Security deposits
Deposits are governed by NRS 118A.242 — the single most-cited section on this site. It covers the limit on amount, the option of a surety bond in place of a deposit, the landlord’s duties and liability, the itemised accounting, and the tenant’s route to dispute that accounting. Read the section; we are not going to restate it in our own words.
What we can tell you is how it goes wrong. In the files we take over from self-managing owners, deposit disputes almost always come down to one of three things:
- No move-in condition record. Without dated photographs from before the tenant took possession, a deduction is one person’s word against another’s.
- Deductions that are really depreciation. Carpet and paint have service lives. Charging a departing tenant the full replacement cost of an eight-year-old carpet is the fastest way to lose the whole deduction.
- A late or missing itemised accounting. The deadline and the itemisation are statutory, not discretionary.
Innova photographs every unit at move-in and move-out, itemises against those two records, and sends the accounting within the statutory window whether or not there is anything to deduct. Abandoned property left behind after a move-out or eviction is a separate procedure at NRS 118A.460.
Breaking a lease in Nevada
There is no general statutory right for a residential tenant to end a fixed-term lease early because circumstances changed. The lease is a contract for its term. Certain narrow protections exist in Nevada law for specific situations — including domestic violence and military service — and those are exactly the situations to take to counsel rather than to handle from a web page.
For everything else, what actually happens is negotiated, and the practical options are:
Buy-out by agreement
A lump sum agreed in writing that releases the tenant. Usually the cleanest outcome for both sides, because it ends the uncertainty immediately.
Re-rent and mitigate
The tenant remains responsible until the unit is re-let, and the owner markets it in the meantime. This is the default where no buy-out is agreed. Innova prices these to move rather than to hold out, because a shorter vacancy is worth more to the owner than a higher headline rent on a unit sitting empty.
Assignment or subletting
Only where the lease permits it. Assigning or subletting contrary to the lease is one of the grounds behind the three-day notice at NRS 40.2514, so this is not a route to take informally.
Rent, term, and late-fee mechanics sit in NRS 118A.210 if you need the underlying provision.
This guide is general educational information, not legal advice. For your specific situation consult a licensed Nevada attorney. Innova Realty & Management is a Nevada-licensed real estate broker (#B.143949), not a law firm.