Can I Sue My Landlord in Nebraska?
Yes — in many situations. These are the main claims Nebraska tenants bring, what the law lets you recover, and where to file. Each rule links to the statute or official source. Most claims under the small claims limit can be filed without a lawyer.
Before you sue
- Write down what happened, with dates, and keep photos, texts, emails and receipts.
- Send your landlord a written demand (templates below) and give a reasonable deadline.
- Check the deadline to sue and the court's dollar limit (below).
- If the amount is over the small claims limit, or you are facing eviction, talk to a lawyer or legal aid first.
Your security deposit wasn't returned
| Penalty for withholding | Tenant recovers the money due plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees; if the landlord's failure was willful and not in good faith, also liquidated damages equal to the lesser of one month's periodic rent or two times the deposit. Landlord's successor in interest is bound by the section. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 |
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| Deposit return deadline | 14 days after the tenancy terminates (balance plus written itemization delivered or mailed; if no forwarding address is given, mail first-class to the last-known address). If the mailing comes back undeliverable or the balance stays unclaimed for one year, it becomes abandoned property reportable to the State Treasurer. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1416 |
Free Nebraska security deposit demand letter
You were locked out or your utilities were cut off
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Prohibited. If a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant, or willfully interrupts electric, gas, water, or other essential service, the tenant may recover possession or terminate, and recover an amount equal to three months' periodic rent as liquidated damages plus a reasonable attorney's fee. On termination the landlord must return prepaid rent and recoverable security. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1430 |
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Your landlord retaliated after you complained
| Landlord retaliation | Landlord may not raise rent, decrease services, or bring/threaten a possession action because the tenant complained to a government agency about a housing-code violation affecting health and safety, or organized/joined a tenants' union. Tenant may use § 76-1430 remedies and raise retaliation as a defense. No statutory presumption period. Exceptions: tenant-caused violation, tenant in default on rent, or code compliance requires alteration/demolition that deprives tenant of use. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1439 |
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Your landlord won't make repairs
| Repair and deduct | Limited: only for the landlord's deliberate or negligent failure to supply running water, hot water, heat, or essential services. After written notice, tenant may procure reasonable substitute services and deduct their actual and reasonable cost from rent (or recover diminution in rental value, or obtain substitute housing with rent excused). No general repair-and-deduct remedy for other defects was found in the Act. Not available if the tenant/household/guest caused the condition. Using § 76-1427 precludes § 76-1425 remedies for the same breach. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1427 |
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| Withholding rent | No general self-help withholding statute. In a possession or rent action, the tenant may counterclaim for amounts owed by the landlord under the Act, and the court may order the tenant to pay accrued/accruing rent into court; if nothing remains due after offsets, the tenant gets judgment in the possession action. Rent is also excused while tenant uses substitute housing under § 76-1427(1)(c). Tenant may terminate after 14-day cure notice for material noncompliance (§ 76-1425). Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1428 |
| Mold | No statute — general habitability/repair duty applies. After written or actual notice, the landlord must substantially comply with applicable minimum housing codes and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises fit and habitable. Nebraska has no mold disclosure or mold-remediation standard for rentals. Local minimum housing codes (e.g., Omaha, Lincoln) may address moisture or mold; where a minimum housing code applies, it sets the landlord's maximum duty under this section. |
| Pests & bed bugs | No pest- or bed-bug-specific statute. The landlord must keep the premises fit and habitable and common areas clean and safe (after notice); the tenant must keep the occupied part of the premises clean and safe and dispose of garbage and waste properly. No state bed-bug disclosure or inspection rule. Local housing codes may assign extermination duties. |
| Heat | Yes. The landlord must supply reasonable heat (and running water and reasonable hot water at all times) and maintain heating facilities in good and safe working order. No statewide minimum temperature or heating season is set. Exceptions: buildings not required by law to be equipped for heat, or units where heat is generated by an installation in the tenant's exclusive control supplied by a direct public utility connection. In a single-family residence, the parties may agree in good-faith writing, for consideration, that the tenant supplies heat and hot water (§ 76-1419(2)). Local housing codes may set minimum temperatures. |
Free Nebraska repair request letter to landlord
Your landlord entered without notice or invaded your privacy
| Landlord entry notice | At least 24 hours' written notice (stating purpose and expected arrival window, delivered to each unit) and entry at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. Tenant may not unreasonably refuse consent; landlord may not abuse access or use it to harass. Written per-unit notice requirement reflects the Laws 2021, LB320 amendment. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-1423 |
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| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific camera statute. It is a crime to knowingly intrude on a person without consent in a place of solitude or seclusion, or to photograph, film, or record a person's intimate area without knowledge and consent. Landlord entry generally requires 24 hours' written notice stating the purpose and time window, and may not be used to harass. Intrusion is a Class I misdemeanor (felony on repeat); intimate-image recording is a Class IV felony. |
You were refused or treated differently because of Section 8 or other income
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | No. The Nebraska Fair Housing Act covers race, color, religion, national origin, disability, familial status, sex, and military or veteran status, but not source of income or housing vouchers. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 20-318 |
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Other claims tenants bring in Nebraska
| Constructive eviction (conditions forced you out) | No Nebraska statute uses the term "constructive eviction," but the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act lets a tenant move out and stop paying rent in defined situations. For a material breach of the lease, or a failure to maintain the unit that materially affects health and safety, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends on a date at least 30 days later unless the landlord fixes the breach within 14 days. If the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply running water, hot water, heat or essential services, the tenant may give written notice, move to reasonable substitute housing, and owes no rent while the problem lasts. Essential-services section: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1427. A tenant who is locked out or whose utilities are willfully cut off may end the lease and recover three months' rent plus attorney's fees (76-1430). These remedies are not available for conditions the tenant, the tenant's family or guests caused. Whether Nebraska courts also apply a common-law constructive-eviction defense is not addressed in the statute. |
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| Injuries on the property | The landlord must comply with minimum housing codes affecting health and safety, keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, and keep supplied electrical, plumbing, heating and other facilities in good and safe working order, after written or actual notice. The statute says these duties are not intended to change existing tort (injury) law, so injury claims are decided under general negligence law. A lease cannot excuse the landlord's liability for its own active negligence. A tenant may recover damages for the landlord's failure to meet these duties (76-1425(2)). Lease-clause limits: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=76-1415. Talk to a lawyer about any injury claim — filing deadlines apply. |
Where and when to sue
| Small claims limit | $7,500 (since July 1, 2025), not counting interest and costs, for money, damages or personal property, or to cancel a contract for goods or services of that amount or less. Raised from $6,000 by Laws 2024, LB139. Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-2802 |
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| Small claims filing fee | $58 total to file a small claims case (the $6.25 statutory fee plus other court costs). Service costs are extra and are paid by the plaintiff; they may be added to the judgment if the plaintiff wins. |
| Deadline to sue on a written lease | 5 years for a written lease or other written contract; 4 years for an oral (unwritten) lease, express or implied. § 25-206 (oral contracts, 4 years): https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-206 |
How small claims court works in Nebraska →
Tenant lawyers and free legal aid in Nebraska · Nebraska tenant rights · Suing a landlord in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.