The eviction process Nevada law sets for an apartment has five parts: you serve the right written notice, the notice period runs out, you file with the court and swear to the facts, the resident can answer with a sworn statement, and the court decides. If you win, an order goes to the sheriff or constable, who is the only person who removes the resident. You never do it yourself.
This is a general explanation, not legal advice. Statutes change and the details matter, so have your attorney review every notice and filing before it goes out. Our Nevada landlord compliance guide collects the statutes owners work with most.
Step One: Choose the Right Nevada Eviction Notice
Everything starts with the notice, and the notice depends on why you want the resident out. Using the wrong one is the most common way to lose weeks.
- Unpaid rent. NRS 40.253 requires a written notice to pay or surrender the unit before the close of business on the seventh judicial day after service. Judicial days are court days, not calendar days.
- Breaking a lease term. NRS 40.2516 covers a failure to perform lease conditions. The resident gets five days after service of a written notice to fix the problem or leave, and a timely cure saves the lease.
- Serious violations. NRS 40.2514 covers things like unlawful business, nuisance, waste or certain controlled-substance problems and works through a short notice to surrender.
- Ending a tenancy without a violation. NRS 40.251 sets notice periods by type of tenancy: seven days for week-to-week, thirty days for other periodic tenancies, and five days for a tenancy at will. It also contains extension rights for residents 60 or older or with a disability, and for federal, tribal and state workers during a shutdown, and the notice must include a statement about them.
For the shutdown piece, read our guide to government shutdown eviction protections.
How the Notice Is Served
For a nonpayment notice, NRS 40.253 lets you deliver it in person. If you do not, it is posted on the unit, mailed, and served by the sheriff or constable, who must do so within 48 hours of the request. The notice must also name the court and tell the resident about the right to file an affidavit before the deadline. Leave those out and the notice can fail.
What Is a Summary Eviction in Nevada?
A summary eviction is the fast court route for a residential unit. Instead of a full lawsuit, you file a short affidavit and the court acts on it, with a hearing if the resident contests. NRS 40.253 sets the procedure for nonpayment, and NRS 40.254 applies the same summary procedure to violations under NRS 40.250, 40.251, 40.2514 and 40.2516.
Under NRS 40.254, the notice must be served as NRS 40.280 requires and must name the court. The resident can contest by affidavit before the close of business on the fifth judicial day, or ask for a stay of up to ten days.
Step Two in the Eviction Process Nevada Uses: Affidavit and Response
When the notice period ends and the rent is still unpaid, you file an affidavit of complaint with the court. NRS 40.253 lists what it must contain, and NRS 40.254 spells out the basics for other violations: when the tenancy started and its term, when it ended, the date of the notice, a statement of how it was served, and that the claim is authorized by law. Accuracy here is everything. A thin or wrong affidavit gives the resident an easy defense.
The resident has one important move. Before the notice deadline, they can file their own affidavit saying the rent was paid or tendered, or that no default exists. If they do it on time, the statute bars a lockout, and the case goes to a hearing instead of an automatic order.
Step Three: The Hearing, the Order and the Lockout
If a timely resident affidavit is on file, the court holds a hearing after notice to both sides. If the resident shows a legal defense, the court refuses relief. If the resident filed nothing in time, the court can enter the order without that contest.
Once you have the order, the sheriff or constable carries it out. NRS 40.253 has the order posted within 24 hours, and the removal happens no earlier than 24 hours and no later than 36 hours after it is posted. Only then is the unit yours again. Disputes over stored belongings and over a lockout have their own short motion deadlines, so your attorney should walk you through them.
How Long Does Eviction Take in Nevada?
It takes as long as the notice period, plus however long the court and the sheriff or constable need, plus a hearing if the resident contests. The statute fixes the notice period and the short windows for the order and removal. It does not fix the total, so be wary of anyone quoting a number of weeks as a promise.
What you control is speed on your side of the process:
- Serve the notice the day rent is late under your lease policy, not weeks later.
- Get the notice right the first time, with the correct court and resident-rights language.
- File the affidavit as soon as the period ends.
- Keep the ledger, lease and proof of service in one file.
A rejected notice costs far more time than any step you can speed up. For the earlier half of the problem, see our guide on how to reduce rent delinquency so fewer accounts reach this stage.
What Landlords Cannot Do During an Eviction
NRS 118A.390 is the rule that protects you from yourself. It prohibits unlawfully removing a resident, blocking or trying to block entry, and willfully interrupting an essential item or service. Changing the locks, taking the door off, removing belongings or shutting off water, power or gas counts, even when the resident clearly owes rent.
The penalty is real. A resident can seek possession through a verified complaint for expedited relief, plus actual damages, an amount the court sets up to $2,500, or both. The court weighs your good faith, the history between you and the resident, and the harm done. The complaint must be filed within five judicial days of the act, and the hearing is set within three judicial days of filing.
The safe rule is simple: nothing changes on the unit until the sheriff or constable acts on a court order.
Did Nevada Change the Eviction Process in 2025?
No. The 2025 session produced AB 283 and AB 201, and both were vetoed, so the summary eviction process and the record sealing rules stayed the same. Our update on Nevada AB 283 has the details.
Rules can still change at any session, and the statutes are amended often enough that a notice template can go stale. Read the current text on the Nevada Legislature site, and keep your attorney in the loop.
Keep the Process on Your Side
The pattern in a clean eviction is the same every time: right notice, right service, accurate affidavit, no self-help. Your property manager should run that sequence the same way for every resident, document each step, and bring in your attorney before anything is filed.
At Next Level Property Management, we manage apartments in Reno, Sparks, Carson City and Lake Tahoe, and the paperwork discipline above is part of how we handle delinquency. Read the full statutes before you act: NRS Chapter 40 governs the notices and summary procedure, and NRS Chapter 118A governs lockouts and resident remedies.
