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical practices | Charts past retention, superbills, EOBs, intake forms, lab results | HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 CFR 164.530(c) | Pickup for purges, drop-off for quarterly boxes |
| Dental offices | Patient charts, insurance forms, treatment plans, day sheets, old films | HIPAA | Drop-off or pickup, film quoted per item |
| Law firms | Closed client files, drafts, discovery copies, billing records | FTC Disposal Rule names attorneys, plus professional duties of confidentiality | Witnessed for sensitive matters, pickup for file closeouts |
| Accountants and tax preparers | Client source documents, workpapers, copies of returns, payroll reports | FTC Safeguards Rule names tax preparation firms | Drop-off after tax season, pickup for big purges |
| Real estate offices | Buyer files, pre-approval letters, copies of IDs, deposit checks | FTC Disposal Rule when consumer reports are involved | Drop-off or Zone pickup |
| Property managers and landlords | Rental applications, tenant screening reports, pay stubs, expired leases | FTC Disposal Rule names landlords | Drop-off for small owners, pickup for management offices |
| Auto dealers | Credit applications, credit reports, license copies, deal jackets | FTC Disposal Rule names automobile dealers | Pickup on a set schedule |
| Schools | Student records past retention, test materials, staff files | FERPA, 34 CFR Part 99 | Summer pickup or drop-off |
| Nonprofits | Donor reply cards, check copies, volunteer files, payroll | Disposal Rule for any background check reports | Drop-off for small batches |
| Households | Old tax returns, bank and card statements, medical bills, a late parent’s papers | IRS retention periods guide what to keep | Drop-off, or pickup for estate cleanouts |
One thing is the same for every industry: shredding happens at our office at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Nothing is shredded at your curb, and we have no drop box in New Hampshire. You drive your boxes down, we pick them up by zone, or you book a witnessed session and watch.
Your field missing from the list? Insurance agencies, churches, contractors, staffing firms, HR departments and small manufacturers bring the same mix of payroll, personnel files, customer records and old tax paper. The rules that apply to them are usually the IRS retention periods for tax and payroll records and the Disposal Rule for any background checks or credit reports they keep. If you are unsure which rule covers a box, ask your accountant or attorney before it leaves the building, then bring it in.
Medical and dental practices
Health care is the industry where shredding is least optional. HIPAA’s Privacy Rule at 45 CFR 164.530(c) requires a covered entity to have “appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information.” Paper that leaves the office in an open recycling tote fails that test.
Front desks produce more PHI than charts do. Sign-in sheets, intake forms, insurance card copies, refill requests and phone message slips all carry a name plus a health detail. The habit that works: a locked console behind the desk and a rule that anything with a patient name goes in it.
We sign a Business Associate Agreement on request for covered entities and business associates. Our medical shredding service page covers the agreement, the certificate and the cost math for a small practice.
Primary care and specialists
Charts past the retention period your licensing board sets, lab and imaging reports, referral letters, superbills and EOBs. Physicians should confirm their period with the NH Board of Medicine and their malpractice carrier first.
Dental offices
Charts, periodontal records, treatment plans, insurance claim forms, day sheets and lab slips, plus old film. Film and imaging discs are physically destroyed and quoted per item. See dental office shredding.
Therapy and counseling
Session notes, intake questionnaires, treatment plans and billing records, which deserve extra care. Many therapists choose a witnessed session. Our page on mental health records shredding covers it.
Nashua sits in pickup Zone 2, so a practice there weighs a $159.95 pickup against a staff afternoon on the road. Our guide to medical office shredding in Nashua walks through that choice.
Law firms
Law firms bring two kinds of jobs. The first is steady: drafts, redlines, discovery copies, misdirected faxes and billing printouts that pile up every week. The second is the file closeout, when a firm finally clears years of closed matters from a basement or an off-site storage unit.
The FTC’s own guidance on its Disposal Rule lists “attorneys or private investigators” among the businesses covered when they hold consumer report information, such as credit reports pulled in a collection matter or a background check. Your duty of confidentiality to clients reaches much further than that rule, and it does not end when the matter closes.
What firms typically shred
- Closed client files past the firm’s retention period, after any original documents are returned.
- Working copies of medical records, tax returns and financial statements produced in discovery.
- Drafts, notes and duplicate pleadings.
- Billing records, trust account backup past its period, and old personnel files.
What we see work best
Firms with a single sensitive matter often book witnessed shredding, so a partner can watch the paper go in and sign the certificate on the spot. Firms clearing a storage room book one pickup and get one certificate for the whole closeout.
Before any closeout, check for open matters, appeals and legal holds. A destroyed file cannot be recovered.
Our page on off-site shredding for law firms covers the pickup side, and the law firm file closeout plan lays out an illustrative schedule for clearing closed files in batches. Firms in the Queen City can also read our guide to Manchester law office shredding.
Accountants, tax preparers and financial offices
Accounting offices have the most predictable shredding calendar of any industry we serve. Tax season fills the shelves from January to April. By May, the oldest client folders have aged out and the purge begins.
The FTC Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR Part 314, counts “tax preparation firms” as financial institutions, along with mortgage brokers, collection agencies, credit counselors and other financial advisors. The FTC’s guide to the rule says covered businesses must “securely dispose of customer information no later than two years after your most recent use of it to serve the customer,” unless there is a legitimate business need or legal requirement to keep it.
Client source documents
W-2s, 1099s, brokerage statements, K-1s and receipts that clients left behind, plus copies of returns past the firm’s retention period.
Workpapers and payroll
Engagement workpapers, bookkeeping printouts, client payroll registers and quarterly employment tax reports past their retention dates.
The firm’s own records
Old engagement letters, firm payroll, personnel files and bank statements, all on the same retention schedule as any other business.
The IRS sets the floor for many of those periods. Its “How long should I keep records” page gives 3 years in most cases, 6 years if income was underreported by more than 25 percent, 7 years for a bad debt or worthless securities claim, and at least 4 years for employment tax records. Firms usually add a margin on top and write it into an engagement letter.
Tip from the counter: shred after the extension deadline in October, not in May. By then the season’s loose paper has settled, you know which clients are gone, and one larger job means one set of per-job fees. Our page on shredding for accountants has worked examples.
Real estate offices, property managers and landlords
Real estate runs on paper with financial details attached. A single buyer file can hold a pre-approval letter, bank statements for proof of funds, a copy of a driver’s license and an earnest money check. A rental file usually holds a credit report, a background check and pay stubs.
That second group matters. The FTC lists “landlords” by name among businesses covered by the Disposal Rule, along with “individuals who obtain a credit report on prospective nannies, contractors, or tenants” and “mortgage brokers.” The rule at 16 CFR 682.3 requires reasonable measures to protect that information when you throw it away, and its first example is a written policy requiring burning, pulverizing or shredding.
Real estate brokerages
Typical boxes hold closed transaction files past the brokerage’s retention period, buyer and seller intake forms, copies of IDs, commission statements and agent onboarding paperwork. Brokerages often run one large job a year after the busy season.
Our page on real estate office shredding covers transaction files and agent turnover.
Property managers and landlords
Typical boxes hold rental applications from people who were never approved, tenant screening reports, pay stub copies, expired leases, move-out inspection forms and maintenance records with tenant names and phone numbers.
Rejected applications are the easy win. They hold the most sensitive data and have the least reason to stay in a file cabinet.
A landlord with three rental units might clear two boxes a year for $94.30 at drop-off. A management office with 20 boxes of old files pays $434.90 at drop-off, or adds a pickup fee by zone. Zone 2 covers greater Nashua and Manchester at $159.95. Our FACTA disposal rule guide explains the federal rule in more detail.
Auto dealers
Few small businesses handle as much identity data as a car dealership’s finance office. Credit applications list Social Security numbers, employers and income. Deal jackets hold credit reports, copies of licenses and insurance cards, payoff letters and sometimes bank account numbers for direct payment.
The FTC names “automobile dealers” in its list of businesses covered by the Disposal Rule. Any dealer that pulls a credit report on a buyer holds consumer report information, so the reasonable-measures standard in 16 CFR 682.3 applies to how that paper leaves the building.
Credit applications
Including apps for deals that never closed. They carry full identity details and rarely need to stay as long as funded deals.
Deal jackets
Closed deals past the dealer’s retention period, with credit reports, buyer’s orders and copies of IDs inside.
Service records
Repair orders with names, addresses, phone numbers and VINs, plus warranty claim paperwork.
Office and payroll
Payroll registers, commission reports, employee files and old bank statements on the business side.
Credit applications from deals that never funded are the paper dealers most often forget. They sit in a finance office drawer for years, yet carry the same identity details as a funded deal. Put a retention period on them in your written policy, then box them up with the deal jackets that have aged out.
Dealers usually do best with a standing pickup on a fixed calendar, so finance managers are not driving boxes across the state line. Every pickup is priced by zone and shredded at the Tewksbury office after it arrives. Our off-site shredding page explains how a pickup is booked, and the zone for your town is confirmed when you book.
Schools and nonprofits
Schools and nonprofits share a pattern. Small staffs, tight budgets, a lot of personal information about people who are not employees, and a strong instinct to keep everything forever because nobody is sure what can go.
Schools
FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, protects student education records at schools that receive funds under programs run by the U.S. Department of Education. Its rules sit at 34 CFR Part 99. Disposal starts with your district’s own retention schedule, then shredding for whatever has aged out.
Typical boxes hold cumulative folders past retention, test booklets and answer sheets, nurse logs, counseling notes, special education drafts, field trip forms and staff files. Summer is when most schools purge, with a pickup booked for the week after the last bell. See school records shredding.
Nonprofits
Nonprofits hold donor information that donors trust them to protect: reply cards with card numbers, copies of checks, pledge forms and gift acknowledgment files. Many also screen volunteers. A background check report bought from a screening company is consumer report information, and the Disposal Rule covers anyone who keeps it for a business purpose.
Typical boxes hold old donor reply cards, event registration forms, volunteer applications, payroll and grant files past retention. Small batches by drop-off keep costs low. Two boxes cost $94.30.
Neither group needs a contract with us. There are no long-term contracts required for any industry we serve. Book a single job when the purge is ready and file the Certificate of Destruction with your board or district records.
Households, executors and home offices
Households are the largest group of customers by count. Most arrive with one to five boxes, often after tax season, a move or a death in the family. The paper is mixed: bank and card statements, old tax returns, medical bills and EOBs, pay stubs, pre-approved credit offers and canceled checks.
The IRS retention periods are the best guide to what can go. Keep tax records 3 years in most cases, 6 if you underreported income by more than 25 percent, and 7 for a bad debt or worthless securities claim. Once the period has run, the paper is a liability, not a record. Our residential shredding page explains how a household drop-off works.
Everyday households
Statements, old returns past their period and junk mail with account numbers. One box at drop-off costs about $64.60.
Executors and families
A late parent’s files, closed accounts, medical bills and decades of checks. See estate cleanout shredding for the order of operations.
Home offices
Client paperwork, invoices and business tax records from a home-based business. Our guide to home office shredding covers what to keep.
For households near the border, the drive is short. Tewksbury is about 15 minutes south of the state line at Salem and Pelham via I-93 or Route 38, and staff help you unload at the door.
Which service fits your industry
All three services end in the same place: cross-cut shredding at our Tewksbury office, 100 percent of the shred recycled, and a Certificate of Destruction for your file. What changes is who moves the boxes and who watches.
| Service | Price | Industries that use it most |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-off | 99¢ per lb, or $15 small and $20 banker’s box at 10+ boxes, plus $34.90 per job | Households, small practices, accountants, landlords and nonprofits near the state line |
| Off-site pickup | Same shredding rates plus $129.95 Zone 1, $159.95 Zone 2 or $199.95 Zone 3, plus $34.90 per job | Medical groups, auto dealers, schools, management offices, law firm closeouts |
| Witnessed | $1.99 per lb, $100 minimum, plus $34.90 per job | Law firms with sensitive matters, therapists, practice owners closing an office |
| Hard drives and media | Quoted per item | Every industry retiring old laptops, phones, film or backup drives |
- Sort and boxFill banker’s boxes and tape them shut. Leave staples, paper clips and folders in. Remove binder hardware, hanging-folder frames and anything that is not paper.
- Bag the mediaPut drives, phones, USB sticks, discs and film in a separate bag. They are physically destroyed and quoted per item.
- Book or walk inWalk in for drop-off Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Book online or call (978) 636-0301 for a pickup or witnessed session.
- Hand over and weighStaff weigh your boxes at the Tewksbury counter, or the driver collects them at your door by appointment.
- Get your certificateDrop-off paper is shredded the same business day. File the Certificate of Destruction with your records.
Not sure which industry page fits a mixed office? Our guide to office cleanout shredding covers moves and closures for any business, and the shredding rates page lists every price in one table.
Frequently asked questions
Which industries do you serve?
New Hampshire Document Shredding serves medical and dental practices, therapists, law firms, accountants and tax preparers, real estate offices, property managers and landlords, auto dealers, schools, nonprofits and households across southern New Hampshire. Every job is shredded at our Tewksbury, Massachusetts office for 99 cents per pound plus $34.90 in per-job fees, with a Certificate of Destruction.
Do different industries pay different prices?
No. Every customer pays the same published rates: 99 cents per pound at drop-off, or $15 per small and $20 per banker’s box when you bring 10 or more boxes, plus $34.90 in per-job fees. Pickups add $129.95, $159.95 or $199.95 by zone. Witnessed sessions are $1.99 per pound with a $100 minimum. Drives and media are quoted per item.
Will you sign a Business Associate Agreement for our practice?
Yes. We sign a Business Associate Agreement on request for HIPAA covered entities and business associates, including medical, dental and therapy practices, billing companies and home health agencies. Ask for it when you book online or call (978) 636-0301, and have it signed before your first boxes leave the office.
Are landlords and property managers covered by a disposal rule?
Often, yes. The FTC lists landlords, and individuals who obtain credit reports on prospective tenants, among those covered by its Disposal Rule at 16 CFR 682.3. If you keep consumer report information such as tenant screening reports, you must take reasonable measures when you dispose of it. Shredding is one of the methods the rule names.
Do tax preparers have to shred client records?
The FTC Safeguards Rule treats tax preparation firms as financial institutions. The FTC’s guide says covered businesses must securely dispose of customer information no later than two years after their most recent use of it to serve the customer, unless a legitimate business need or legal requirement means keeping it longer. Shredding paper records after their retention period meets that duty.
Do you have a location or drop box in New Hampshire?
No. All shredding happens at our office at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876, about 15 minutes south of the New Hampshire line via I-93 or Route 38. New Hampshire customers drive their boxes down, book a pickup priced by zone, or book a witnessed session at the Tewksbury office.
Do we need a contract to use your service?
You do not. There are no long-term contracts required for any industry. Most businesses book single jobs when they are ready, such as a quarterly drop-off, an annual purge or a one-time closeout. Practices and dealers that want a regular rhythm simply book their pickups on a fixed calendar.
Can you destroy hard drives and x-ray film along with paper?
Yes, but separately. Drives, phones, USB sticks, discs, tapes and x-ray film are physically destroyed and quoted per item. Put them in their own bag, list them when you book, and we will price them before the job. Paper is priced by the pound or by the box.
Sources
- GovInfo: 45 CFR 164.530, HIPAA administrative requirements, paragraph (c) safeguards (checked November 2026)
- FTC: Disposing of Consumer Report Information? Rule Tells How (checked November 2026)
- GovInfo: 16 CFR 682.3, proper disposal of consumer information (checked November 2026)
- FTC: FTC Safeguards Rule, What Your Business Needs to Know (checked November 2026)
- U.S. Department of Education: FERPA, 34 CFR Part 99 (checked November 2026)
- IRS: How long should I keep records? (checked November 2026)
Bring your industry’s paper to one counter
Whatever your office produces, the process is the same: sealed boxes, cross-cut shredding in Tewksbury and a Certificate of Destruction for your file. Drop off on any weekday, book a pickup by zone or watch it shredded.
Visit or call
1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Route 38 near the I-495 interchange, about 15 minutes south of the NH line. Free parking out front.
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Witnessed sessions and pickups outside these hours by appointment.
Three ways to shred: walk-in drop-off at 99¢ per pound, pickup by zone, or a witnessed session at $1.99 per pound.
New Hampshire Document Shredding · 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876 · (978) 636-0301 · Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.