Nevada’s main residential rental statute is NRS Chapter 118A, which NRS 118A.010 titles the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The chapter sets what a written dwelling lease must contain, how large a security deposit may be and when the unused portion must come back, what “habitable” means, how much notice a landlord must give before entering or raising rent, and that a landlord may not recover possession by changing the locks or cutting off utilities. Eviction procedure itself lives mainly in NRS Chapter 40. Housing discrimination is a separate chapter, NRS 118. This guide maps those statutes; each topic has a dedicated page.

A quick map of where the law sits helps when reading any of it. NRS 118A governs most rental agreements for a dwelling unit located in Nevada. NRS 40.250 through 40.254 set the unlawful-detainer grounds and the summary-eviction tracks. NRS 118.020 and 118.100 state the state’s equal-housing policy and the acts that chapter forbids. Court procedure for summary eviction appears in the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 101 through 111.

Which rentals does NRS 118A cover?

NRS 118A.180(1) applies the chapter to rental agreements, wherever made, for a dwelling unit or premises located in this state. NRS 118A.180(2) then lists what the chapter does not cover, including:

  • rental agreements subject to NRS Chapter 118B (manufactured-home parks);
  • low-rent public-housing programs under the United States Housing Act of 1937;
  • residence in an institution incident to detention or to medical, geriatric, educational, counseling, religious, or similar service;
  • occupancy under a contract of sale (with a short 90-day seller-occupancy exception);
  • occupancy by a fraternal or social organization’s member in space operated for the organization;
  • hotel or motel occupancy for fewer than 30 consecutive days unless the occupant clearly manifests an intent to remain longer;
  • occupancy by an employee whose right to occupy depends solely on employment on the premises;
  • occupancy by a condominium-unit owner or a cooperative proprietary-lease holder;
  • occupancy primarily for agricultural purposes; and
  • occupancy by a person guilty of forcible entry (NRS 40.230) or forcible detainer (NRS 40.240).

Those exclusions matter because much of the “Nevada landlord-tenant” conversation on the internet applies Chapter 118A language to hotel stays, mobile-home-park lots, or unauthorized occupants — categories the statute itself carves out.

What must a written Nevada lease contain?

NRS 118A.200 requires any written agreement for use and occupancy of a dwelling to be signed by the landlord or agent and the tenant or agent, and requires the landlord to provide one free copy at execution. The same section lists subjects a written rental agreement must address, including duration, the amount of rent (as a single figure for the maximum total periodic rent, including mandatory fees), occupancy by children or pets, included services, required fees and deposits, late or dishonored-check charges, inspection rights, who will occupy the dwelling, utility-payment responsibilities, a signed inventory of condition, and several required informational statements.

NRS 118A.200(9) makes it unlawful to use a written agreement that does not conform, and any contrary provision is void. NRS 118A.220 separately voids lease terms that waive Chapter 118A rights, authorize a confession of judgment, require the tenant to pay the landlord’s attorney’s fees (except a prevailing-party fee after a court action), exculpate the landlord for the landlord’s own acts, or give the landlord a different termination-notice period than the landlord must give the tenant. The full list, and what the statute says when there is no written agreement, is in What a Nevada lease must contain.

How large may a security deposit be, and when must it be returned?

NRS 118A.242(1) provides that a landlord may not demand or receive a security deposit or a surety bond, or a combination of them, including the last month’s rent, whose total amount or value exceeds three months’ periodic rent. After the tenancy ends, NRS 118A.242(4) limits claims against the deposit to amounts reasonably necessary to cover unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear, and reasonable cleaning, and requires an itemized written accounting and return of any remainder no later than 30 days after termination. If the remainder is not returned within that time, NRS 118A.242(6) makes the landlord liable for the entire deposit plus an additional sum, fixed by the court, of not more than the entire deposit. Details, including surety bonds and sale-of-the-building transfers, are in Nevada security deposit law.

What must a landlord repair?

NRS 118A.280 requires the landlord, at the start of the term, to deliver possession in a habitable condition. NRS 118A.290 then requires the landlord to maintain the dwelling in a habitable condition throughout the tenancy. A unit is not habitable if it violates housing or health codes concerning health, safety, sanitation, or fitness for habitation, or if it substantially lacks listed essentials — among them weatherproofing, working plumbing and an approved water supply with hot and cold running water, heating, electrical systems, garbage receptacles, sanitary grounds, and floors, walls, ceilings, stairways, and railings in good repair.

If the landlord fails to maintain habitability, NRS 118A.355 describes a 14-day written-notice path and a set of statutory remedies, including termination, actual damages, court relief, and rent withholding — with the important limit in NRS 118A.355(5) that withholding is not an eviction defense unless the withheld rent is deposited into a court-established escrow. Smaller repairs have a separate “repair and deduct” path in NRS 118A.360. Essential-service interruptions have a 48-hour clock in NRS 118A.380. Those mechanisms are explained in landlord repair and habitability obligations.

How much notice does a landlord need before entering?

NRS 118A.330 states that a tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent for the landlord to enter peaceably to inspect, make necessary or agreed repairs or improvements, supply agreed services, or show the unit to people with a bona fide interest. The landlord may enter without consent in an emergency. Except in an emergency, the landlord must give at least 24 hours’ notice of intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times during normal business hours, unless the tenant expressly consents to shorter notice or to a particular non-business-hours entry. The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant. See landlord entry notice in Nevada.

Can a landlord raise the rent?

NRS 118A.300 is a notice statute, not a price-control statute. It provides that a landlord may not increase the rent payable by a tenant unless the landlord serves written notice 60 days — or, for any periodic tenancy of less than one month, 30 days — in advance of the first increased rental payment. No Nevada statute in the hosted Chapters 118A or 40 sets a statewide cap on how much rent may increase. A rent increase that applies uniformly to all tenants is also one of the circumstances NRS 118A.510(3)(d) says does not, by itself, violate the anti-retaliation rule. The notice rule is unpacked in Nevada rent increase notice rules.

How does a tenancy end besides eviction?

Chapter 118A describes several statutory grounds on which a tenant or cotenant may terminate despite contrary lease language. NRS 118A.340 addresses relocation for care or treatment that cannot be provided in the dwelling (for a tenant 60 or older or with a physical or mental disability) and termination after the death of a spouse or cotenant. NRS 118A.345 addresses termination when a tenant, cotenant, or household member is a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking, with specified supporting documents and a 90-day recency window. NRS 118A.350 and 118A.355 describe termination after a landlord’s uncured breach of the rental agreement or of the habitability duty. Those are permitted statutory termination grounds — not a menu of exit strategies — and are the subject of breaking a lease in Nevada.

How does eviction work?

For dwellings covered by Chapter 118A, NRS 118A.480 provides that a landlord shall not recover possession by action or otherwise — including by interrupting essential services — except through a court proceeding in which the right of possession is determined, the tenant’s surrender, or abandonment under NRS 118A.450. The usual court path is the summary-eviction procedure in NRS 40.253 (nonpayment) and NRS 40.254 (other unlawful-detainer grounds). Those statutes set the notice periods, the rule that the tenant files first to contest, the lockout timing (the sheriff or constable posts the order within 24 hours of receiving it and removes the tenant not earlier than 24 hours and not later than 36 hours after posting), and the right, on an other-cause notice, to request a stay of execution of up to 10 days under NRS 70.010(2).

This cluster’s eviction pages summarize those statutes. The step-by-step walkthrough of notices, hearings, and lockout timing is the existing courts page, Nevada Eviction Process (Summary Eviction), Step by Step. Start with How does eviction work in Nevada? and Nevada eviction notices.

NRS 118A.390 addresses a different problem: an unlawful removal, a blocked entry, or a willful interruption of essential services. That section authorizes a verified complaint for expedited relief filed within 5 judicial days, a hearing within 3 judicial days, restoration of possession or services, actual damages, and an additional amount of not more than $2,500. That is the statute behind wrongful eviction in Nevada.

What rights does Chapter 118A give tenants — and what does NRS 118 add?

The tenant-facing duties and remedies in Chapter 118A sit alongside tenant obligations in NRS 118A.310 (keep the occupied part reasonably clean and safe, dispose of waste, use systems reasonably, and not disturb neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment). NRS 118A.510 prohibits specified retaliatory acts — terminating or refusing to renew, increasing rent, decreasing essential services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession — when they are taken because the tenant complained in good faith about a housing-code violation or a Chapter 118A violation, joined a tenants’ union, raised habitability in a proceeding, complained of housing discrimination, or is a victim who terminated under NRS 118A.345, among other listed reasons. A tenant in that situation “has a defense in any retaliatory action by the landlord for possession.”

Separately, NRS 118.020 declares it the public policy of Nevada that people have equal opportunity to lease, rent, sell, hold, and convey real property without discrimination because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, familial status, or sex. NRS 118.100 lists the housing practices that chapter forbids. Those two chapters together are the backbone of What are tenants’ rights in Nevada?.

What Nevada landlord-tenant law does not say

A few absences are worth naming because out-of-state articles often assert otherwise:

  • No statewide rent-control cap. NRS 118A.300 regulates notice of an increase, not the amount.
  • No 24-hour “eviction notice” for an ordinary tenancy. The 24-to-36-hour clock in NRS 40.253(5)(a) is the lockout after a court order is posted, not a notice to quit. The notice periods themselves are in NRS 40.251 through 40.254.
  • No 60-day no-cause notice tied to how long someone has lived there. The current text of NRS 40.251 uses at least 7 days for week-to-week tenancies and at least 30 days for other periodic tenancies.
  • Chapter 118A is not a squatters’ code. Occupancy after a forcible entry or forcible detainer is excluded from the chapter (NRS 118A.180(2)(j)). Adverse possession is a title doctrine in NRS Chapter 11; unlawful occupancy is a crime in NRS 205.0817. See squatters’ rights in Nevada.

Each topic in this guide has a dedicated page. The Landlord-Tenant index lists them by subject. For the court-process walkthrough, use the summary-eviction explainer.