How to Evict a Tenant in Nevada: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Nevada Eviction Timeline 2026: Summary Eviction Is a Faster Court, Not a Shorter Notice
NRS Chapter 118A and Chapter 40 govern eviction statewide — a Las Vegas justice court works from the same sections as one in Reno or Elko. This page covers the lawsuit itself: notice, the summary eviction affidavit, the hearing, the lockout. Deposits, repair rights, and rent-increase notice are on our Nevada landlord-tenant law guide.
Grounds and Notice Periods
One thing worth clearing up first: “summary eviction” doesn’t mean a shorter warning. It’s a faster court procedure available to a landlord once the notice period below has already run — the notice itself is the same 7 judicial days as an ordinary case. The only genuine notice-length exception for a home is narrow: under NRS 40.253(1)(b), a notice expiring at noon on the fourth full day, and only where rent is reserved by the week or less and the tenancy hasn’t lasted more than 45 days.
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-payment of rent | 7 judicial days (excludes weekends and court holidays) | NRS 40.2512, NRS 40.253 | Yes — the notice demands rent or surrender in the alternative, so paying in full within the notice period ends it; same length whether the case proceeds as ordinary or summary eviction |
| Lease violation | 5 days to cure | NRS 40.2516 | Yes — the notice demands performance of the broken condition or surrender, and performing it within the 5 days saves the lease; if the breach can’t be undone afterwards, no notice is required at all |
| No-cause, month-to-month | 30 days (7 days for week-to-week); on any periodic tenancy other than week-to-week, a tenant 60 or older or with a physical or mental disability can ask in writing, with proof of age or disability, for 30 more days, and the notice must say so; if the landlord refuses, the tenant can petition the court, and a denial still leaves 5 calendar days. A federal, tribal, or state worker (or a household member of one) can ask to stay from the day a shutdown begins until 30 days after it ends, by a written request with proof of that status during the shutdown; the landlord must allow it unless, after a shutdown lasting 30 days or more, the court grants the landlord relief for undue hardship | NRS 40.251(1)(b), (2)–(6); NRS 118A.315 | N/A — a no-fault termination has nothing to cure |
| Controlled-substance violations on the premises (other than simple possession), an unlawful business, or a nuisance that unreasonably obstructs others’ use of the property and injures other tenants or neighbors | 3 days, unconditional | NRS 40.2514 | No — § 40.2514 gives only a notice to surrender |
| Waste, or assigning or subletting contrary to the lease | 3 days, unconditional | NRS 40.2514 | No — same section, same notice to surrender |
The Court Process
- Notice expires. Whichever period above applies has to run first.
- File. Non-payment cases use the summary eviction track of NRS 40.253: the landlord files an affidavit of complaint with the justice court rather than a full complaint. NRS 40.254 opens the same summary track for no-cause, lease-violation, and 3-day nuisance cases; the slower unlawful detainer action under NRS 40.290 to 40.420 remains available. The non-payment summary procedure does not apply to a tenant who proves to the landlord that they are a federal, tribal, or state worker, or a household member of one, during a shutdown (NRS 40.253(12)(b)).
- Tenant contest. For non-payment, the tenant contests by filing an affidavit with the court before the notice runs out; for the other grounds, before the court closes on the fifth judicial day after service. Once the landlord has a file-stamped copy, no lockout may happen. The reverse also holds in a non-payment case: if the notice runs out and no tenant affidavit has been filed and received, NRS 40.253(5)(b) lets the landlord, "in a peaceable manner," bar the tenant from the premises "by locking or otherwise" — except where NRS 118A.480 prohibits it. Filing the affidavit on time is what keeps the door open.
- Hearing. A tenant affidavit forces a hearing on both affidavits. If the court finds a legal defense — retaliation under NRS 118A.510, for instance, or a counterclaim under NRS 118A.490 — it denies summary relief and sends the case to the ordinary unlawful detainer track.
- Order for removal. Without a defense, the court issues a summary order for removal. The sheriff or constable posts it on the premises within 24 hours of receiving it. The justice court may stay execution of any judgment, including one for unlawful detainer, for up to 10 days (NRS 70.010(2)) — that applies on every track, non-payment included. In a no-cause, lease-violation, or 3-day case brought on the summary track, the notice must also tell the tenant of the right to request that stay of the removal or nonadmittance order, stating why a stay is warranted (NRS 40.254(1)(c)(2)).
- Constable lockout. Removal happens no earlier than 24 hours and no later than 36 hours after the order is posted.
What This Costs
Confirm the current filing and service fees with the clerk of the justice court that will hear the case before filing.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
NRS 118A.480 bars a landlord from taking back a unit — including by cutting an essential service — except through a court proceeding, the tenant’s surrender, or abandonment. The peaceable lockout written into NRS 40.253(5)(b) (step 3 above) is part of the non-payment summary procedure, and it is off the table once a timely tenant affidavit has been filed and a file-stamped copy received. A tenant locked out or cut off can file a verified complaint for expedited relief within 5 judicial days, gets a hearing within 3 judicial days, and can recover possession plus actual damages and up to $2,500 (NRS 118A.390). Retaliation gets its own statute, NRS 118A.510, and the list of what counts as protected activity runs long: a code complaint to the enforcing agency, a complaint of a Chapter 118A violation or a crime, joining a tenants’ union, a citation issued after such a complaint, raising habitability in a proceeding, declining to consent in writing to a rule adopted mid-lease, a fair housing complaint, and being a victim of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking. The landlord is off the hook if the tenancy is terminated with cause or a rent increase applies to all tenants alike. What isn’t in the statute is a day-count: there is no window after the protected act and no presumption tied to one.
A separate statute, NRS 118A.345, covers a tenant leaving because of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking — a wider net than “domestic violence” on its own. The lease doesn’t just end 30 days out flat; it ends at whichever comes sooner, the close of the current rental period or 30 days after the notice, and the underlying events must fall within the 90 days before the notice. For domestic violence the notice needs a protective order, a police report, or an affidavit from a qualified third party in the NRS 118A.347 form; for harassment, sexual assault, or stalking, a police report or a temporary or extended protective order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nevada’s summary eviction a shorter notice than a regular eviction? No — both run on the same 7-judicial-day notice for non-payment. Summary eviction is a faster court process once that notice period has already passed, not a shorter warning. The only real notice-length exception is a narrow 4-day notice limited to a weekly tenancy under 45 days old.
Does Nevada’s retaliation statute create a presumption after a fixed number of days? No. NRS 118A.510 names the protected activities, bars terminating, refusing to renew, raising rent, cutting services, or suing for possession in retaliation for them, and gives the tenant a defense to a retaliatory possession action — but it sets no time window and no presumption.
How long does a tenant have after losing a Nevada eviction case before the lockout? Under NRS 40.253(5), the sheriff or constable posts the removal order within 24 hours of receiving it, then removes the tenant no earlier than 24 and no later than 36 hours after posting.