Nevada eviction law

When rent is unpaid, serve a written notice to pay the rent or surrender the unit within seven judicial days after service. The notice may be served any time after rent is due.

NRS 40.2512(1)(b) NRS 40.253

• The notice must name the court with jurisdiction and tell the tenant of the right to file an affidavit with that court, within the notice period, stating that the rent was paid or is not in default; that the court may order the sheriff or constable to remove the tenant; and that a tenant who is unlawfully locked out or has essential services cut off may seek relief. NRS 40.253(1)(a), (3)
• Unlawful detainer notices are generally served by a sheriff, constable, licensed process server or an attorney's agent: in person, by leaving a copy with a suitable person at home or work and mailing one, or by posting and mailing if neither works. The summary eviction section adds its own delivery rules. NRS 40.280(1)
• For a weekly tenancy that has lasted no more than 45 days, you may instead require payment by noon of the fourth full day after service. If that notice cannot be delivered in person, post and mail it; a sheriff or constable will serve it only with the tenant's signed move-in acknowledgment of the eviction procedure. NRS 40.253(1)(b), (2)
• The notice periods set by statute cannot be shortened by the lease. NRS 40.252(1)
• The notice rules do not apply to a federal, state or tribal worker, or a household member, who proves the shutdown status to you during a government shutdown. NRS 40.2512(2) NRS 40.253(12)(b)

For a breach of the lease or the tenant's basic duties other than unpaid rent, serve a written notice to perform or surrender. The tenant has 5 days after service to cure; if the breached term cannot afterwards be performed, no notice is needed. Some serious breaches allow a 3-day notice to surrender with no chance to cure.

NRS 40.2516(1) NRS 40.251(1)(b)(2)

• A 3-day notice to surrender applies when the tenant sublets or assigns against the lease, commits or allows waste, runs an unlawful business, maintains a nuisance that unreasonably obstructs the use of property and harms other tenants or neighbors, or violates the controlled substance laws on the premises. NRS 40.2514
• Under the landlord and tenant chapter, the written notice specifies the breach; if the tenant does not remedy it or use best efforts within 5 days after receiving it, you may end the lease. A tenant who cannot fix it can avoid termination by letting you fix it and paying the reasonable cost. NRS 118A.430
• If the breach can be fixed by repair, replacement or cleaning, you may instead give 14 days' written notice; if the tenant does not use best efforts to comply, you may do the work and bill the tenant, payable as rent on the next rent date. NRS 118A.440
• You may also recover damages and get a court order against the tenant's breach. NRS 118A.420
• The lease cannot shorten these notice periods. NRS 40.252(1)

Nevada has a summary eviction process run through the justice court. During the notice period the tenant may file an affidavit contesting it, which leads to a hearing; if the tenant neither pays nor files, you may file an affidavit of complaint, and the court may order the sheriff or constable to post a removal order within 24 hours and remove the tenant between 24 and 36 hours after posting. A formal unlawful detainer suit is also available.

NRS 40.253 NRS 40.254

• Your affidavit for a nonpayment case must state when the tenancy began, the periodic rent, any deposits paid beyond the first month's rent, when rent became late, how long the tenant has stayed without paying, the amount claimed, and that the notice was properly served, with copies of the notice and the signed lease. NRS 40.253(5)(a)
• If the court finds a legal defense, the case moves to a formal unlawful detainer action. NRS 40.253(6)
• The summary process also covers the other unlawful detainer grounds, including an expired notice to quit, a breach notice and a 3-day notice; the tenant has until the fifth judicial day after service to contest. NRS 40.254
• Either side may appeal a summary eviction order within 10 judicial days; a $250 bond stays execution, and a tenant who stays during the appeal must keep paying rent as it comes due. NRS 40.385
• In a formal unlawful detainer case, a judgment for the landlord includes the rent due and three times the damages assessed; after a nonpayment judgment on an unexpired lease, the tenant has 5 days to pay the judgment and costs and keep the lease. NRS 40.360
• In an action for nonpayment, the tenant may counterclaim. If judgment is delayed, the court must have a tenant who stays deposit a reasonable amount, up to one day's rent for each day until the new hearing, and a tenant who does not deposit it within 24 hours after the original hearing loses the hearing and faces judgment for eviction. NRS 118A.490
• An eviction case file is sealed automatically when the case is dismissed, 10 judicial days after a denial, or 31 days after the tenant's affidavit if you have not filed your complaint within 30 days; the court may also seal it on motion or by agreement. NRS 40.2545
• Justice courts hear possession cases between landlord and tenant when damages claimed do not exceed $15,000 or none are claimed. NRS 4.370(1)(g)
• Prepare a dated case file with the signed lease and amendments, rent ledger and payment records, the actual notice, the authorized server’s proof of service, and relevant messages, repair records or photos. Match each item to the reason stated in the notice and explain any disputed payment or charge. Check the particular court’s current forms and exhibit instructions, and organize copies in date order. A tracking receipt or software record does not replace lawful service, and a possession case should not be treated as an automatic award of every amount claimed. NRS 40.253 NRS 40.280(1)

You may not take back the unit, lock the tenant out, or cut or reduce essential services to force the tenant out. Possession comes back only through a court action, a surrender by the tenant, or an abandonment. A landlord who unlawfully removes or excludes a tenant or willfully interrupts an essential service owes actual damages, up to $2,500 set by the court, or both, and the tenant may get back in or end the lease.

NRS 118A.480 NRS 118A.390(1)

• The tenant may file a verified complaint for expedited relief within 5 judicial days after the lockout or shutoff; the court holds a hearing within 3 judicial days and may order the unit or service restored, award damages and hold you in contempt. NRS 118A.390(4) to (6)
• To exclude includes blocking entry or making the unit uninhabitable by interrupting electricity, gas, water or other essential services. NRS 118A.090
• Seizing a tenant's belongings for rent is abolished; a lien on household goods is enforceable only through attachment or garnishment, and a landlord who keeps them owes the lockout damages. NRS 118A.520
• Once a tenant files an affidavit contesting a summary eviction notice and you receive a file-stamped copy, you may not lock the tenant out. NRS 40.253(4)
• For 5 days after an eviction or lockout, give the former tenant a reasonable chance to retrieve essential personal effects such as medicine, baby formula, basic clothing and personal care items; the court can award up to $2,500 if you do not. NRS 118A.460(3) NRS 40.253(9), (10)

Store property a former tenant abandoned or left after an eviction safely for 30 days after the abandonment, eviction or end of the rental period. You may charge reasonable and actual costs of inventory, moving and storage before releasing it. After the 30 days, you may dispose of it only if you made reasonable efforts to find the tenant, mailed a written notice of your intent to dispose of it, and 14 days have passed since that notice.

NRS 118A.460(1)

• Mail the notice to the tenant's present address, or the last known address if the present one is unknown. Vehicles are handled under the abandoned vehicle law. NRS 118A.460(1)(b), (c)
• During storage you are liable only for your own negligent or wrongful acts. The tenant may ask the court, by motion within 20 days, to decide a dispute over your storage charges. NRS 118A.460(1)(a), (2) NRS 40.253(7), (8)
• When you do not know of an abandonment, it is presumed if the tenant is absent for half a rental period, the rent is not current, and the tenant has not given written notice of an intended absence. NRS 118A.450
• If you reasonably believe the unit is abandoned and rent is in default, you may serve a written notice saying so; unless the tenant pays and gives written notice of the intent not to abandon, with an address for service, within 5 days, the unit is deemed abandoned and the lease ends. NRS 118.195 NRS 118.205
• Give a former tenant a reasonable chance to retrieve essential personal effects during the 5 days after an eviction or lockout. NRS 118A.460(3) See Lockouts and utility shutoffs on the Nevada page

You may not end or refuse to renew a tenancy, raise the rent, cut essential services, or bring or threaten an eviction in retaliation because the tenant made a good-faith code complaint to a government agency, complained to you or the police about a violation of the landlord and tenant law or a criminal statute, joined or organized a tenants' union, raised habitability in a court or agency proceeding, caused a citation to be issued through such a complaint, refused to consent in writing to a rule adopted after signing, complained of housing discrimination, was a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking or ended the lease for that reason, or is a government worker paying rent late during a shutdown as the law allows.

NRS 118A.510(1)

• A tenant who suffers retaliation has the lockout remedies, including actual damages and up to $2,500 set by the court, and a defense to the eviction. NRS 118A.510(2) NRS 118A.390
• It is not retaliation if the code violation was caused mainly by the tenant's lack of care, the tenancy is ended with cause, repairs ordered by a citation require the unit to be vacant, or the rent increase applies uniformly to all tenants. NRS 118A.510(3)
• You may not evict, fine or otherwise penalize a tenant solely because the tenant or someone in the home called police, fire or emergency medical services believing it was needed, no matter how many earlier calls. You may still act on a nuisance or lease breach a peace officer discovers; the tenant, the landlord or the district attorney can sue over a violation. NRS 118A.515
• Cause for ending a tenancy means nonpayment of rent, nonpayment of utility charges you bill separately, failure to meet the tenant's basic duties, valid rules or lease terms, or condemnation. NRS 118A.060