Three months' rent. That's Nevada's security deposit ceiling, one of the most generous in the country, and it lulls Las Vegas and Reno landlords into thinking the deposit statute is on their side. It isn't, exactly. Hold or return the money wrong and NRS 118A.242 lets a court award the tenant the entire deposit plus a penalty up to that same amount. Twice the deposit is real money on a $2,000 unit, so this guide starts where Nevada landlords actually lose: the deposit itself.
The short-form numbers live on our Nevada quick-reference page; the statute text is at the Nevada Legislature's NRS chapter 118A.
Taking the deposit: what the 3-month cap really counts
You may not demand or receive security whose total value exceeds 3 months' periodic rent (NRS 118A.242). The cap is aggregate: a security deposit, a pet deposit, a prepaid last month's rent, and any surety bond all get added together. On a $1,800 rental, everything combined tops out at $5,400.
Few Nevada landlords go anywhere near the ceiling, because a triple deposit prices out good applicants. But the aggregation rule matters even at normal amounts: $1,800 deposit plus $1,800 prepaid last month plus a $600 pet deposit is $4,200 of the $5,400 headroom, and every dollar of it is refundable security, not landlord revenue.
Two more rules from the same section. A lease clause declaring the deposit or any part of it "nonrefundable" is void. And a tenant may offer a surety bond in place of cash security; you can agree to one, and you can decline one, but you cannot require it.
Returning the deposit: 30 days, an itemized accounting, and 2x exposure
The clock is 30 days from the end of the tenancy. Within it you must deliver an itemized written accounting of every deduction and refund the rest (NRS 118A.242). Legitimate deductions are unpaid rent, cleaning the lease obligates the tenant to, and repairs for damage beyond normal wear. Repainting after a five-year tenancy because the walls dulled is wear; a door punched off its hinges is not.
Miss the 30 days, or keep money without a defensible accounting, and the statute stacks damages: the full deposit, plus a sum the court sets of up to the full deposit again. The tenant can also respond to your itemization with a written dispute, so keep move-in and move-out photos next to the ledger. For scale, Arizona caps deposits at one and a half months and gives you only 14 business days to return them; Nevada trades a bigger deposit for a bigger downside. Rentari starts a 30-day return countdown the day a Nevada lease terminates, which is cheap insurance against a doubled deposit.
Raising rent takes 60 days' notice; late fees wait 3 days
Nevada has no rent control, statewide or local, and no cap on the size of an increase. What it has is a notice rule: a rent increase on a month-to-month tenancy requires 60 days' written notice before the first increased payment, and 30 days on tenancies shorter than a month (NRS 118A.300). Fixed-term leases hold their rent until renewal.
Late fees carry three limits under NRS 118A.210: the fee must be spelled out in a written agreement, it cannot exceed 5% of the periodic rent, and it cannot be charged until at least 3 calendar days after rent came due. No fee-on-fee compounding either; the 5% is measured against rent, and a previously imposed late fee can't inflate the next one. On $1,800 rent that's a hard maximum of $90 per month, starting the 4th at the earliest. These rules arrived with AB 308 back in 2021 and still surprise owners arriving from states like Idaho, where no statute caps late fees at all. Colorado landlords will find the 5% figure familiar, though Colorado allows the greater of $50 or 5% while Nevada's percentage stands alone.
And since October 1, 2025, the advertised rent itself is regulated: AB 121 requires ads and leases to state one all-in number, covered below.
Entry rules: 24 hours, and only at reasonable hours
Except in an emergency, you 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 agrees to something shorter or later (NRS 118A.330). Inspections, repairs, agreed services, and showings to buyers or prospective tenants are all valid purposes. The same section bans using entry to harass; a pattern of unnecessary visits is its own violation.
Eviction in Nevada: seven judicial days and an affidavit quirk
For nonpayment, the notice is 7 judicial days to pay or surrender (NRS 40.2512). Judicial days exclude weekends and court holidays, so the tenant's real window usually runs 9 to 11 calendar days. Full payment inside the window ends the matter.
Nevada's summary eviction process (NRS 40.253) then inverts what most landlords expect: the notice tells the tenant how to contest by filing an affidavit with the justice court. If the tenant files, you get a hearing. If the tenant does nothing by the deadline, you apply for the eviction order without a full lawsuit. Two more Nevada oddities: eviction notices must be served by a sheriff, constable, licensed process server, or an attorney's agent, not by you personally (NRS 40.280), and for non-rent grounds a second 5-day quit notice is required after the first notice expires before the court will act.
The rest of the ladder: a curable lease violation (unauthorized pet, extra occupant) gets a 5-day notice to perform or quit (NRS 40.2516). Nuisance, waste, unlawful subletting, an unlawful business, or drug violations get a 3-day quit notice with no cure (NRS 40.2514). Ending a periodic tenancy without cause takes 30 days for month-to-month, 7 for week-to-week (NRS 40.251), and a tenant who is 60 or older or has a disability can request 30 additional days, which you can only refuse into a court petition. Lockouts, utility shutoffs, and hauling belongings to the curb are unlawful (NRS 118A.390) and get the tenant an expedited hearing against you. Compliant notice forms for each rung are in our forms library.
Habitability: 14 days to fix, then the tenant picks a remedy
NRS 118A.290 sets the habitability floor: working plumbing and hot water, heat, weatherproofing, electrical systems in good repair, and the rest. When something fails, the tenant's written notice starts a 14-day remedy period (NRS 118A.355). Fix it, or genuinely start fixing it, and the statute is satisfied.
Let the 14 days lapse and the tenant may terminate, sue for damages, or withhold rent without late fees until the problem is cured. Smaller problems have a self-help track: repair and deduct, capped at one month's periodic rent (NRS 118A.360). And a failure of an essential service like heat, water, or electricity moves on a 48-hour clock, after which the tenant can procure substitute housing and offset rent (NRS 118A.380). The practical lesson: answer repair requests in writing, fast, and date-stamp everything.
Add one federal item to the checklist: rentals built before 1978 require the lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet at signing, on top of everything NRS 118A asks of you.
What changed for 2025 and 2026: AB 121 and SB 114
The 2025 Legislature's big swing was AB 121, effective October 1, 2025. It requires every ad and lease to state rent as one number, the "maximum total periodic rent," folding in all mandatory recurring fees; a $1,500 base with a $95 mandatory amenity fee must be marketed as $1,595, on Zillow, on Craigslist, and in the lease. It also requires at least one completely fee-free way to pay rent (a paper check qualifies), caps online payment charges at your actual processing cost, forces refunds of application fees when the unit rents to someone else or the screening never ran, and bans application fees for minors. Violations carry restitution plus penalties up to $250 per violation.
SB 114, also effective October 1, 2025, touches larger operations: apartment communities over 50 units in Clark and Washoe counties (over 30 elsewhere) must run background checks on employees with key access and adopt written key-control policies.
Nothing in 2025 touched the deposit cap, the 7-judicial-day notice, or the 60-day increase notice, so the fundamentals above are stable going into 2026.
Nevada landlord FAQ
How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Nevada?
Up to 3 months' periodic rent, but that ceiling includes everything held as security: pet deposits, prepaid last month's rent, and any surety bond combined (NRS 118A.242). Calling part of it nonrefundable doesn't work; such clauses are void.
When can I charge a late fee, and how much?
Not until at least 3 calendar days after the due date, no more than 5% of the periodic rent, and only if a written agreement authorizes it (NRS 118A.210). Fees can't compound on prior fees.
How long does a nonpayment eviction take?
The notice alone is 7 judicial days, usually 9 to 11 calendar days. If the tenant doesn't pay or file a contest affidavit, the summary eviction order can issue quickly after that; a contested hearing adds a week or more. Plan on several weeks end to end, plus constable lockout scheduling in busy townships.
How much notice do I need to raise the rent?
Sixty days' written notice on a month-to-month tenancy, 30 days if the tenancy runs shorter than a month (NRS 118A.300). There's no limit on the amount, but as of October 1, 2025 the advertised and lease figure must be the all-in maximum total periodic rent under AB 121.
This article is general information about Nevada law, not legal advice, and tenancy statutes shift session by session. Confirm any deadline against the current NRS text or with a Nevada landlord-tenant attorney before you act on it.