What a Landlord Cannot Do in Nevada
The main limits Nevada law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a Nevada landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Prohibited. If a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant, or willfully interrupts (or causes/permits interruption of) any essential item or service, the tenant may recover immediate possession, actual damages, and/or an amount up to $2,500 fixed by the court. In setting the amount the court considers good faith, course of conduct, and degree of harm. Last amended 2021 per history note. Source: NRS 118A.390 |
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| Landlord entry notice | Except in an emergency, at least 24 hours' notice of intent to enter; entry only at reasonable times during normal business hours unless the tenant agrees otherwise. Source: NRS 118A.330(3) |
| Landlord retaliation | Landlord may not terminate/refuse to renew, raise rent, decrease essential services, or bring or threaten a possession action because the tenant in good faith complained of building/housing/health code violations, complained to the landlord or law enforcement of a violation of Ch. 118A or a criminal statute, organized or joined a tenants' union, instituted or defended a habitability proceeding, filed a fair housing complaint, or is a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking (among other listed acts). Tenant gets NRS 118A.390 remedies and a defense to a retaliatory possession action. No presumption period is stated in NRS 118A.510. Exceptions include violations caused by the tenant's lack of reasonable care, termination for cause, and rent increases applied uniformly. Source: NRS 118A.510 |
| Security deposit limit | Security deposit plus any surety bond may not total more than 3 months' periodic rent. Nevada lets a tenant use a surety bond in place of all or part of a cash deposit; the 3-month cap applies to the combined total. Section last amended 2021 per NRS history note. Source: NRS 118A.242(1) |
| Penalty for withholding | If the landlord fails or refuses to return the remainder within 30 days, the landlord is liable for (a) an amount equal to the entire deposit, plus (b) a court-fixed sum of up to the entire deposit. For the extra sum, the court considers whether the landlord acted in good faith, the course of conduct between the parties, and the degree of harm to the tenant. Source: NRS 118A.242(6)-(7) |
| Late fees | No late fee until at least 3 calendar days after rent is due; late fee may not exceed 5% of the periodic rent. The maximum may not be increased based on a previously imposed late fee (NRS 118A.210(4)(c)). Cap added by 2019/2021 amendments per history note. Source: NRS 118A.210(4) |
| Rent control / increase limits | No statewide rent control statute in NRS Ch. 118A. Rent increases require written notice at least 60 days in advance (30 days for periodic tenancies of less than one month). No Nevada statute expressly preempts local rent control, and none expressly authorizes it. Cities and counties have "home rule" power only over matters of local concern, which excludes matters needing statewide uniformity, and without express statutory authority they may not "prescribe the law governing civil actions between private persons or entities". Whether a local rent-control ordinance would fall within these powers has not been decided by statute or by a Nevada appellate court. City powers: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-268.html (NRS 268.001-268.0035); county powers: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-244.html (NRS 244.137-244.146). NRS chapters 244, 266 and 268 contain no section on rent control. SB 123 (2025), which would have barred cities and counties from adopting rent control, did not pass (it is not on the 2025 Bills Passed list, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/83rd2025/Bills/Passed). |
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | No. Nevada's fair housing statute covers race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, familial status and sex, but not source of income or housing vouchers. No source-of-income provision found in NRS 118 or 118A. Source: NRS 118.100 |
| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific camera statute. It is a crime to knowingly and intentionally capture an image of another person's private area without consent where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy (gross misdemeanor; felony on repeat). Except in emergencies, the landlord must give 24 hours' notice before entry and may not use access to harass. Entry is limited to reasonable times during normal business hours unless the tenant consents otherwise. Source: NRS 200.604; NRS 118A.330 |
| Other rental fees | Yes (2025). Every place a landlord lists rent, and every reference in a written lease, must state rent as a single figure that includes all mandatory fees; the landlord may not charge more than that figure. The only exception is a separately disclosed, pass-through monthly fee for individually provided electric, gas or water service where the utility cannot contract with the tenant directly (or master-metered water), flagged by an asterisk with a statement on the same page. Leases must list required fees and their purposes. Landlords must offer at least one free way to pay rent that does not require bank-account information, and any online-portal fee may not exceed what the portal operator charges and must be separately identified in the lease. Landlords may not charge tenants for repairs that are the landlord's duty (including home-warranty deductibles or copays) unless the tenant caused the damage. NRS 118A.200 amended 2025 (Stats. 2025 pp. 1413, 1990); NRS 118A.303 added 2025 (p. 1412); NRS 118A.290 fee ban amended 2023. Late fees are separately capped at 5% (NRS 118A.210). Non-conforming lease provisions are void. |
Can I sue my landlord in Nevada? · All Nevada tenant rights
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.